Statutory Sick Pay
Summary of Government Support produced by Prager Metis LLP – Last updated 23 March 2020
What we know
In order to help small and medium sized businesses with Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) extra costs arising as a result of COVID-19, the Government will refund to an employer eligible SSP costs. The criteria for eligible costs and other important points to note are as follows:
- The SSP refund will be limited to two weeks per employee:
- The government assistance with extra SSP costs will be limited to employers with less than 250 employees. The size of an employer will be determined by the number of people they employed as of 28 February 2020.
- Employers will be able to reclaim expenditure for any employee who has claimed SSP (according to the new eligibility criteria) as a result of COVID-19.
- Employers should maintain records of staff absences but it will not be required for employees to provide a fit note from their GP.
- The government is to work with employers in order to have in place systems to allow for refunds of SSP.
Who to contact
Your usual contact who is advises and/or runs the payroll for your business.
Anticipated availability
The scheme is operative and has been since 13 March.
Further information
Please see the Government Publication “Covid-19 Support for Business”
Useful links