Employee Statutory Sick Pay

Employee Statutory Sick Pay Update

• SSP will be eligible from day 1 only for those diagnosed with Covid-19 or those self-isolating in-line with government advice
• There will be an alternative available to the ‘fit-note’ for those who have to self-isolate – this will be provided via 111 but details are to follow so employers should think about allowing flexibility if evidence is required
• If individuals aren’t entitled to SSP, then restrictions have been lifted to ease the process of applying for Universal Credit or Employment Support Allowance (ESA)
• If you are an employer with less than 250 employees at 28 February, you can reclaim up to 2 weeks SSP paid for absence due to Covid-19, a repayment facility will be rolled out by the Government

How will SSP changes affect your Payroll

• There will still need to be a Period of Incapacity to Work (PIW) of four days or more but SSP will be payable from day 1 instead of day 4, if an employee is absent for 3 days or less SSP will not apply
• Your payroll team will need to know if any employees are absent due to Covid-19 so the correct SSP procedure can be applied, think about reporting procedures for sickness and does anything need to change
• Manual interventions may need to be made to your payroll system as software restrictions will only be setup to apply the standard waiting day ruling

There are still some unanswered questions to these temporary measures, but it is important employers assess their absence policies and procedures to ensure they are compliant.

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