The government have announced that SSP payments, which will cover up to 2 weeks’ SSP per eligible employee who has been off work because of COVID-19 will be refunded. Refunds will be made for all employees who are not ill but are unable to work because they have been advised to self-isolate in line with Government guidance and SSP will be payable from day 1. 

 

SSP is currently £94.25 each week increasing to £95.85 from 6th April 2020 and for businesses to qualify employers will need to have fewer than 250 employees (the size of an employer will be determined by the number of people they employed as of 28 February 2020) 

 

As an employer you should maintain records of any employee absences and payments of SSP in relation to Covid-19 (remember that best practice is that you should be keeping records of all absences in the business and ideally on a secure HR database) but importantly, through this period, you should ask employees that are absent due to the virus to provide you with an isolation note where they are absent from work for more than 7 days.

 

For those that are not able to access the online system or where they don’t have an email address Matt Hancock, MP, has confirmed that individuals can have the note sent to a family member or friend or directly to their employer.  

 

The government have not yet announced how the repayments will be made but we are keeping a close eye on the situation as it evolve and will provide an update as soon as we know more.

 

For any advice and support on sick absence relating to Covid-19 or any other sick absence issues in your business contact us today.