The government have provided further details on the #COVID19 SSP. The requirement for a 4 day period of incapacity for Work (PIW) remains as required, however, no waiting days are to be used. This is effective from Friday 13th March 2020 and currently indicated to remain in place (subject to change) until 12th November 2020.
So what are the main differences from other sickness cases?
……
If your employee is off sick or self-isolating because of coronavirus (COVID-19)
From 13 March 2020 you start paying SSP from the first ‘qualifying day’ an employee is off work, as long as they are off for at least 4 days in a row.
If an employee was off sick with coronavirus (COVID-19) before 13 March, you start paying SSP from the fourth ‘qualifying day’.
Employees who were self-isolating before 13 March because someone else in their household had symptoms do not qualify for SSP.
If your employee is off sick for another reason
You start paying SSP from the fourth ‘qualifying day’.
You do not usually pay SSP for the first 3 qualifying days (‘waiting days’) unless they’ve been off sick and getting SSP within the last 8 weeks.
…..
Record keeping
You’ll need to keep records of SSP you’ve paid to an employee who is self-isolating because of coronavirus (COVID-19) if you want to reclaim it.
You’ll need to keep the following records for 3 years after the end of the tax year you paid SSP:
- the dates the employee was off sick
- which of those dates were qualifying days
- the reason they said they were off work – if they had symptoms or someone they lived with had symptoms
- the employee’s National Insurance number
HMRC expects the law to change to allow small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) to reclaim 2 weeks’ SSP they have paid to employees who are self-isolating because of coronavirus (COVID-19). ….
You do not need to keep records of SSP paid to employees who are off sick for another reason.
You can choose how you keep records of your employees’ sickness absence. HMRC may need to see these records if there’s a dispute over payment of SSP.
The following SSP values apply from Monday 6th April 2020. The associated earnings threshold is £120 per week.
PAYadvice.UK 2/4/2020
