A new online service to allow employers to recover Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) payments will be launched on May 26^th.

The scheme will allow small and medium-sized employers, with fewer than 250 employees, to apply to HMRC to recover the costs of paying coronavirus-related SSP.

Employers will receive repayments at the relevant rate of SSP that they have paid to current or former employees for eligible periods of sickness starting on or after 13 March 2020.

Employees do not have to provide a doctor’s fit note for their employer to make a claim under the scheme.

The repayment will cover up to 2 weeks of SSP and is payable if an employee is unable to work because they:

• have coronavirus; or
• are self-isolating and unable to work from home; or
• are shielding because they’ve been advised that they’re at high risk of severe illness from coronavirus

Get ready to claim

What you’ll need;

• Your Government Gateway user ID
• Your employer PAYE scheme reference number
• A contact name and phone number of someone HMRC can contact if they have queries
• UK bank or building society details
• The total amount of coronavirus SSP you have paid to your employees for the claim period – this should not exceed the weekly rate that is set
• The number of employees you are claiming for
• The start date and end date of the claim period

You can claim for multiple pay periods and employees at the same time. The start date of your claim is the start date of the earliest pay period you’re claiming for. The end date of your claim is the end date of the most recent pay period you’re claiming.

Where an employer pays more than the current rate of SSP in sick pay, they will only be able to reclaim the SSP rate.

Employers can furlough their employees who have been advised to shield and are unable to work from home. Once furloughed, the employee should no longer receive SSP, where an employee has been notified to shield and has not been furloughed, the rebate will compensate up to 2 weeks of SSP from 16 April 2020.

UKFT is in constant dialogue with the government and is outlining the latest support available for businesses on our website. We will update the details as and when the situation changes. 

UKFT Coronavirus Guidance