Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme

Effective from the 26th May 2020, employers with less than 250 employees will be able to recover Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) payments they’ve made as a result of Coronavirus. The Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme was announced as part of the Budget on March 11th.

Payments of SSP made to former or current employees from 13th March can be recovered, but only at the statutory rate of £95.85 from the 6th April, and of £94.25 between 13th March and 5th April 2020. If employers have made that amount up by choice, they can only recover the reduced amount.

To qualify under the scheme, employers must have had a PAYE scheme in places with less than 250 employees as at the 28th February 2020.

The repayment will cover up to 2 weeks of SSP and is payable if an employee coupon;t work for the following reasons:

• They have coronavirus.
• They are shielding because they are at high risk of severe illness from coronavirus.
• They are self-isolating and unable to work from home.

To make your claim:

You’ll need the following information:

• your Government Gateway user ID for PAYE
• your employer PAYE scheme reference number
• contact name and phone number of someone we can contact if we have queries
• UK bank or building society details (only provide bank account details where a Bacs payment can be accepted)
• 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 in one go, so can bring your records up to date.

Record Keeping

You must keep the following records for THREE years after you receive payment of your claim:

• 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, someone they lived with had symptoms or they were shielding
• the employee’s National Insurance number

As with the other Coronavirus support options, it is highly likely that HMRC will ask to see your Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme records, so please make sure you keep them carefully.

I don’t run my own payroll….

If you don’t process your own payroll, but perhaps use a payroll agency, now is the time to check with them whether they will process this claim on your behalf.

As with the furlough scheme, they’re likely to be very busy at the end of the month, so clarify this with them now. Make sure that you receive the corresponding records in case you are asked for them later.