Statutory Sick Pay? It’s recovery time

Looking to claim back Covid sick pay? Nicola Cantrill from Page Kirk's payroll department explains the rules you need to observe.

When an employee is off work because of coronavirus, you can claim back up to two week's Statutory Sick Pay via the Government Gateway.

Please note that this is not recovered automatically via the payroll. If you would like our payroll department to make a claim, please contact us and we will let you know how to set it up and any costs that will be incurred.

Eligibility

As with normal sick pay, your employee will need to be eligible to be paid any COVID19 SSP. They will need to have an employment contract and to have done some work under that contract.

In addition, they must have been off for four or more days in a row, including non-working days. And have earned on average at least £120 per week.

Once you have established that they are eligible, you can pay your employee COVID19 SSP if the following criteria apply:

• They were self-isolating on or after 13 March 2020 because they - or someone they live with - had COVID-19 or symptoms of COVID-19.
• They started self-isolating on or after 28 May 2020 because they were notified by the NHS or public health authorities that they've come into contact with someone with COVID-19.
• They were self-isolating on or after 6 July 2020 because someone in their support bubble, but not their own household, had symptoms or tested positive for COVID-19.
• They have tested positive for COVID-19 since 5 August 2020.
• They were self-isolating on or after 26 August because they had been advised to do so by a doctor or healthcare professional before going into hospital for surgery.

Employees will not qualify for SSP if they are self-isolating after entering or returning to the UK, and do not need to self-isolate for any other reason.

You must pay your employee from the first day they are off work – No waiting days will apply.

Reclaiming SSP

You can reclaim up to two weeks of SSP – a total of 96.35 per week for each employee. You cannot reclaim if the employee is sick for any other reason.

The following must apply for you to be able to reclaim SSP that you have paid.

• Your employee was off work because they had COVID-19 or were self-isolating.
• Your employee was off work because they were shielding before 1 April 2021.
• Your PAYE payroll scheme started on or before 28 February 2020.
• You had fewer than 250 employees on 28 February 2020.
• You can only claim for employees who were off work on or before 30^th September 2021
• The deadline for submitting or amending claims is 31^st December 2021

What you will need to claim and records you need to keep

To claim the SSP you have paid to your employee due to COVID19, you will need:

• The number of employees you are claiming for
• Start and end dates of your claim period
• The total amount of sick pay you're claiming back – which should not exceed two weeks at the set SSP rate
• Your Government Gateway user ID and password you received when you registered for PAYE Online
• Your employer PAYE reference number
• The contact name and phone number of someone HMRC can contact if they have any queries
• Your UK bank or building society account details (only provide account details where a BACS payment can be accepted) including:
• bank or building society account number (and roll number if it has one)
• sort code
• name on the account
• your address linked to your bank or building society account

You must keep the below records for three years for any audits you may get.

• Dates the employee was off sick
• The dates of the qualifying days
• The reason the staff member was off
• Their National insurance number

You will also need to keep the state aid declaration from your claim summary until 31 Dec 2024.

How to make a claim

Page Kirk's payroll department can make the claim on your behalf. Please give us a call if you would like us to do this. We cannot make this claim automatically.

If you would like to make the claim yourself, you can do this online here: Sign in using Government Gateway - GOV.UK (access.service.gov.uk)

If you cannot claim online, you will have received a letter from the HMRC with an alternative way to claim. If you haven't received this, please contact them directly. Get help with the Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

After you have made a valid claim, the rebate will be paid into your account within six working days. HMRC will contact you if they have any queries about the claim.

Unfortunately, you cannot check the progress of your claim. You can, however, contact HMRC after 10 working days of your claim if you haven't yet received your rebate.

HMRC do check claims and, if they are dishonest or inaccurate. you can receive a penalty of up to £3,000.

If you would like any more information on a SSP rebate claim, please follow the link below or call Page Kirk on 0115 955 5500 or email enquiries@pagekirk.co.uk.

Check if you can claim back Statutory Sick Pay paid to employees due to coronavirus (COVID-19) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)