Sick Pay Rebate Scheme: What we know so far
At the March Budget, the Chancellor announced details about a new COVID-19 Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme for employers and their staff. This scheme allow small and medium sized businesses with fewer than 250 employees to apply to HMRC to recover costs of paying sick pay to employees.
What we know so far
Employers can use the scheme for an employee who is eligible for sick pay if they fall ill with COVID-19.
The employee must have been on the payroll as at 28 February and employer must have fewer than 250 employees to be eligible for the scheme.
The good news is that the scheme covers all types of employment contracts, including:
full time
part time
agency contracts
flexible or zero hour contracts
What records you need to keep
You must keep records of all the statutory sick payments that you want to claim from HMRC, including:
the reason why an employee could not work
details of each period when an employee could not work, including start and end dates
details of the SSP qualifying days when an employee could not work
National Insurance numbers of all employees who you have paid Statutory Sick Pay to
You’ll have to keep these records for at least 3 years following your claim.
How do i make a claim under the Sick Pay Rebate Scheme?
HMRC have yet to release guidance on how payments will be reimbursed as their existing systems are not set up to facilitate these payments.
Watch this space. We will keep you updated here on the latest developments as they are announced.
Please get in touch if you can have questions.
