As I am sure you will all be too well aware, the public have been advised to elf isolate for 14 days if they or any of their household have any symptoms of COVID-19. If your employees are self-isolating because of COVID-19, from 13 March 2020 you can claim SSP. This includes individuals who are caring for people who are self-isolating in the same household and therefore have been advised to conduct a household quarantine.
When does SSP apply?
The government is legislating for SSP to be paid from day 1, rather than day 4 after three ‘waiting days’, of the absence from work due to sickness or the need to self-isolate due to COVID-19. This legislation is to be retrospectively applied from 13th March once it is passed.
Do I need a sick note?
From Friday 20 March (today) onwards, those who have COVID-19 or are advised to self-isolate will be able to obtain an ‘isolation note’ by visiting NHS 111 online and completing an online form, rather than visiting a doctor. This is vitally important as it saves valuable NHS time and does not require contact or communication via the already over-worked NHS staff. For COVID-19, this replaces the usual need to provide a ‘fit note’ after seven days of sickness absence. As yet, this form is not available but as an employer you will need confirmation from the employee that they are off work due to COVID-19.
How much SSP is paid?
SSP is aid at the rate of £94.25 per week and is recoverable in this instance from HMRC. HMRC are due to release details of how this is going to be recoverable by the employers in the coming weeks. Usually, SSP is recoverable by offsetting against the total PAYE/NIC payable. We shall advise further on this once we are aware of the process laid out by HMRC. As with normal SSP. You can still choose to pay above the SSP rate if you wish to or are contractually obliged to for any reason.
What happens at the end of the 2 week period if the employee is still off sick?
As it stands today, the current SSP rules will apply after 2 weeks and a fit note will be required from the doctor. It is likely that this may be amended shortly by HMRC and again as soon as further information is available, we shall update you as quickly as we can.