Statutory Sick Pay will pay £95.85 per week for people too ill to work and this amount could be combined with a company sick pay scheme, providing further income for suffering workers. In recent months, SSP has been updated and tweaked to account for coronavirus problems and a new scheme focused on this is opening up next week.

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The government announced that a “Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme” would be launched to help companies recover SSP payments they made to their employees.

Yesterday, (May 19) the government revealed that a new online service will be launched on May 26 for small to medium sized employers to recover the costs.

The scheme will allow employers to make claims for current or former employees for eligible periods of sickness starting on or after March 13 2020.

This will likely be relieving for affected employees who may have worried about their employment being hindered by a potentially costly burden.

In recent months, the SSP scheme was updated to take into account coronavirus concerns and afflictions.

On top of the original rules, people will have become eligible for the payment if they were unable to work due to:

• Having coronavirus symptoms
• Not being able to work because they are self-isolating as they live with someone who has symptoms
• The fact that they are shielding and they have a letter from the NHS or GP telling them to stay home for at least 12 weeks

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If a person is receiving SSP it will be paid by their employer in the same way as their normal wages, which will likely come through either weekly or monthly.

It’s possible to receive more than one SSP payment if a person works for more than one employer.

It should be noted that tax and National Insurance will be deducted from SSP.

Eligible receivers who think they are not getting the right amount owed to them should talk to their employers about their worries, but if they are still unhappy following this they may be able to contact HMRC for help.

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On top of the new coronavirus themed qualifying rules, an employee must also be eligible under other criteria.

To qualify for SSP, an employee must also:

• Be classed as an employee and have done some work for their employer
• Earn an average of at least £120 per week
• Have been ill, self-isolating or “shielding” for at least four days in a row (including non-working days)

Workers who feel that they are eligible for SSP must usually communicate with their employer.

They will be required to tell their employer if they’re unable to work before the deadline they set (or within seven days if they have not set one).

People will not qualify for SSP if they have already received the maximum amount of SSP (28 weeks), getting Statutory Maternity Pay or have been put on furlough leave.

Some workers may qualify if they started their job recently and have not received eight weeks of pay yet.

They will need to talk to their employer about this to find out more.

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