Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme opens 26.05.20

The Government previously announced that support would be available for eligible employers to reclaim some of the costs in respect of COVID-19 related SSP. The HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) online service to reclaim COVID-19 related SSP will be open from 26 May 2020.

Eligibility for the Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme

Employers are eligible for the SSP Rebate Scheme if they meet the following criteria:

• You are claiming for an employee who met the conditions for COVID-19 SSP;
• You have a payroll scheme that was in place on or before 28 February 2020;
• You had fewer than 250 employees on 28 February 2020 (connected companies are also eligible if the total combined number of employees was fewer than 250 on this date).

You can claim for periods of sickness starting on or after:

• 13 March 2020 if your employee had COVID-19 symptoms or was self-isolating due to someone in their household having symptoms
• 16 April 2020 if your employee was shielding due to COVID-19

Please refer to our SSP FAQs for guidance on eligible employees, including when employers should pay, SSP rates and evidence required from employees.  Please note that if you pay your employees more than the official SSP rates you can only claim up to the weekly amount set.

You may have already made a claim for furloughed employees under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.  If you are eligible you can claim under both schemes for the same employee however the claims must not cover the same period of time for that employee.

The scheme covers all employment contracts i.e. full-time, part-time, zero hours etc. The Government have not announced how long the scheme will be available.

How do I apply for Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate?

If you are eligible for the scheme you will need to log into your Government Gateway account registered for PAYE online in order to submit the claim.

If you do not already have a Government Gateway account, we recommend you create one as soon as possible by following the link. The ICAEW have produced a useful guide on setting up your Government Gateway for PAYE

HMRC have also made the claim process available to agents through their agent Government Gateway accounts as long as we have been authorised by you to do so.

Please note that setting up your own Government Gateway account will not impact the agent account we already have in place with you as an authorised client.

What will I need to hand, when submitting my claim?

Once you have accessed the PAYE online service through the Government Gateway you will need the following information to submit your claim:

• Employer PAYE reference
• Contact details
• Bank or Building Society details
• Start and end dates of the claim period
• Total amount of COVID-19 SSP paid to employees in the claim period
• The number of employees included in the claim

You can claim for multiple pay periods and employees at the same time. The start date of your claim is the first day of the earliest pay period you are claiming for. The end date of your claim is the last day of the most recent pay period you are claiming for.

What records do I need to keep?

You must keep the following records for three years after the date you receive your claim:

• The dates the employee was sick
• Which of those dates were qualifying days
• The reason they were off work i.e. experiencing symptoms, shielding etc
• The employees National Insurance number

How can Shorts help?

We understand that the process for claiming under the SSP Rebate Scheme is straightforward and recommend employers follow the steps and submit the claims themselves.

However please contact us if you require additional support or if you are having difficulties, we can help:

• Guide you through setting up your Government Gateway account;
• Provide the relevant information if we process your payroll in order for you to submit the claim yourself;
• Calculate the relevant amounts;
• Process and submit the claim on your behalf;

Please contact Steven Strawther for more information and refer to the HMRC guidance on how to claim.

Other related articles:

• Our COVID-19 Information Hub
• Standing alongside our clients through Covid-19
• What successful entrepreneurs are doing right now 
• Pratap Partnership website
• Arrange your free post Covid-19 Recovery Planning consultation with a member of our team.