Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme reintroduced for small businesses

Although claims were to be made before 31 December 2021, the scheme is being re-introduced in mid-January 2022.

The Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme repays employers the Statutory Sick Pay paid to employees. SSP can be claimed for employees who were off work on or after 21 December 2021.

Scheme conditions

Up to two weeks SSP can be claimed where:

• an employee has been paid sick pay for an employee who is eligible for sick pay due to coronavirus
• the business has a PAYE payroll scheme that was created or started on or before 28 February 2020
• there are fewer than 250 employees on 28 February 2020 across all the business’ PAYE schemes 

Due to the difficulties in getting sick notes during the pandemic, a doctor’s sick note is not required. However, the business can require the employee to provide an isolation note from NHS 111 where they are self-isolating or a “shielding note” from their doctor or health authority advising them to shield from the coronavirus where they are at risk of severe illness.

Information required

Information required to make a claim includes:

• the number of employees being claimed for
• start and end dates of the claim period
• the total amount of SSP being claimed
• the business’ Government Gateway ID and password
• PAYE reference number
• contact details
• bank or building Society details where the payment is to be made

Records required

The following records must be kept for three years:

• The dates the employee was off sick
• The qualifying day dates
• The reason the employee was off work (ill, living with a person with symptoms, shielding etc)
• The employees’ National Insurance number

Claims can be made using the link below for coronavirus-related absences that happened on or after 21 December 2021:

Claim back Statutory Sick Pay paid to your employees due to coronavirus (COVID-19)