Covid-19
COVID-19 In March 2020 the world changed and with it came a sudden upheaval in the way work was performed and in particular how payroll staff performed their jobs. The measures implemented as a consequence of the arrival of the virus remain in place at the time of writing and are likely to continue to affect payroll staff until well into the 2021/22 tax year. Covid-19 is a SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) type virus which proved to be extremely transmissible and virulent, far more than previous versions in recent history. This became even more of concern as the virus mutated into even more transmissible and virulent variations later in 2020. COPYRIGHT © 2021 THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF PAYROLL PROFESSIONALS A number of employee related measures were implemented in an attempt to ensure workers remained at home and in so doing restrict the virus’s ability to move rapidly through the population and these were primarily: • SSP developments to deal with self-isolation. • The “Furlough” scheme and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. • A temporary SSP rebate scheme specifically for absence related to the disease. • Confirmation that holiday pay continues to accrue during “furlough” but only for the 5.6 weeks allowed for in law. • Suspension of gender pay gap reporting. • 12 month delay in implementing the new “off-payroll” working rules. • Changes to the rules on taxable expenses as they applied to working from home. • Relaxation of the rules restricting post retirement working by public sector workers. Other measures were implemented to deal with specific industries such as grants for the self- employed, special loan schemes, grants for the hospitality and related industries and specific grants delivered by local authorities. There was also some measures to allow businesses some leeway on paying their taxes, however this did not affect PAYE. Government bodies suspended certain key overpayment recoveries in repsect of housing benefits, general benefits and universal credit. Statutory Sick Pay On 3rd April 2020, HMRC published guidance on calculating SSP where the reason for absence is self-isolation as a consequence of being in close contact with a person who has the disease, or who is displaying symptoms of having contracted the disease themselves. The rule was also to apply to those who were advised by the NHS to self-isolate even if their symptoms were exceedingly mild. The guidance confirmed that from 13th March 2020 any employee deciding to, or advised to self-isolate would be entitled to SSP from day one of their isolation. The normal three waiting days would not apply to this period of incapacity. Up to 13th March 2020 the normal waiting day rules applied. No printing, copying or reproduction permitted. Because the vast majority of the support measures were directed at protecting as many jobs as possible, payroll staff ended up in the front line of the primary grant claim process. Immediately afterwards, on 6th April 2020 HMRC issued its guidance on the new SSP rebate scheme to apply to any and all SSP payments made to employees whose absence is related
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