MEMBERSHIP INSIGHT
two hours before going home sick. He is then sick Thursday all day and returns on the Friday to work two hours before going home sick yet again. He says he is sick Saturday and Sunday and returns to work on the following Monday for two hours before going home sick again. So, the days the employee is supposed to work are Monday to Friday inclusively; these are the qualifying days (QD). The employer will only count the QDs when it comes to waiting days or for paying SSP. In this example, a PIW has not been formed and the employee has not been sick for four calendar days (even when the weekend period is counted); there are only two days of continuous sickness. Therefore, you cannot pay any SSP to this employee, but you would have to pay the national minimum/living wage or the employee’s contractual rate of pay if it is higher for the hours worked. If the company wishes to pay contractual sick pay that would be determined by the company’s own sickness polices and potentially one rule will more than likely be that they have to produce a fit note. Q: Our company has an employee who has taken statutory adoption leave (SAL) but has now had to hand the child back to the adoption agency. Will this employee still be entitled to any statutory adoption pay (SAP)? A: In this situation if the child stops living with the adopter/employee and is returned to the adoption agency the adoption pay period and SAP will end eight weeks after the end of the week in which the child is returned to the adoption agency or the date SAL is due to end, whichever is earlier. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) provide guidance on GOV.UK website in regard to SAP which can be accessed at https://goo. gl/tX0Kcc. Q: My client has a group of connected companies. Can the apprenticeship levy allowance of £15,000 only be allocated to just one of the PAYE schemes of the connected companies or can it be shared across all the different PAYE schemes of those connected companies? A: The apprenticeship levy allowance is only one allowance of £15,000 for all companies that are classed as connected companies. The employer can choose to share the levy allowance of £15,000.00
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Q: My employer has recently acquired a small company which will retain its own pay as you earn (PAYE) scheme until it is integrated with the main company which is envisaged will be two to three months from take-over date. Will this new company still be able to claim 103% of statutory maternity pay (SMP) under the small employer relief (SER) for the period during which it retains its own PAYE scheme prior to joining the main scheme? A: The legislation is contained in the Statutory Maternity Pay (Compensation of Employers) and Miscellaneous Amendment Regulations 1994. Regulation 4 (see below) dictates the amount of SMP an employer is entitled to recover. You have stated that ownership commenced from the take-over date, and therefore the bigger company becomes the actual employer on that date. So, if the large company pays National Insurance contributions (NICs) (comprising employee and employer NICs) in excess of £45,000 it will only be entitled to recover 92% of SMP, and cannot apply the SER. “4 Right of employers to prescribed amount An employer who has made, or is liable to make, any payment of statutory maternity pay shall be entitled to recover: (a) an amount equal to 92 per cent of such payment; or (b) if he is a small employer — (i) an amount equal to such payment, and (ii) an additional amount under regulation 3, in accordance with the provisions of these Regulations.”
The meaning of ‘small employer’ is defined at Regulation 2(1): “Subject to the following provisions of this regulation, a small employer is an employer whose contributions payments for the qualifying tax year do not exceed £45,000.” Q: We have an employee who was on sickness leave from 28 November 2016 until 3 February 2017, and the doctor’s fit note expired on 3 February 2017. This employee is now attending work on an irregular basis; for example, coming into work for two hours (and actually working) then going home sick, returning on another day working two hours then going home sick again. This employee is failing to provide self-certification forms confirming this illness despite several repeated requests from his manager and human resources (HR). Should we only pay him for the hours he has worked? Or can we pay this employee statutory sick pay (SSP) alongside the hours he worked? A: If an employee comes in to work even for a short period of time and then goes home sick, then this day cannot be considered as ‘sickness’ for SSP purposes. For the employer to consider this employee for SSP, the employee would need to form a period of incapacity to work (PIW) which is four calendar days or more. For example, if the employee comes into work for two hours on Monday, states he is sick but then goes home, this day will not count towards the PIW. He is sick all day on Tuesday, but then comes into work on Wednesday working again for
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | May 2017 | Issue 30 6
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