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SSP entitlement for employees contacted via NHS test and trace 16 July 2020
HMRC has updated its guidance page, ‘Work out your employee’s Statutory Sick Pay manually’ to include instructions for employers in terms of how to proceed for employees who have received a notification through the NHS test and trace service, on or after 28 May 2020. Employers should pay SSP from the first qualifying day that an employee is absent from work, as long as the full period for which they are off for is at least four days in a row. Individuals will receive a test and trace notification when they have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus, and so will need to self-isolate accordingly. SSP entitlement will end either after 14 days after the date of the most recent contact with the person who tested positive for COVID-19, or sooner, where specified in the notification. In these scenarios, waiting days do not have to be served.
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SSP and COVID-19 – Returning from holiday 28 July 2020
With employers encouraging employees to take annual leave, some of them may have opted to travel abroad, with a popular destination for people from the UK being Spain.
With the government’s recent decision to impose a 14-day quarantine on travellers arriving into the UK from Spain, employers should familiarise themselves with the current legislation which will affect any employee returning from Spain after 26 July. An employee who has returned from a country that is not on the UK’s ‘no self isolation requirement’ list must go into quarantine for 14 days. On many sites, this is called self-isolation, however, this type of isolation differs from the rules that are applied to COVID-19 self-isolation. Employees who are having to isolate after returning from a holiday or business trip are not entitled to SSP if they cannot work from home. If they can work from home, then they can be paid as normal. An employer can ask the employee to take additional holiday to cover this period so that the employee receives pay, alternatively, the employee will be placed on unpaid leave. Employers can choose to pay SSP to employees, however, there is no obligation to. Employers should ensure that they communicate this to employees and employees should communicate with employers so that all parties are aware of the situation before it occurs.#
Employees should be reminded that if they break quarantine rules, a fine of £1,000 can be imposed.
SSP is payable when an employee:
•
Has coronavirus
• Has coronavirus symptoms, for example a high temperature, a new continuous cough, or a loss of, or change in, sense of smell or taste • Someone in their household has coronavirus symptoms • Has been told to 'shield' by the NHS because of an underlying health condition • Has been told to self-isolate by a doctor or NHS 111 • Has been told to self-isolate by a government 'test and trace' service, because they've been in close contact with someone who tested positive ('NHS Test and Trace' in England, 'Test and Protect' in Scotland or 'Test, trace, protect' in Wales)
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Payroll: need to know
cipp.org.uk
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