Coronavirus - Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)

Following announcements in the recent Budget, The Department for Work and Pensions is making temporary arrangements to support those impacted by coronavirus.

One of those arrangements is that employees who cannot work due to the coronavirus and are eligible for Statutory Sick Pay will get SSP from day one, rather than from the fourth day of their illness. This also applies to those people who are self-isolating in line with government advice to prevent its spread. This measure applies retrospectively from 13 March 2020.

Employers are also urged to use their discretion about what evidence, if any, they ask for. If employees need to provide evidence to their employer that they need to stay at home due to the coronavirus, they will be able to get it from the NHS 111 Online instead of having to get a fit note from their doctor.

Employers with fewer than 250 employees will be able to reclaim Statutory Sick Pay for employees unable to work because of coronavirus. This refund will be for up to two weeks per employee. How this refund will be made is not yet known.

To pay the three SSP waiting days in Opera 3 we recommend you create a new payment profile and select the SSP payment profile type. This will ensure the total SSP year to date values are correct.

Finally, you will need to manually calculate the value to pay and enter this against the payment profile in the employee’s Pay and Deductions screen.

Please note: The weekly allowance for SSP will increase from £94.25 to £95.85 on 6 April 2020.

- The Profile Team