Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme set to open for claims

The Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme (CSSPRS), announced by the Chancellor at the Budget, is set to open for claims from Tuesday 26 May 2020, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has said.

The scheme enables employers with up to 250 employees to claim the cost of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) related to Coronavirus, as long as they had a PAYE payroll scheme created and started on or before 28 February 2020.

The payment will cover the cost of up to two weeks’ SSP where an employee has been unable to work because they:

• have/had Coronavirus; or
• are self-isolating and unable to work from home; or
• are shielding because they have been advised that they are at a high risk of severe illness from Coronavirus.

The scheme applies to periods of sickness from 13 March 2020 in respect of employees with Coronavirus or to those who have been self-isolating because someone they live with has symptoms.

For employees who have been shielding, the scheme applies from 16 April 2020.

Two different weekly rates apply to claims. For those dating from before 6 April 2020, a rate of £94.25 will be paid, while claims from that date will be paid at a rate of £95.85 a week.

To make a claim, employers will need:

• Their employer PAYE scheme reference number
• Contact name and phone number for queries
• UK bank or building society details of an account that can accept a Bacs payment
• The total amount of Coronavirus SSP paid to employees
• The number of employees concerned
• The start and end date of the claim period.

Also, employers must keep records of the following for three years after the date they receive payment from HMRC:

• The dates the employee was off sick
• Which of those dates were qualifying dates
• The reason they were off sick
• The employee’s National Insurance number.

Employers can claim from both the CSSPRS and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) in respect of the same employee. However, claims cannot be for the same period.