Following the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, announcing that the government will reimburse small employers yesterday, we have been asked to provide further details on the terms of the proposal.

The government will support small and medium-sized businesses and employers to cope with the extra costs of paying COVID-19 related SSP by refunding eligible SSP costs.

The eligibility criteria for the scheme are as follows:

  • This refund will be limited to two weeks per employee
  • Employers with fewer than 250 employees will be eligible. The size of an employer will be determined by the number of people they employed as of 28 February 2020
  • Employers will be able to reclaim expenditure for any employee who has claimed SSP (according to the new eligibility criteria) as a result of COVID-19
  • Employers should maintain records of staff absences, but should not require employees to provide a GP fit note
  • The eligible period for the scheme will commence from the day on which the regulations extending SSP to self-isolators come into force while existing systems are not designed to facilitate such employer refunds for SSP, the government will work with employers over the coming months to set up a repayment mechanism for employers as soon as possible