Small and medium-sized businesses and employers can reclaim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) paid for sickness absence due to COVID-19. The eligibility criteria for the scheme will be as follows:

• this refund will cover up to 2 weeks’ SSP per eligible employee who has been off work because of COVID-19
• 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
• eligible period for the scheme will commence the day after the regulations on the extension of Statutory Sick Pay to those staying at home comes into force

The scheme can be used by employers if they:

• are claiming for an employee who’s eligible for sick pay due to coronavirus
• had a PAYE payroll scheme that was created and started on or before 28 February 2020
• had fewer than 250 employees on 28 February 2020

The scheme covers all types of employment contracts, including:

• full-time employees
• part-time employees
• employees on agency contracts
• employees on flexible or zero-hour contracts

Connected companies and charities can also use the scheme if their total combined number of PAYE employees are fewer than 250 on or before 28 February 2020.

Employers must keep records of all the statutory sick payments that you want to claim from HMRC, including:

• the reason why an employee could not work
• details of each period when an employee could not work, including start and end dates
• details of the SSP qualifying days when an employee could not work
• National Insurance numbers of all employees who you have paid SSP to

An an employer you will have to keep these records for at least 3 years following your claim.