A summary of the changes are below:
- The 3 unpaid waiting days at the beginning of a period of sickness absence have been abolished. This means that SSP is payable from the first day of absence and employees can receive SSP even if they are absent for under 3 days.
- Employees were previously required to earn more than £125 per week on average prior to their sickness but this threshold has been abolished. This will mean that lower earners are now eligible for SSP where they might not have been previously.
- The standard flat rate of SSP has increased to £123.25 per week.
- For lower earners, the SSP standard flat rate may not apply and instead they will receive 80% of their average weekly earnings as their weekly SSP rate. The average weekly earnings are calculated based on the 8 weeks of earnings prior to the absence.
- There will be a transitional period to the new rules of SSP.
- New employees were previously not eligible to receive SSP until after they had first been paid through the payroll. From April, provided a new starter completes some work before going on sickness absence, they are now entitled to receive SSP as part of their first payment.
As employers are unable to recover SSP against their National Insurance liabilities like they can for other statutory payments, the reform will likely result in increased employer costs as more employees will now be entitled to receive SSP. The changes in rules may also see an increase in employee absence as they will be able to claim SSP for even just one day of absence that they would have previously been unpaid for.
If you would like assistance with SSP or any other payroll related queries, or to obtain a no-obligation quote for our bureau services, please contact our Payroll Team at 01633 810 081 or payroll@kilsbywilliams.com.
