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March 2022 – End of the Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme

Peter Etherington
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Employment Update for Small Businesses
March 2022
Dear Subscriber

Thanks to the marvels of technology, this newsletter should come out to you automatically while I am enjoying a bit of skiing in the French alps! I am back on Monday if you have any follow up queries, however.  This month we report on the end of the SSP rebate scheme. We also include a reminder of the forthcoming changes to statutory rates, including the rise in the minimum wage.
Please contact me if you would like to find out a bit more about any of the subjects raised in this update or if you need any help or advice.

Please forward this email to any of your contacts who might find it of benefit.
Regards
Peter Etherington
Tel: 01664 668164www.etherington.co.uk

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Peter Etherington
COVID-19 SSP Rebate Scheme Ends
Employers will no longer be able to claim back SSP payments
You may recall that prior to COVID-19, employers were responsible for paying Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) to eligible workers and had to bear the cost themselves. During the pandemic, however, the Government introduced schemes whereby you were able to claim up to 2 weeks’ SSP back if it was related to absence due to COVID. That included where staff had to self-isolate as well as when they were ill with the virus.

The rebate scheme is coming to an end shortly and you will not be able to claim back SSP for any absences after 17th March 2022.

Also, from 17th March, the rules revert to SSP only being payable from the fourth day of absence irrespective of the reason for absence. Under the current scheme, it is payable from day one for COVID related absence.

Here is the link to the current scheme.
Increase in Statutory Rates
April 2022
From 6th April 2022 the following rates will apply:

  • Statutory Sick Pay – £99.35 (currently £96.35)
  • The Lower Earnings Limit – £123.00 (currently £120.00)
  • The maximum cap on a week’s pay for redundancy pay calculations – £571 (currently £544)

From 3rd April 2022 the following rates all increase from £151.97 to £156.66 per week:

  • Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)*
  • Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP)
  • Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP)*
  • Statutory Shared Parental Pay (SShPP)*
  • Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (SPBP)

(* for the first 6 weeks SMP and SAP are 90% of normal pay)
National Minimum and Living Wage
From 1st April 2022, the minimum wage bands are increasing:

 

  • to £9.50 per hour (from £8.91) for workers aged 23 and over (+ 6.6%)
  • to £9.18 per hour (from £8.36) for workers aged 21 to 22 (+ 9.8%)
  • to £6.83 per hour (from £6.56) for workers aged 18 to 20 (+ 4.1%)
  • to £4.81 per hour (from £4.62) for workers aged 16 and 17 (+ 4.1%)
  • to £4.81 per hour (from £4.30) for apprentices under 19 and those over 19 in their first year* (+ 11.9%)

*N.B. Apprentices over 19 and who have completed at least one year are entitled to the appropriate rate for their age.
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