End of statutory sick pay recovery
Statutory sick pay (SSP) is payable to employees who have been sick for at least four consecutive days, and who normally earn at least £109 per week (for 2013/14). All employers must pay SSP to their employees who qualify, if they don’t pay wages of at least the same level to the sick employee.
As an employer you can reclaim some of the SSP you pay out if the SSP paid for a month exceeds 13% of the total employees' and employer’s National Insurance (Class 1 only) due for the same month. If this 13% threshold is reached, you can offset the excess SSP (over 13%) against your PAYE bill. If the 13% threshold is not achieved, no SSP can be recovered.
From 6 April 2014 the 13% threshold is abolished. You won’t be able to recover any SSP paid in 2014/15 or later years, although claims for SSP paid in earlier tax years will be accepted until 5 April 2016.
In place of the SSP recovery scheme, the Government has promised more support for sick employees to help them get back to work. From April 2014 a new agency called the Health and Work Service will provide a ‘return to work plan’ for employees who have been on sick leave for four weeks or more.
