The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, has announced additional support available to businesses as the latest coronavirus variant causes concern.
The Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) Rebate Scheme restarts again from today (21 December 2021) and claims can be made retrospectively from mid-January. The Scheme is open to UK based employers with a PAYE payroll and less than 250 employees as of 30 November 2021. To claim the employee must have already been paid the SSP.
Employers can claim for up to 2 weeks of SSP per employee who has needed time for coronavirus related reasons. This 2-week limit has been reset, so an employer will be able to claim up to two weeks per employee regardless of whether they have claimed for them previously. These details have been confirmed in the factsheet published.
The deadline of 31 December 2021 still stands for the SSP Rebate Scheme that closed on 30 September 2021.
Other support includes £6,000 grants to premises in the hospitality and leisure sectors and £100 million in discretionary funding given to local authorities.