Covid-19: Immediate support for SMEs Budget March 2020

Extra costs of paying Covid-19-related SSP can be recovered.

To support SMEs in response to Covid-19, the Chancellor announced the following immediate measures for their employees.

Temporary return of Statutory Sick Pay claims

This offers immediate support for small and medium-sized businesses and employers by helping them cope with the extra burden of paying Covid-19-related SSP. Eligible costs will be refunded, with the criteria being as follows:

• this refund will be limited to two weeks per employee

• 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

• employers should maintain records of staff absences, but should not require employees to provide a GP fit note

• the eligible period for the scheme will commence from the day on which the regulations extending SSP to self-isolators come into force.

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