SSP three-day wait to be reinstated in 2022

Unless the government intervenes, from 25 March 22 the standard three-day wait for statutory sick pay will be reinstated for Covid related claims.

Employers in the United Kingdom are not required to pay statutory sick pay (SSP) to an employee until the fourth qualifying day of the Period of Incapacity for Work (PIW), under the standard guidelines. The PIW is defined as a period of illness that lasts four or more calendar days, not all of which must be qualifying days. As a result, the normal procedure is to look at the PIW, then the qualifying days, and then the first three days are referred to as waiting days.

However, during the pandemic the government suspended the three-day wait, meaning employers must pay SSP from the first qualifying day. Unless there is an intervention to continue the measure, Covid-related SSP waiting time will automatically revert to three days on 25 March 2022.

To comply you will need to:

• Consider two weeks before the end of the 2021/22 tax year any changes to your payroll software to reintroduce waiting days for all absence types.
• Inform employees claiming Covid-related SSP that from 25 March 22 their SSP will be paid from the fourth qualifying day in the PIW.