As previously highlighted, the government has announced that it will bring forward measures so that this applies from the first day off work and that the usual three waiting days necessary before SSP is payable should not apply. It has recently indicated that it will legislate so this measure applies retrospectively from 13 March 2020. Further, the government has announced plans to reimburse small employers with fewer than 250 employees any SSP paid to employees for the first 14 days of sick leave to help mitigate the impact of the coronavirus for smaller businesses.

There will be further announcements as to how businesses and workers can be supported during this period, and we will keep you up to date with developments.