Test and Trace – Statutory Sick Pay entitlement
On 28 May the government implemented the NHS Test and Trace system as the next part of the strategy to end the current lockdown. Under the system, anyone who shows symptoms of Covid-19 must self-isolate for at least seven days and anyone who lives in the same household must self-isolate for 14 days.
Following a positive test for Covid-19 the individual will be contacted by phone, text or e-mail and be asked to provide details of people they have recently had contact with to help the NHS identify those who will have a higher risk of catching the virus. If an individual is identified as having had contact with an infected person they will also be contacted by the NHS and required to self-isolate for 14 days.
In order to ease the financial burden on those who have been ordered to self-isolate as a result of having been in contact with an infected person, the government has passed the Statutory Sick Pay (General) (Coronavirus Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2020. These new Regulations entitle individuals who have been told to self-isolate as a result of the new system to be paid Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from the first day of isolation provided they meet the eligibility criteria.
Whilst a self-isolating employee will be entitled to SSP as a minimum, employers can of course ‘top up’ wages to 100% or agree that the employee will treat a period of self-isolation as holiday and therefore receive full pay.
The government has published advice to employers on the system here.
If you have any questions about the test and trace system or SSP, please e-mail Paul Kelly at Blacks Solicitors here.