Abolition of the Statutory Sick Pay Percentage Threshold Scheme

08 April 2014

The regulations for the abolition of the Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) Percentage Threshold Scheme have been approved in the House of Commons.

The Percentage Threshold Scheme which allowed employers to reclaim any amount of SSP which exceeded 13% of their NICs bill for the month, ended at the close of the 2013/14 tax year.

Employers can make outstanding claims for reimbursement of SSP paid for sickness periods up to 5 April 14 until close of the 2015/16 tax year. Details can be found in the SSP employer guide.

Funding from PTS will be reinvested into providing the new Health and Work Service, which the Department for Work & Pensions and HM Treasury are introducing in late 2014. This will provide occupational health advice and support for employees, employers and GPs to help people with a health condition to stay in or return to work.

There are 2 elements to the service:

• assessment – once the employee has reached, or is expected to reach, 4 weeks of sickness absence they will normally be referred by their GP for an assessment by an occupational health professional, who will look at all the issues preventing the employee from returning to work
• advice – employers, employees and GPs will be able to access advice through a phone line and website.

Following an assessment, employees will receive a return to work plan with recommendations to help them to return to work more quickly and information on how to get appropriate help and advice.

The government will introduce a tax exemption of up to £500 a year for each employee on medical treatments recommended by the Health and Work Service or an employer-arranged occupational health service.