Any small or medium-sized business in the UK will now be able to claim from the Government to cover any Statutory Sick Pay being paid to employees because of Covid ...
Business owners across the country were panicking about the fresh Omicron wave and how they were going to fund SSP to any employee off ill with a Covid infection. The SSP Rebate Scheme means any business with less than 250 employees can claim SSP for any Covid-related absences, for up to two weeks per employee.
Employees must self-isolate for four days before becoming eligible for SSP and should be paid for every day of that self-isolation. Self-employed individuals are not eligible, but casual and agency staff are.
The Chancellor has put aside £1billion for businesses in the hospitality and leisure sector who are seeing mass cancellations in the face of Omicron. There's also £30million for theatres and museums that may need to close due to staff shortages.
It will be interesting to see if Furlough and SEISS restart if a lockdown is announced after Christmas and whether businesses will be able to top up their Bounce Back Loans.
At least Boris has saved Christmas for us, so have yourselves a very merry day!
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