Statutory sick pay (SSP) is set to become less generous later this week. The benefit will cease to be paid to people self-isolating due to covid-19.
When coronavirus hit the UK in 2020, the government expanded the SSP scheme to include people who were self-isolating due to the virus. This included people who had themselves caught it as well as those who had come into contact with someone who had.
Now, with the rules on self-isolation having been relaxed, so will SSP provisions. As of February 24, there is no legal requirement for anyone to self-isolate, so the government is now withdrawing the sick pay paid to people doing so.
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Acas, the government's Advisory, Conciliatory, and Arbitration Service, explains: "In England, from March 24, 2022 staff will no longer be entitled to SSP for self-isolation, unless they are not well. There are currently no changes for Scotland and Wales."
That means SSP will also return to only being payable from day four of your illness, not day one as was the case with self-isolation SSP. Additionally, the test and trace support payment, which gave people on low incomes £500 if they were unable to go to work due to covid-19, ended on February 24.
Public health guidance remains to stay at home if you have covid-19 or symptoms of it. Sajid Javid, the health secretary, said this week that he would not go to work if he tested positive for covid-19.
The rate of SSP will, on the other hand, increase in April - though not by as much as inflation. At present, it gets you £96.35 per week; from April 6, 2022, it will be £99.35 per week.
That's an increase of 3.1 per cent, which is what the rate of inflation was in September 2021, when the increase was decided. However, inflation has since soared: it is predicted to hit at least seven per cent in April, with some predictions it could get to 10 per cent this year.
This means the SSP increase will not keep up with the increasing cost of living.
