If you have any staff off sick at the moment, then you ought to be aware of some temporary changes to the Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) regime.

Certifying sickness absence

Normally, for SSP purposes, employees can only certify their own sickness absence for the first seven days. After that, they routinely need to obtain a certificate from their doctor. However, the government have introduced a short-term measure under which employees will be permitted to certify their own sickness absence for up to 28 days. Only if they are absent for more than 28 days will they need to obtain a medical certificate in order to comply with SSP reporting requirements.

This temporary measure applies to absences occurring since 17 December 2021, and for periods of sickness absence starting on or before 26 January 2022.

Keep your eyes peeled…

As we understand it, the law will return to normal in respect of any absences starting after 26 January 2022. However, it is worth keeping an eye out for news of further developments. After all, if the pressures on our healthcare system remain high, ‘temporary’ measures of this sort could yet be made a little more permanent.