Part 1: Main Provisions Section 39: Statutory sick pay: funding of employers’ liabilities
This section inserts a new section 159B in the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992, providing for a power in relation to the funding of additional employer liabilities for Statutory Sick Pay ("SSP") incurred as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. Qualifying employers would therefore receive a specified rebate for SSP payments made for a specified period. The Secretary of State is allowed to make regulations regarding the recovery from HMRC of additional payments of SSP by qualifying employers for absences related to COVID-19. The regulations may in particular control the levels of rebate, to whom the rebate is paid, and the period for which the rebate will be available. As the situation changes with regard to the virus, it might be considered appropriate to extend the rebate to larger businesses. Also, it might become necessary to increase, or decrease, the amount of the rebate payable. This is achievable using the new regulation making power.
	There are penalties for employers who make fraudulent claims or who fail to keep the records required to support a claim.
	The territorial extent and application of this section is England and Wales and Scotland only.