Payroll information for clients including rates for 2020-21 tax year
SSP and the COVID19 Coronavirus
- Applies to small and medium size employers (fewer than 250 employees) based on the number of people employed as at 28th February 2020
- The refund will cover up to 2 weeks’ SSP per eligible employee who has been off work because of COVID-19 – although this may be extended
- Employers will be able to reclaim expenditure for any employee who has claimed SSP (according to new eligibility criteria) as a result of COVID-19
- Employers should maintain records of staff absences, but employees will not need to provide a GP fit note
- Eligible period for the scheme will commence the day after the regulations on the extension of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) to those staying at home comes into force
- The government will work with employers over the coming months to set up the repayment mechanism
- Businesses that are having to close during the COV-ID19 restrictions will be able to pay and claim back 80% of staff salaries upto £2,500 per month we will keep you updated on details on how to administer this as we receive them
New NMW & NLW from 01/04/20
These rates are for the National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage. The rates change every April. See new rates below for the new tax year.
| Year | 25 and over | 21 to 24 | 18 to 20 | Under 18 | Apprentice |
| April 2019 | £8.21 | £7.70 | £6.15 | £4.35 | £3.90 |
| April 2020 | £8.72 | £8.20 | £6.45 | £4.55 | £4.15 |
SMP/SPP/SAP Rate for 2020-21 is £151.20
SSP Rate for 2020-21 is £95.85 per week
New Eligibility for Employment Allowance
Employment allowance eligibility is also changing from April and restrictions are as follows:
- Employers NI for the previous tax year is below £100,000
- Connected companies as before only one company is eligible for Employment Allowance
- De minimus state aid – the ceiling for most sectors is 200,000 euros in the previous 3 years
Please advise if you have linking companies or you receive De minimus state aid. For those who do qualify the allowance has been increased to £4,000 per year.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – Furlough Leave
The scheme has been set up to help support all employers to continue to pay part of their employees’ salary – for employees who would have been load off work to the crisis.
All UK businesses are eligible for the scheme.
HMRC will reimburse 80% of the employees who are put on furlough leave salary. Up to a cap of £2,500 per month per employee.
The grant is in place to cover ALL employment costs. This includes gross salary, pension costs and employer’s national insurance contributions.
The employer can choose to make up the difference between the furlough pay and the employees’ normal salary but doesn’t have to.
To qualify for the scheme, the furlough employee should not undertake any work for the employer whilst they are on furlough. The furloughed worker is kept on the payroll rather than being laid off.
The furlough payments can be backdated to 1 March and will be initially open for 3 months and may be extended if necessary.
The employer needs to designate the affected employees as furlough workers and notify the employees of the change of their employment status.
If the employer decides that they need to put employees on furlough, they need to prepare a notification letter to give to the employees – this is something we can help with if needed.
Information needs to be submitted to HMRC through a new online portal to inform them of the employees who have been furloughed with details of their earnings.
We expect the first grants to be paid out within the next few weeks.