Instruments of interest
Statutory Sick Pay (General) (Coronavirus Amendment) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/287)
Statutory Sick Pay (General) (Coronavirus Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/304)
4.Instrument 2020/287 deems those who are self-isolating, in line with guidance relating to coronavirus provided by Public Health England, NHS National Services Scotland and Public Health Wales,2 to be incapable of work and therefore entitled to Statutory Sick Pay. Statutory Sick Pay is paid by employers at a flat rate of £94.25 for up to 28 weeks (although the rate will increase to £95.85 from 6 April 2020). The Government regard this change as essential to encourage people to self-isolate when necessary so as to minimise the risk to public health.
5.These are emergency regulations which come into effect the day after being laid. They include a sunset clause and will lapse after eight months. Because these Regulations refer to Government coronavirus guidance issued on a particular date, they will need to be amended by further emergency regulations whenever the guidance changes. Instrument 2020/304 is the first of those update regulations.
Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit (Coronavirus Disease) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/289)
Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit (Coronavirus) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 (SR 2020/33)
6.These emergency regulations are part of the Government’s strategy to support people affected by Covid-19. These Regulations make changes to out of work benefits so that they can be claimed by those affected by the virus. They include a sunset clause and will lapse after eight months. The key changes are:
- Removing waiting days in Employment and Support Allowance for those affected by the virus to ensure that support is provided as early as possible and incentives for people to keep working or fail to isolate are removed.
- Ensuring that claimants to Employment and Support Allowance or Universal Credit can be treated as having Limited Capability for Work without the requirement for any medical evidence or to undergo a work capability assessment. This has the effect of switching off the normal requirements to look for and be available for work and provides access to other support within Universal Credit such as a work allowance and childcare support for those with partners who are still able to work. This change also protects Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) staff by reducing the amount of face to face contact that will be needed.
- Provisions for additional flexibility in the way the Minimum Income Floor for self-employed people will be assessed to ensure that any longer-term effects on self-employed claimants are reduced.
Further information from DWP on how this will operate is included in Appendix 1.
2 That guidance is published in digital form only on the following websites: Public Health England, ‘Number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and risk in the UK’ (23 March 2020): https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public [accessed 16 March 2020]; Health Protection Scotland, ‘Coronavirus (COVID-19)’: https://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/a-to-z-of-topics/covid-19/ [accessed 16 March 2020]; and Public Health Wales, ‘Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)’: https://phw.nhs.wales/topics/latest-information-on-novel-coronavirus-covid-19/ [accessed 16 March 2020].