The Statutory Sick Pay (Coronavirus) (Funding of Employers’ Liabilities) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2022

Funding of eligible employers’ liabilities by HMRC

3.—(1) An eligible employer who has made a payment of statutory sick pay(1) to an employee where—

(a) that employee’s period of incapacity for work(2) is related to coronavirus; and

(b) any day of incapacity for work in that period falls on or after 21st December 2021,

is, subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), entitled to recover the amount paid to the employee in respect of those days of incapacity for work which fall on or after 21st December 2021 (the “reimbursement amount”) from HMRC.

(2) An eligible employer is not entitled to recover a reimbursement amount from HMRC—

(a) if, were the eligible employer to receive the reimbursement amount claimed, the amount of State aid received by the eligible employer would exceed the maximum temporary aid amount for that eligible employer; or

(b) in respect of an employee for a period for which the eligible employer is entitled to a government grant in respect of that employee due to the employee being furloughed from the employment for reasons related to COVID-19.

(3) The amount which an eligible employer may recover from HMRC under these Regulations is limited to—

(a) in relation to a single employee, £192.70; and

(b) in total, £192.70 multiplied by the number of employees enrolled in PAYE schemes of the eligible employer on 30th November 2021, determined in accordance with regulation 4.

(4) In this regulation—

(a) an employee includes an employee who—

(i) was employed by the eligible employer during a period of incapacity for work related to coronavirus,

(ii) has received a payment of statutory sick pay from the eligible employer in respect of that period of incapacity for work, and

(iii) no longer works for the eligible employer; and

(b) the reference to the reimbursement amount in paragraph (2)(a) is to that amount converted into euros using the European Commission’s—

(i) official monthly accounting rate for the euro; and

(ii) conversion rate for December 2021(3).

(1)

“Statutory sick pay” is defined in section 147(1) of the 1992 Act.

(2)

“Period of incapacity for work” is defined in section 148(2) of the 1992 Act.

(3)

The European Commission’s official rates are available at https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/how-eu-funding-works/information-contractors-and-beneficiaries/exchange-rate-inforeuro_en.