New rules aimed at encouraging long-term sick employees to return to the workplace have come into force in the UK.
Changes to legislation, which came into effect from April 6 2014, mean that employers are no longer entitled to claim back statutory sick pay (SSP) from the government.
The new order is expected to make savings of approximately £50million per annum that will instead fund the new Health and Work Service.
The Health and Work Service is part of the SSP reform and will be introduced in replacement of the abolished Percentage Threshold Scheme (PTS).
Employers are however still entitled to claim back SSP up to April 6 2016 relating to any work incapacity prior to April 62014.
Businesses were previously able to claim back any SSP amount that exceeded 13 per cent of its Class 1 national insurance contributions in a month. This deterred employers from pressuring staff to return to work as neither party were losing out financially.
The Health and Work Service will provide voluntary medical assessments and treatment plans to those off sick for longer than four weeks in England, Wales and Scotland. The scheme, which will be run by the private sector and fully rolled-out by April 2015, is expected to benefit employers by reducing the number of people on long-term sick leave.
For more information on this, or any other employment law matter, contact the Employment team on 01772 258321.
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