Given the nature of COVID-19, an increasing number of employees are expected to be absent from work over the coming months due to illness or compulsory self-quarantine.

The government has pledged to help companies bear some of the financial cost of this through a reimbursement of SSP.

• Employees will be eligible for SSP from the first day of illness rather than the fourth

• When illness is directly related to coronavirus, employers can claim back the cost from the government to cover a two-week absence

• Available to all UK-based companies with fewer than 250 employees (as of 28 February 2020)

Grants for SMEs

Two forms of one-off cash payments will be made available to qualifying businesses in England. These will be made through the Retail and Hospitality Grant Scheme and the Small Business Grant Scheme. Both types are non-repayable and are designed to help businesses with their ongoing costs at a time when their income is likely to be reduced.

• £25,000 will be given to all businesses within the retail, leisure, and hospitality sector that have a property which attracts a rateable value of between £15,000 and £51,000

• £10,000 will be made available to smaller businesses currently in receipt of small business rate relief (SBBR) or rural rate relief (RRR) as part of the Small Business Grant Scheme

• Available to eligible businesses based in England

• Grants will be made by the local authority

• No application is required; qualifying businesses will soon receive communication from their local authority about how the scheme will work in practice