Doubling the Statutory Sick Pay self-certification period from seven to 14 days in cases of swine flu will have little impact on payroll administration, according to research conducted by the Institute of Payroll Professionals (IPP).
The study, conducted amongst members of the IPP, revealed that almost three quarters (73%) of UK organisations are well prepared to cope with any Government contingency plans to change sickness self-certification.
More encouraging was the fact that only a small percentage (16.5%) would have to make changes to their payroll software to accommodate this proposed change.
However, although these statistics are encouraging from an administration point of view, the research also revealed that more than a third (36.2%) of companies are not covered for pandemics in their insurance. This is alarming considering the dramatic increase of swine flu cases over the past couple of months.
A common concern highlighted in the survey was that an extended Statutory Sick Pay period was open to abuse from employees looking to pull sickies and take extra time off work. Indeed many commented that the main obstacle was ensuring the period was only extended for swine flu and nothing else. Tthis could pose a significant burden on some larger businesses who may already have a high turnover of sickness absence. The IPP believe the Government intention is that the change will apply to all sickness absence
Should the Government be forced to introduce the extended period of self-certification, communication was cited as playing a vital role in the implementation process to ensure all employees and managers were aware of the new procedures and internal processes.
Lindsay Melvin, CEO of the IPP, says: The swine flu pandemic could potentially have a dramatic impact on UK businesses. In response to this the IPP commissioned research to discover what the impact would be on payroll professionals in the UK. Although a few concerns have been highlighted in this study, it is very encouraging to see that the majority of businesses are fully prepared to deal with any changes to the self-certification period for Statutory Sick Pay.
For those businesses unprepared it is vital that they assess their current contingency plans and have a communication strategy in place for keeping the workforce updated on the rapidly changing pandemic situation.
The plans, which would allow people with suspected swine flu to extend the amount of time they can take off work without a doctors note from seven to 14 days, are currently under review by the Cabinet Office and would be enacted for a limited period of time, most likely six months, if the number of cases in the UK rose dramatically.
For help and guidance about Statutory Sick Pay and the proposed changes, payroll related concerns, or to discuss how the recession is affecting your job, please contact the IPPs Advisory Service on 0845 130 4776 or email advisory@payrollprofession.org.
Note to editors;
From 22 to 29 July 2009, the IPP ran a survey amongst their members to establish what impact an increase in self-certification for Statutory Sick Pay would have on payroll professionals in the UK. In total, there were 133 respondents.
For further media information contact:
Christian Musgrave Redkite PR and Marketing Tel: 0113 258 7938 E-mail: christian@redkitepr.co.uk
About IPP:
The IPP is a 24 year-old membership organisation that wants to achieve Chartered status (formerly known as The Institute of Payroll and Pensions Management until Sept 2006) There are over 50,000 people who work in payroll and 5,000 members of the IPP
What does IPP offer:
Training and professional qualifications. Professional designatory letters eg MIPP, MIPP (pensions) An Advisory Service with up to date online industry news Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme encouraging self-improvement and career development structure A monthly journal called PayrollProfessional Recruitment: full-time, part-time and temporary Representation at the highest levels of government through the very active Policy team Participation in a long range strategy to change the perception of the payroll profession Regular events, meetings, conferences People who work in the payroll industry have seen a fundamental shift in the way they work recently because tax legislations have become more complicated and the Government has moved the burden of collection onto the employer - the organisation regularly lobbies the Government on its policy decisions
