Am I Entitled To 80% Pay If Sick With Coronavirus?

On Friday 20 March 2020, it was announced by the Chancellor that HMRC would be offering grants to cover up to 80% of wages of people whose jobs were threatened with redundancy due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. This has been named the “Furloughed Worker” scheme.

The scheme is not available to people who are off work sick with the virus or are self-isolating. This means that if your employer is continuing to trade and pay you as normal, you cannot access the scheme. In those circumstances, you will be entitled to sick pay, whether that is company sick pay or statutory sick pay. See more on that here.

The “furloughed worker” scheme is opened to all UK businesses which means all employers including limited companies and sole traders.

The first stage in the process is for your employer to designate you as a “furloughed worker”. This effectively means that your employer has decided that you would be made redundant were it not for this scheme.

The designation amounts to a change in your contract therefore you are not obliged to agree. However, as the alternative will almost certainly mean redundancy, in most cases it will make sense to agree the change.

Once the change in status is agreed, the employer must confirm the position with HMRC and submit information on your earnings via an online portal (to date, this has not yet been created).

The maximum that can be paid is 80% of your earnings up to a maximum of £2,500 per month. Your employer will not be obliged to make up the difference.

The effect of your employment is that you will remain employed during the downtime with the expectation that you will return to work when the current situation ends.

The government has said the scheme will run initially for 3 months from 1 March 2020 but may be extended if deemed necessary.

Further reading

For more information on this subject, you might find our other articles useful:

• What are my employment rights with Coronavirus?
• Should I be paid if I am off work with Coronavirus?

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