Scheme

Use this tab to create the details for an occupational sickness scheme.

You must click Save to save the details on the Scheme tab before you can define the allowances for the scheme on the Progression tab.

Occupational Sick Scheme

Type the code for the scheme. You can enter a maximum of five characters.

Description

Type a description for the scheme. You can enter a maximum of 40 characters.

Qualifying Query

Optional. Select, from the drop-down list, the query that identifies the group of employees who might qualify for the scheme. If you leave this field blank, all employees potentially qualify for the scheme.

The drop-down list displays only those queries in which the Accessible By All Users check box is selected (in the Query Definitions window).

Qualifying Months

Type the number of months from an employee’s employment or service start date that an employee must be employed to qualify for the scheme. For example, if an employee has to be employed for at least five years to qualify, type 60.

From

Select the qualifying criterion for the start date for the period specified in Qualifying Months. You can select either Employment Start Date or Service Start Date.

Duration Type

Select the duration type. Select:

  • Working Days to calculate the allowances for employees based on the number of working days in the pay period.
  • Calendar Days to calculate the allowances based on the number of calendar days.
  • Working Pattern Specific to calculate the allowances for employees based on their specific working patterns.

Use WTE

Select this check box to use the whole or full-time equivalent, but only when you specify Working Days in Duration Type. Otherwise, leave the check box clear. When this check box is selected, the system prorates allowances for employees based on their WTE. For example, if an employee working full-time qualifies for 130 working days at full pay, someone wilth the same length of service working at .5 WTE would qualify for 65 working days at full pay.

Allowance Type

Select the basis for the allowance. Select Rolling to specify the period in which the sickness absence for an employee is examined, when the system determines entitlement to sick pay. If you select Rolling, the default period is one year (365 days), but you can specify a different period by using a diary rule you select in Diary Rule. For example, you can select a diary rule that specifies a period of three years from an employee’s service start date. The sickness allowances of employees are reduced by all their sickness absence in the rolling period. Alternatively, select Fixed Annual to examine all sickness absences from a specific date in the year. For example, if you select Fixed Annual, you can specify the 1st of January as the date by using the Start Month and Start Day fields. This means that every January 1st, all qualifying employees would have their sickness allowances reset to their full allowances.

Diary Rule

Select a diary rule to specify the period in which the system examines employees’ sickness absence. You should select a diary rule only when Allowance Type is set to Rolling. If the allowance type is set to Fixed Annual, leave this field blank.

Start Month

Select the specific month of the year from when an employee’s sickness allowance starts. This field is available only when you select Fixed Annual in Allowance Type.

Start Day

Select the specific day of the year from when an employee’s sickness allowance starts. This field is available only when you select Fixed Annual in Allowance Type.

Linking Period Days

Type the number of days that determines whether a new period of sickness absence is linked to a previous period of sickness absence. For example, if you set this to 60 days, any employees off sick within the last 60 days and who have become ill again, would only be entitled to the allowances for which they qualified in the previous sickness absence period. They would not, simply as a result of increased service, be entitled to any increased allowances defined in another scheme.

Alter SSP

Select this check box to adjust employees’ statutory sick pay in the current pay period, based on the absence in the sickness absence records you create or on sickness recorded separately. The working file is updated to reflect any SSP payments. Leave this check box clear if you plan to produce regular reports to identify when employees’ sick pay allowances will change or reduce in the near future. If your organization cannot claim back SSP through the Percentage Threshold Scheme (PTS), you might still choose to select  this check box because it is a statutory requirement to report any SSP paid to employees. If you leave this check box clear, you will have to manually update the working file, for those employees who are paid SSP during the tax year, to ensure any SSP payments are recorded in P14s for your P35 annual return. To calculate SSP, record it, but not pay it, you can offset SSP payments for an employee by selecting the Deduct Payment check box on the Sickness tab in HR Record > Payroll Details > Details.

Alter Pay

Select this check box to prorate employees’ basic pay in the current pay period, based on the absence in the sickness absence records you create or on sickness recorded separately. The working file is updated to reflect basic pay adjustments and includes transactions for basic pay or salary and any occupational sick pay for the pay period. Leave this check box clear if you want to pay full salary or full basic pay and plan to produce regular reports to identify when employees’ sick pay allowances will change or reduce in the near future.

For information about the details you must enter to define the allowances on the Progression tab, click here.