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Publication - Advice and guidance

Coronavirus (COVID-19): social care staff support fund guidance

Last updated
3 October 2022 - see all updates
Directorate
Social Care and National Care Service Development
Part of
Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland, Health and social care

Guidance for social care workers and employers about the Social Care Staff Support Fund, that aims to ensure social care workers do not experience financial hardship if they are ill or self-isolating due to coronavirus.

This document is part of a collection

Additional information

The Fund

From 1 October 2022, the social care staff support fund will operate in accordance with powers under the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978.

Self-isolate

Self-isolation or household isolation means staying at home to stop the spread of coronavirus. Guidance on who should isolate, when and for how long can be found on NHS Inform.

Expected income

Expected income is regarded as the greater amount of the pay someone would have received under their contract, or a week’s pay as defined in section 62 of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

Period when the Fund is active

The Fund will remain in place until 31 March 2023.

Any claims relating to an absence up to and including 30 September 2022 should be submitted to the local authority / integration authority which commissions your service, by 14 October 2022. If it is not possible to meet this deadline, notice of the intent to submit a claim, which includes an estimated claim value, should be submitted to the IA/LA by 14 October 2022. This can then be followed up by a claim by 30 November 2022.

Additional information for employers

If an employer has paid out a sum of money to any employee to top up the income to their expected income, that employer is entitled to seek reimbursement of that amount from the Fund.  In order to make a claim, an employer of a relevant social care worker must provide satisfactory evidence to the Scottish Ministers, or those who are administering the Fund on their behalf, that all of the criteria set out in this guidance have been met. 

An employer is not entitled to seek the reimbursement of any costs from the Fund to the extent that it has received any payments or funding from any other public body or person designed to reimburse them for that amount.

Enquiries

If you require any further information or guidance around applying to this Fund, please contact the team at scssfenquiries@gov.scot.

First published
24 June 2020
Last updated
3 October 2022 - show all updates

  1. Overview, additional information and fund criteria sections updated to reflect arrangements in place from 1 October 2022.

  2. Update to period fund is active date in additional information.

  3. Update to fund dates.

  4. Updates to fund criteria and additional information.

  5. Link on fund criteria page updated.

  6. Period when the Fund is active information updated.

  7. Information on fund being extended and Long COVID added

  8. Changes made to eligible workers and fund criteria pages to reference ILF Scotland.

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