Average pay for SMP - should you include bonus?

I have two queries relating to SMP: - When calculating average pay for SMP should you include a bonus payment that was made to the employee during the weeks that average pay is calculated. And, if the bonus is included and and the SMP figure is then substantially higher than the employees normal monthly pay, should the higher SMP figure be paid over to the employee if the company SMP policy is to pay full pay to an employee for the first 20 weeks?

Hi payrollKate,
Yes, you should include the bonus payment in the calculation.
If the company policy is to pay full pay for 20 weeks then normally this would be made up of the SMP plus whatever extra is required to take the payment to full pay.
The company can then claim back SMP as normal however you would need to consider the employment contract with the regards to this.
Thank you.