Statutory sick pay (SSP)

Background information

Employees may be absent from work for many reasons, for example due to sickness or because they are due to have a baby. An employer has an obligation to provide statutory payments to employees in these cases, if certain conditions are met. These conditions include minimum earnings and length of service.

  • The employer can choose to pay more than the statutory amounts if they wish.

  • Employers can recover from HMRC a percentage of the statutory payments made. This does not include SSP.

Statutory Sick Pay is paid when an employee is unable to work due to an illness or injury.

Eligibility

To be eligible for SSP, an employee must:

  • Have an employment contract.

  • Have done some work under their contract.

  • Have been sick for 4 or more calendar days in a row (including non-working days) - known as a ‘period of incapacity for work’ (PIW).

  • Earn at least the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL).

  • Give you the correct notice.

  • Give you proof of their illness, (only after 7 calendar days off).

Employees don’t qualify for SSP if they:

  • Have received the maximum amount of SSP (28 weeks).

  • Are getting Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance.

  • Are off work for a pregnancy-related illness in the 4 weeks before the week their baby is due.

  • Were in custody or on strike on the first day of sickness (including any linked periods).

  • Wre working outside the EU and you’re not liable for their National Insurance contributions.

  • Received Employment Support Allowance within 12 weeks of starting or returning to work for you.

Calculating SSP

The two questions you first need to ask when calculating SSP are:

1. Has a Period of Incapacity for Work (PIW) been formed?

2. Have they earned enough?

Has a Period of Incapacity for Work (PIW) been formed?

An employee must be sick for 4 or more consecutive calendar days before they may be entitled to SSP; these days could include non-working days.

These four or more days are referred to as a Period of Incapacity for Work, or PIW.

If an employee has been sick for 3 or less consecutive calendar days there is no PIW and therefore no SSP entitlement.

For example, the following would not form a PIW:

Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun
Work Sick Work Sick Work Sick Sick

But the following would:

Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun
Work Sick Sick Sick Sick Sick Sick

If a PIW has been formed, you then need to check if they are Qualifying Days.

To determine Qualifying Days, first establish the employee’s normal Working Days:

E.g. if an employee normally works Monday to Friday, their Working Days are Mon-Fri and their non-working days would be Saturday and Sunday.

Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun
Work Work Work Work Work No Work No Work

Therefore, their Qualifying Days are also Mon-Fri:

Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun
Qualifying Qualifying Qualifying Qualifying Qualifying Non Qualifying Non Qualifying

Common abreaviations

Work Working day
Non Work Non working day
Q Qualifying day
NQ Non qualifying day
WD Waiting day
Sick Sick day
PIW Period of Incapacity for work