Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) currently stands at £96.35 (2021/22) per week for a maximum of 28 weeks and must be offered to all employees who are eligible. As an employer, it is your duty to know when you need to pay SSP, as well as who is entitled to it and for how long, read on to find out:
- Who is eligible?
- What the notice period is
- How to keep track
Who is eligible?
- Be classed as an employee – they should also have an Employment Contract, which is now a day 1 right
- Have done some work under this contract
- Have been sick, or self-isolating, for 4 or more days in a row
- Earn at least £120 per week (2021/22)
- Have informed the employer as set out in the Contract of Employment and your policies
- Given proof of illness;
- a Fit Note after 7 days off work
- or an Isolation Note available online from NHS 111 https://111.nhs.uk/isolation-note/ if they are self-isolating due to COVID-19.
Copy of the notification of the requirement to self-isolate if notified of the requirement to self-isolate due to contact with someone who has COVID-19
When to start paying SSP
The first 3 days of illness are called ‘waiting days’; on the fourth ‘qualifying day’ (a day the employee normally works), you need to start paying SSP. A sick day is not counted if an employee has worked for over a minute on the day in question.
You only pay SSP for the first 3 days if the employee has been off sick, getting SSP within the last 8 weeks, at which point they are considered ‘linked’ periods of sickness. After 3 years of ‘linked’ sickness SSP payments, the employee is no longer eligible.
Employees still are able to receive SSP if they:
- have more than one job,
- have been paid for less than 8 weeks of earnings or if they choose to take annual leave during their sick leave in which case SSP is paused for the duration of the holiday period. We strongly recommend that employees are not allowed to convert sick days to holidays as this may mask an attendance issue. Holiday should only be allowed when pre-booked in accordance with your holiday booking policy.
Employees do not qualify for SSP if they:
- Are receiving Maternity Pay or Maternity allowance
- Are off work for a pregnancy related illness, but only within the last 4 weeks of their pregnanc
- Are working outside of the UK, if you’re not liable for their National Insurance.
- Are entering or returning to the UK and do not need to self-isolate for any other reason
- Have received the maximum amount of SSP payment (28 weeks)
- Have received Employment Support Allowance within 12 weeks of starting or returning to work
What happens when SSP runs out?
Form SSP1, which notifies the employee of when their SSP is coming to an end, or of them not being eligible for SSP, should be generated by your payroll provider must be given:
- within 7 days of them taking time off sick (if they don’t qualify),
- within 7 days of their SSP ending or before or on the 23rd week of them receiving SSP (if it is expected their illness will last longer than the payments). Your employee is able to appeal to HMRC if they feel this is unfair (they will be told how to do so on the form itself).
Notice
Your employee should notify you of their illness within the time limit you have set (or 7 days if there isn’t one in place); you are unable to demand they notify you in any particular way, they just need to let you know. Unless there is a good reason, you do not have to pay SSP for any day that they did not notify you about. Although you cannot insist that the employee informs you in person, as in the enlightenHR Contract, you can state that you wish them to inform you in person and not by other methods e.g. social media and therefore most employees will do so; you will not be able to discipline them or refuse to pay SSP if they fail to comply.
After 7 days of sickness, you can ask for a Fit Note from your employee, but you are not able to withhold SSP payment if this is provided late. However, you can withhold SSP if until the Fit Note is provided and if it isn’t, not make payment.
What about holiday during sickness absence?
Employees continue to accrue holiday during periods of sickness absence.
If they are unable to take accrued holiday during the current holiday year they are entitled to carry it over to the following year.
If an employee if sick during a period of booked holiday, they are entitled to take that holiday at another time if they wish. In order to do so, they need to follow the sickness absence reporting procedure and will receive SSP, or whatever sick pay they are entitled to, during the period of sickness as set out in the enlightenHR template Contract of Employment.
Sick leave, and pay, can be paused if the employee wishes to take holiday and be paid for that instead of sick pay.
Keeping track
It is not required that you keep track of what SSP you have paid, however, it may be smart to do so in case of any legal difficulties encountered and we would always recommend that you are recording and monitoring sickness absence so that you can support employees and manage any issues.
If this leaves confusion, the Gov.uk website includes a SSP calculator, which will help you work out who is eligible, for how much, and for how long.
Our Support and Advice
Please do talk to us if we can help in any way, we are here to support you.
Please note, this briefing is accurate at the time of writing and intended, it is not intended to replace advice so please do call us if you have any queries.
