Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) helps companies by making certain their workers take the correct time to get well in addition to stopping sicknesses spreading via the office
- If one in all your workers can’t work attributable to sickness, Statutory Sick Pay requires you to pay them £123.25 per week – or 80% of their common weekly earnings, whichever is decrease – for a most of 28 weeks.
- Nonetheless, it needs to be a full day. In-line with The Employment Rights Act 2025, Statutory Sick Pay kicks in from day one, down from the day gone by 4.
- From April 6, 2026, a decrease wage restrict of £125 per week not applies to be eligible for SSP. So, when you’ve received workers who earn lower than that and weren’t eligible earlier than, they’re entitled to sick pay from the primary full day of sickness as of April 6.
- SSP doesn’t have an effect on an worker’s statutory vacation, which ought to nonetheless be accrued regardless of how lengthy they’re off sick, and they need to be allowed to hold any holidays not taken attributable to illness into the subsequent 12 months.
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) helps companies by making certain their workers take the correct time to get well in addition to stopping sicknesses spreading via the office.
SSP continues to be a sophisticated space of employment legislation, and lots of small companies have questions on the place and when their obligations finish if an worker is off sick.
On this article we clarify what SSP is, who it applies to, who’s exempt, the way it works, and the way a lot it prices.
What’s Statutory Sick Pay?
If one in all your workers can’t work attributable to sickness, Statutory Sick Pay requires you to pay them £123.25 per week – or 80% of their common weekly earnings, whichever is decrease – for a most of 28 weeks.
If your organization runs its personal contractual or occupational sick pay scheme (which should be detailed in any employment contract), you’ll be able to select to pay your workers extra throughout their illness, however you’ll be able to’t supply much less. SSP is the authorized minimal.
As a way to qualify for SSP, workers should:
- Have an employment contract
- Have labored beneath that contract
- Have notified you of their illness inside your stipulated time restrict or inside seven days
In some circumstances an worker could also be ineligible for SSP, together with in the event that they:
- Have acquired most SSP (28 weeks)
- Are at present receiving Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance
- Are off work attributable to a pregnancy-related sickness inside the 4 weeks earlier than the due week of their child
- Have been in custody or on strike on the primary day that their illness began
- Aren’t responsible for Nationwide Insurance coverage contributions
- Work exterior the EU
- Obtained Employment and Help Allowance inside 12 weeks of beginning or returning to give you the results you want
Although it principally applies to workers, company staff may be eligible for SSP.
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How does it work?
In-line with The Employment Rights Act 2025, Statutory Sick Pay kicks in from day one, down from the day gone by 4.
Nonetheless, it needs to be a full day. If an worker has begun work on a day, that day can’t rely as a sick day. Being off greater than as soon as inside eight weeks for a similar cause might be seen as a ‘linked interval of illness’. On this state of affairs, the preliminary interval’s common weekly earnings might be used for subsequent calculations.
This must be paid on the identical schedule as their wages, and with revenue tax and Nationwide Insurance coverage deducted if relevant. SSP is payable by the day.
As quickly as an worker returns to work, it’s best to resume paying them at their regular price. There’s no authorized obligation to maintain data of SSP funds, however it’s smart to take care of absence data in case there’s ever a pay dispute.
SSP doesn’t have an effect on an worker’s statutory vacation, which ought to nonetheless be accrued regardless of how lengthy they’re off sick, and they need to be allowed to hold any holidays not taken attributable to illness into the subsequent 12 months.
Illness absences earlier than April 2026
From April 6, 2026, a decrease wage restrict of £125 per week not applies to be eligible for SSP. So, when you’ve received workers who earn lower than that and weren’t eligible earlier than, they’re entitled to sick pay from the primary full day of sickness as of April 6. They have to nonetheless meet the remainder of the eligibility standards, although.
Can I ask for proof?
You’ll be able to solely ask for a match notice after your worker has been off for greater than seven days in a row. A match notice should be issued by a physician or hospital, or when you agree, proof will be within the type of an Allied Well being Skilled Well being and Work report.
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