What is Statutory Sick Pay?
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is the minimum entitlement that an employee is eligible to receive when they are absent from work due to sickness, provided they meet the eligibility criteria. You can pay more than this if you wish, but you can't pay less.
The current rate of Statutory Sick Pay for 2023/2024 is £109.40
Who gets Statutory Sick Pay?
SSP is available to all employees who meet the eligibility criteria.
What evidence should my employee provide?
An employee can self-certify their illness for the first seven calendar days verbally or in writing, in line with your company policy.
HMRC offer a self-certification form that an employee can use, or you can use your version.
If an employee's absence continues for more than seven days, you can ask them to provide medical evidence to continue receiving Statutory Sick Pay. Evidence might be:
A doctor's fit note.
A report from an Allied Health Professional such as a dental hygienist, chiropractor or acupuncturist, though you can decide if this is accepted evidence.
When does an employee get Statutory Sick Pay?
An employee may be eligible to receive Statutory Sick Pay if:
They're absent for four or more calendar days (including bank holidays and weekends).
They've given you the correct notice (i.e. have notified their manager on day 1 of their absence or within the specified time written in your employment contract).
They're classed as an employee.
The first three qualifying days of sickness are called 'Waiting Days'; employees aren't paid for these days. Qualifying Days relate to days of the week that your employee works.
How much is Statutory Sick Pay?
Statutory Sick Pay is £109.40 per week, and the daily rate depends on how many days per week an employee works.
For an employee who works a five day week, their daily rate will be £109.40 divided by 5 = £21.88.
When does Statutory Sick Pay end?
An employee can receive up to 28 weeks of Statutory Sick Pay per period of sickness.
Statutory Sick Pay is no longer payable if your employee has a period of linked absences lasting three years or more. At this point, you need to issue an SSP1 form, advising the employee why they're not longer eligible for SSP. This form provides the employee with information about what to do next.
What is a linked period of sickness?
If your employee has had more than one period of sickness within eight weeks (56 days), these periods may be classed as linked periods. In this case, the employee could be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay from the first day of absence.
The employee will be entitled to continuous Statutory Sick Pay if:
Statutory Sick Pay was paid in the first absence.
The new period of sickness is four or more days long.
Are zero-hour contracted employees entitled to SSP?
If you employ somebody on a zero-hour contract, they may still be eligible for Statutory Sick Pay, provided they meet the qualifying criteria mentioned above.
However, because a zero-hour worker has no set days or hours, calculating Statutory Sick Pay can be confusing. You may already have this included in the contract of employment, but if it is not, Qualifying Days for Statutory Sick Pay can be as follows:
The employee was scheduled to work - Use the days of the week that the employee was expected to work in the sickness period.
The employee was not scheduled to work - Use Wednesdays.
There was no schedule - Use all seven calendar days.
Tip: The qualifying days might change throughout the period of sickness.
How is Statutory Sick Pay calculated?
PayFit aims to make payroll processing as seamless as possible for you, so sickness deductions and Statutory Sick Pay payments are automatically calculated when you enter an employee absence. For further information and examples about the Statutory Sick Pay calculation, please refer to our Help Centre article.
How do I reclaim Statutory Sick Pay?
From April 2014, HMRC abolished the SSP reclaim scheme. This allowed employers to reclaim some of the SSP they paid to their employees but is no longer available. However, statutory parental payments can still be reclaimed. For further information, please refer to HMRC's guidance.
Tip: In the same year, HMRC introduced the Employment Allowance which reduces your liability by a fixed amount every year.
Terminology used in Statutory Sick Pay
Waiting Day
The first three days of an employee's absence in which Statutory Sick Pay is not payable (working days).
Qualifying Day
A day that the employee was expected to work.
Relevant Period
The eight weeks before the last pay day and before the first day of sickness.