Statutory Sick Pay (ssp)
period is called a Period of Incapacity for Work (PIW). All days of incapacity count towards these days including weekends, holidays and any other day on which the employee would not normally be expected to work. If the employee performs any work on a day this cannot be counted as a day of incapacity for work so SSP is not payable • in the 8-week period up to and including the last pay day before the PIW, have Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) not less than the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) for NICs. Disqualification Employees do not qualify where on the first day of the Period of Incapacity for Work (PIW): • their PIW links with a recent claim for state sickness benefit (either Incapacity Benefit or Employment and Support Allowance) in such cases a linking letter ESA220, ESA220A, ESA220B or ESA220C will have been received by the employee and allow the employer not to pay SSP until the date shown on the letter, and for the employee to revert back to the higher rate of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) they were in receipt of previously. It is therefore advisable for employers to ask all new starters or those returning from sickness if they have a linking letter. If the letter has been mislaid the employee can request a copy from Jobcentre Plus • COPYRIGHT © 2021 THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF PAYROLL PROFESSIONALS they have received 28 weeks’ SSP in a linked PIW. periods of SSP with a previous employer no longer count towards the maximum entitlement to SSP. Therefore employers are no longer required to take into account whether a new employee received SSP from a former employer if falling sick within the first 8 weeks of starting their new job. As a result the SSP1(L) form has been discontinued • their Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) are below the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) • a female employee is within the disqualifying period related to her pregnancy. This is a 39- week period during which SMP or Maternity Allowance (MA) is or would be payable, or if she is not entitled to either SMP or MA in such cases the disqualification period is 18 weeks • they are away from work because of a trade dispute • they are in legal custody (at any time on the first day of the PIW) • they have not undertaken any work for the employer • they are outside the European Economic Area and are not liable to pay Class 1 NICs, or would not be liable even if earnings were high enough. Where the employee is not entitled to SSP, the employer must, provided the employee has been sick for four or more days in a row, i.e. have formed a PIW, complete a form SSP1 or approved equivalent, to enable the employee to claim Employment and Support Allowance. The form SSP1 must be supplied to the employee no later than: • seven days after notification that the employee’s sickness would last at least four days, or • the first pay day in the tax month following the one in which the reason for issuing the form SSP1 arose (where payroll arrangements are such that it is impractical to issue it within seven days). No printing, copying or reproduction permitted. NHS Trust employees who: • previously worked under a single contract for a Health Authority at more than one Hospital, and • as a direct result of the transfer of their employment to separate Trusts, subsequently have two or more separate contracts of employment may elect to have the contracts treated as
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