COMPLIANCE
In 1983, the government laid legislation which meant that when an employee was unable to work because of sickness, their employer would have to process a payment to them. This is how statutory sick pay (SSP) was born. In this issue, the CIPP’s policy and research team explores various elements of the statutory payment Statutory sick pay What is it? SSP is the minimum an employer must pay an employee who meets certain eligibility criteria, when they’re unable to work because they’re sick. SSP is paid at a weekly rate of £99.35 (for the tax year 2022/23) and is paid for a maximum of 28 weeks.
Eligibility criteria To qualify for SSP, an employee must have: ● a contract of employment ● carried out some work under their contract
● been absent from work, due to sickness, for four or more days in a row. This includes non-working days and is known as a ‘period of incapacity for work’ (PIW) ● earned on average at least £123 per week (for tax year 2022/23) ● provided the correct notice ● provided proof of their illness if it exceeds seven days ● SSP is a day one right of employment, providing the employee has carried out some work for their employer. What’s a PIW? A PIW is created when an employee has been absent from work for four days in a row and there is a requirement for SSP to be paid. A PIW can include non-working days if the employee is still sick during this time. You cannot, however, count a day as a sick day if an employee has worked for a minute or more before they go home sick. If an employee works a shift that ends the day after it started and becomes sick during the shift, or after it has finished, the second day will count as a sick day. How much is paid? The weekly rate for SSP for tax year 2022/23 is £99.35 for up to 28 weeks. SSP is paid: ● for the days an employee normally works (these are called ‘qualifying days’) once they’ve been off sick for four or more qualifying days ● in line with their normal pay day ● is classed as wages. The daily rate of SSP will depend on the number of qualifying days per week. To calculate the average earnings, employers should add together the eight weeks’ pay prior to the date of sickness. *Please note the above information applies to employees only, and different rules may apply to other types of employment, e.g., agency workers, directors and educational workers.
When is someone not eligible? Employees do not qualify for SSP if they:
● have exhausted the maximum amount of SSP (28 weeks) ● are in receipt of statutory maternity pay or statutory maternity allowance – there are other rules for pregnant women and new mothers who don’t get these payments ● are absent from work because of a pregnancy-related illness in the four weeks before the week (Sunday to Saturday) their baby is due ● were in custody or on strike on the first day of sickness (which included any linked periods) ● are working outside the EU and the employer isn’t liable for their National Insurance contributions ● received employment and support allowance within 12 weeks of starting or returning to work for their employer. If an employee doesn’t qualify for SSP, form SSP1 must be sent within seven days of the sickness-related absence. When an employee’s SSP is ending, they must be sent form SSP1 either: ● within seven days of their SSP ending, if it ends unexpectedly while they’re still sick ● on or before the beginning of the 23rd week, if their SSP is expected to end before their sickness does ● if a new episode of sickness absence begins within the linked period, eligibility for SSP is determined based on the assessment from the first episode of sickness absence. Read more about linked periods of absence here: https://rb.gy/t2xmz6.
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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 83 | September 2022
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