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Do you have an agreement with your employer that you will be paid for sick leave? Some contracts include provision for sick pay. If you’re uncertain look at your employment contract or staff handbook.

Is the agreement for more than SSP? Statutory sick pay is currently £99.35 for 28 weeks. If your contractual sick pay is for less than that, you may be better off relying on your statutory rights.

Have you met your employer's requirements for paying sick pay? Most contracts that provide for sick pay will also set out rules for when sick pay will be paid. The details of these requirements will vary from employer to employer; common rules include a requirement that you report your sickness in a particular way or provide a fit note from your doctor. Most employers will also have rules about how long they will pay sick pay for, which you might have exceeded.

SSP is a safety net. Can you meet the employer's conditions?

Contractual terms explanation --- Have you been paid?

Are you an agricultural worker? Agricultural workers have different sick pay rules, which are beyond the scope of this site. For more information see here

Are you receiving Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)? If you’re entitled to SMP or maternity allowance you are not entitled to statutory sick pay.

For more information about statutory maternity pay see here

How many days have you been sick and continuously unable to work?    You should count every day you have been too ill to work. Even if you wouldn’t normally work that day, if you are too ill work, it should be counted.

For example, if you work Monday to Friday, fall sick on Friday and are still too ill to work on Monday, Monday is your fourth day of sickness. You count the weekend because you were still too sick to work, even though you would not have been in work if you had been well.

Have you been sick for at least four days in a row in the last 8 weeks / 56 days?

Have you been unable to work because you were sick for a total of 28 weeks (including linked periods of previous sickness)? You are entitled to 28 weeks SSP before it runs out and you stop being paid.

Once you return to work, your right to SSP will reset after eight weeks. If you fall sick again within eight weeks, this is a ‘linked period’ of sickness, which will be considered with the previous one (and any previous periods of sickness not separated by an eight week gap).

For example, if you fall sick and are paid SSP for 24 weeks, then return to work for two weeks, before falling sick again, you have only four weeks of SSP left before you have used up your entitlement.

Do you have a fit note from your doctor?
SSP should be paid for up to seven days without a fit note. But, after seven days, your employer can require you to obtain a fit note from your GP. This will need to cover any period for which you want to claim SSP.

Have you told your employer that you're ill?

Do you normally earn over £123 a week?

How many days a week do you normally work?   

Have you received this?

Does your employer say that they don't have to pay SSP?


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