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Guide to Statutory Sick Pay
What is statutory sick pay?
If you’ve been hurt at work, you may be wondering if you’ll be eligible for sick pay to assist with your recovery financially. Statutory Sick Pay (also known as SSP) is a payment made by your employer under the terms of the Employment Rights Act 1996 if you are unable to work due to an illness or injury that keeps you from doing so.
This payment, which is presently £95.85 per week (as of February 2021), is payable for the first 28 weeks of your illness if you fulfill the eligibility requirements, which are as follows:
- You must have missed four days of work in a row after being off sick for at least four days. (including non-working days)
- Before income tax, you’ll earn at least £120 each week on average.
- Within any deadline the employer has set or within seven days, you have notified your employer of your illness.
If you qualify for sick pay, it will be paid to you from the fourth day of your sickness or disability onwards. – If you’re self-isolating due to Coronavirus, you’re entitled to Statutory Sick Pay from the first day you’ve taken off work. You won’t be eligible for SSP if you:
- Are self-employed
- Are in the armed forces
- Earn less than £120 per week
- Are receiving maternity pay or maternity allowance
- Within the previous four weeks of your pregnancy, you or someone in your family has had a pregnancy-related sickness.
- If you’ve been using SSP for 28 weeks and it’s now less than eight weeks since your membership ended, please contact us as soon as possible.
- Because of the Coronavirus, you have been placed “on furlough” by your employer.
There may be some additional benefits accessible to assist you during your sickness or accident, such as Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). If you don’t qualify for SSP, there may be other perks available to help you cope with your illness or injury, such As. You may utilize form SSP1 to support your application.
Can I claim sick pay on a zero hours contract?
The Holidays and Sick Pay Act has made the SSP an obligation that is payable whether you are employed or self-employed, full-time or part-time, permanent or temporary. If you’re a work-from-home agency employee who’s been with your company for at least three months, you should be covered by SSP in the usual manner.
If you’ve been there less than three months, you’re entitled to sick pay until the end of the most recent assignment you were working on.
Process for claiming sick pay
While the laws governing sick pay in the United Kingdom are the same throughout the nation, your employer may have a distinct procedure for notifying illness. It’s critical that you check your contract and follow the policy of your employer to be eligible for sick pay and avoid penalties that may violate your employment agreement.
In the first week you’ve been off work, you’ll be able to “self-certify” – this means you won’t need a doctor’s note or other proof of your illness or injury, but you’ll need one in order to receive sick pay after.
If you’re returning to work after being away due to an illness or injury, and you have to take additional time off for the same issue, The first four days of paid absence are unlikely to be required again, as the two circumstances are linked.
What can you do if your employer doesn’t pay you SSP?
In some situations, your employer might refuse to pay you Statutory Sick Pay due to human or computer error, or because they’ve questioned whether you’re qualified for it. If your employer claims you are not entitled to sick pay, request a written explanation for their position.
This will be on a form called ‘Statutory Sick Pay and an Employee’s Claim for Benefit’ (SSP1). You should be able to collect your money within seven days of going off sick, and they should return any doctor’s notes you gave them. If you still believe your employer made the wrong selection and you can’t talk to them about it, consider taking these actions:
Raise a sick pay grievance with your employer
The first stage is always to try and resolve the problem directly with your employer. If your employer has a grievance procedure, you should always submit a complaint in accordance with that process. For example, writing a letter is a good idea.
If you’re not certain what actions to take, you can look for your company’s policy on complaint procedures in your employment contract, but there are many places to learn more about the situation and how to resolve it.
Contact HMRC’s Statutory Payments Disputes Team
HMRC will be able to assist you in what you should do next. You must contact them within six months of the date your statutory pay should have begun. They’ll be able to tell you whether your employer’s refusal to pay you is considered an “unlawful deduction of wages” under the 1947 FLSA.
They’ll be able to question your employer about why they believe you are not entitled to SSP if you can’t acquire form SSP1 or a written statement from your employer. You’ll need to have this information on hand when you call HMRC:
- your name, address and national insurance number
- your employer’s name and contact details
- your payroll number
- details of when you were off sick and what your employer said when asked for sick pay and the SSP1 form
If you follow these steps and nothing happens, you might consider going to an employment tribunal against your employer.
Employment tribunal for sick pay
If you follow your employer’s complaint procedure, contact HMRC, and they still refuse to pay you the money you feel you are owed, you are entitled to go to an employment tribunal.
If you and the other party cannot come to an agreement in person, by phone or in writing, you must notify the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (also known as Acas) and go through a “early conciliation” procedure to try to resolve it outside of court. If this doesn’t work, you’ll receive an early conciliation certificate and will have to go to a tribunal if your employer continues to refuse.
Sick pay and personal injury
If you’re entitled to sick pay, you might be wondering if you’ll be able to file a compensation claim on top of it. Simply stated, even if your wages or salary are already paid for by sick pay from your employer, you will still be able to make a claim for an accident that was not caused by you.
This is because major injuries frequently result in expenditures that would not otherwise be covered; for example, if you’ve had to pay for:
- Expensive medication
- Specialist care for your recovery
- Adaptions made to your car or home in the instance of disability
A personal injury lawyer will be able to assist you in determining how much compensation you may receive and whether your claim is likely to succeed. The adjuster will also consider how much SSP you’ve received and account for this in the guideline amount they estimate your claim might be worth.
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