Statutory sick pay: what employers must get right

Statutory sick pay looks simple until an employee is off for six weeks and the questions start. The rules are precise: who qualifies, when it starts, how much it is, and what records you must keep. Getting SSP wrong means underpaying staff, which is a fast route to disputes and HMRC attention.

Payroll paperwork and calendar for sick pay processing

Who qualifies and when it starts

SSP is payable to employees earning at or above the lower earnings limit, from the fourth consecutive day of incapacity, known as a period of incapacity for work. The first three days are waiting days and unpaid. It runs for up to 28 weeks per period of entitlement, at the flat weekly rate set each April, paid for the employee's qualifying days.

The evidence rules

For the first seven days, self-certification is enough; you cannot demand a fit note earlier. Beyond seven days, the employee should provide one. You can ask for notification in the way your contract specifies, but you cannot refuse SSP for minor procedural slips if the substantive conditions are met.

Common mistakes employers make

The classic errors: treating the waiting days wrong on part-time patterns, forgetting that SSP interacts with contractual sick pay (contractual pay usually includes SSP, it does not sit on top), and missing linked periods of incapacity, where two sickness periods within eight weeks join into one, resetting the waiting days. Each mistake either overpays or, worse, underpays.

Record-keeping is not optional

Keep SSP records for at least three years after the tax year they relate to: dates of incapacity, SSP paid, and weeks it related to. HMRC can ask, and disputes with employees turn on paperwork. If your payroll is run in software, most of this is captured automatically, which is one more reason not to run payroll on spreadsheets.

When absence becomes long term

SSP ends at 28 weeks, and the employee may move to Employment and Support Allowance. Your duty shifts to process: issue the SSP1 form so they can claim, and manage the return-to-work conversation properly. Long-term absence handled well protects both the business and the relationship.

Payroll has dozens of these small, exact rules, and missing one is expensive. Finex Outsourcing runs payroll outsourcing for UK employers, so SSP, SMP, and every other statutory payment is calculated right and documented properly.



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