Statutory Sick Pay Entitlement
All employees are entitled to be paid Statutory Sick Pay when absent from work on sick leave. There are exceptions, and this include:
- Low paid who do not earn enough to pay national insurance contributions.
- New employees who have not done any work under the contract of employment.
- Pregnant employees.
- Employees who go off sick within 57 days of having previously received social security benefits.
- Prisoners.
- Employees on strike.
Statutory Sick Pay is payable for the first 28 weeks of absence in any period of sick leave entitlement.*
"Period of entitlement" will be either when the contract of employment comes to an end when the period of incapacity ends when the employee reaches their maximum entitlement to SSP, whichever is the earliest to occur.
Otherwise, the period of entitlement ends after three years.
After 28 weeks Incapacity Benefit will usually be payable by the DWP.
* The payment is made by the employer on behalf of the government. The employer is entitled to claim a contribution towards the payment which is deducted from the monthly Class 1 NICs (National Insurance Contributions) paid by the employer, this is called the Employment Allowance. To be eligible, an employee must be employed, under the age of 65 and have earnings of at least the lower earnings limit of £123 per week.