Statutory Sick Pay

Chucklechops

Hi there

I have a friend who's currently signed off work due to stress.

Can I ask, what is the statutory length of time that an employer has to pay an employee their full wage, whilst they're off work due to long-tern sickness?

Thank you.

Savvy_Sue

There is no such statutory length of time. An employer can choose to pay SSP only after the first three days, which are unpaid 'waiting days'. 

Many employers do offer company sick pay but this may be for varied periods: my employer it's three months, I have known 6, and even up to 12, often followed by the same period on half pay. Note that's the maximum: in the first year it's two weeks for me. 

But note that most CSP schemes are discretionary, so there are occasions where payment won't be made. 

Undervalued

Chucklechops said:

Hi there

I have a friend who's currently signed off work due to stress.

Can I ask, what is the statutory length of time that an employer has to pay an employee their full wage, whilst they're off work due to long-tern sickness?

Thank you.

Zero!

Normally they are obliged to pay six months statutory sick pay (c. £100 per week) but any "entitlement" above and beyond that is a contractual matter. Although these days, most employment contracts make any company sick pay "discretionary", in which case the "entitlement" is actually only a guide to what it generally paid by that employer.

Marcon

Chucklechops said:

Hi there

I have a friend who's currently signed off work due to stress.

Can I ask, what is the statutory length of time that an employer has to pay an employee their full wage, whilst they're off work due to long-tern sickness?

Thank you.

Adding to the above answers - worth checking their contract to see what sick pay provisions it contains. In particular, check if there's any sort of Permanent Health Insurance (aka Salary Replacement) policy included in their terms and conditions, which could be relevant for very long-term sickness. This could be extremely important/relevant if the point comes where dismissal on (in)capability grounds becomes an issue. If the 'friend' is you (and from your previous question I suspect it might be: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6340745/quitting-my-job#latest), that 'issue' might be arising quite soon, so the existence of PHI provisions would be extremely helpful to you.

TELLIT01

The title refers to Statutory Sick Pay which is currently just under £100 per week and is payable for 28 weeks.  Any other sick pay is entirely down to their contract of employment.  Many employers don't pay anything over and above SSP, whilst others will continue with full pay for 6 months or more.  There is no statutory entitlement based on period of employment.

TBagpuss

Chucklechops said:

Hi there

I have a friend who's currently signed off work due to stress.

Can I ask, what is the statutory length of time that an employer has to pay an employee their full wage, whilst they're off work due to long-tern sickness?

Thank you.

As others have said, there's no statutory requirement to pay fullsalary, so they need to read their contract. In public sector jobs this can be very generous, my sister works in education, for instnace, as was entitled to either 3 or6 months at full pay. Some large private sector companies may have longer periods , but many compaies don't - in the private sector, the longest I have ever had in a contract was 6 weeks and that wa with a company that hadrelatively low pay but fairly generous benefits, when they merged with nother firm the new contracts after that all have  around 6 days a year sick pay (but much higher salaries and more holiday) . Some companies, particualrly smaller ones, may not offer any paid sick leave at all.

In some cases, paid sick leave may be discretionary. Her first step shpuld be to check her contract and/or her employers policies / employee ndbook (if one exsts) or to ak whoever deals with HR.

SSP is payable after 3 consecutive days sickness for up to 6 months, but it is £99.35 pw, so likely to be lower than her normal full time pay. If she is off long tem then she may qualify for universal credit to top up hre income.