SSP

Sarah69

Hi,

I’ve been off sick from work since mid April, I’ve been on full pay and my manager said I get SSP too. I’ve looked back at my payslips and I’ve only got 1 payment of SSP for £100.08 in last months wages. This is not what I understood I would get? 

Penguin_

How can you get full pay & SSP at the same time?

peteuk

Within your contract you will find details of pay whilst sick, this may indicate the time frame of full pay and SSP.

If you’re eligible, you can get £116.75 a week Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) for up to 28 weeks.

I would guess that your contact has a period of full pay then SSP, thus youve been on full pay since April and now that period is over youve been moved to SSP and will continue on SSP for the next 27 weeks. 

chrisbur

Without seeing the full details it is difficult to tell what exactly is happening.  As far as SSP is concerned this entitlement starts when you first go off sick.  Usually there is no payment made for the first three qualifying days (QDs) and payment starts on QD 4.  Provided that your employer is paying sick pay of at least the same or more each day then that is all that SSP requires.  So if your sick pay was for at least or more than the SSP rate then all you would get is your sick pay.  Is it possible that you sick pay has now run out and so only the SSP part of it is now payable. I note that 100.08 is 6/7th of 116.75 an unusual but not impossible figure for SSP.
As advised above SSP starts to be calculated on the first day you are sick and have done no work so it will usually run out when you reach the end of the 28th week of payment, it does not start when you run out of sick pay.  You should get a form SSP1 some time before it runs out.

The above is slightly simplified for example if you have qualified for SSP within eight weeks before this illness then the SSP entitlement will also include any paid in the earlier sickness.
Employers are not bound by the rules of SSP they are just minimums that they must follow, they are allowed to be more generous, though I believe these are few and far between.  

With regard to the 7 QDs in the week this does raise the question if these are being used correctly but to check that would need more details and probably would not benefit you in the long run.

chrisbur

Penguin_ said:

How can you get full pay & SSP at the same time?

Provided that the full pay is equal to or greater than the SSP entitlement for each day then the employer is considered to have paid SSP.

chrisbur

peteuk said:

I would guess that your contact has a period of full pay then SSP, thus youve been on full pay since April and now that period is over youve been moved to SSP and will continue on SSP for the next 27 weeks. 

This is not how SSP works, please see my posts above.

sheramber

If you think you are not getting the right amount of SSP, talk to your employer. If you’re still not happy, contact the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) enquiry line.

https://www.gov.uk/statutory-sick-pay/what-youll-get

chrisbur

Just had a look back at your old posts and these suggest that you may be an NHS employee.  If that is the case then that could explain what is happening here.

Sarah69

chrisbur said:

Just had a look back at your old posts and these suggest that you may be an NHS employee.  If that is the case then that could explain what is happening here.

Hi, 

Yes I do work for the NHS. I did query the SSP with my manager, she emailed payroll dept and apparently I only get from starting 1/2 pay. I don’t understand why. 

As I’m starting 1/2 pay and SSP is there anything else I could claim. Can I get housing benefit etc. I’m very concerned I won’t have enough money to live off? 

chrisbur

Sarah69 said:

chrisbur said:

Just had a look back at your old posts and these suggest that you may be an NHS employee.  If that is the case then that could explain what is happening here.

Hi, 

Yes I do work for the NHS. I did query the SSP with my manager, she emailed payroll dept and apparently I only get from starting 1/2 pay. I don’t understand why. 

As I’m starting 1/2 pay and SSP is there anything else I could claim. Can I get housing benefit etc. I’m very concerned I won’t have enough money to live off? 

All employers are considered to have paid SSP provided that they pay at least the SSP figure due.
The NHS contracts that I have seen (I assume they are all the same in this respect) advise that while on full pay for sickness this rule is applied but when you go to half pay then they pay the SSP on top of the half pay.  This is something that in the majority of cases they do not have to do.  The NHS is the only employer that I am aware of that does this. There is just one proviso that if the half pay plus SSP come to more than full pay payment is capped at full pay. 
The NHS sick pay scheme is probably one of the most generous in the country.

As you are now nearing the end of your SSP entitlement you should soon be getting an SSP1 form from your employer which will advise you that you can apply for the new style ESA....

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-style-employment-and-support-allowance#overview

Not something I know a lot about but a quick read appears to show you will probably get this.

I would assume that any ESA you might get would be ignored by your employer (not all do) as they were making no reduction for SSP on half pay.

I also noticed that you were working shifts so that would explain the 7 qualifying days.  This had no affect on what you were getting it was just the way your payroll dept were keeping the records.

LinLui

The NHS contracts that I have seen (I assume they are all the same in this respect) advise that while on full pay for sickness this rule is applied but when you go to half pay then they pay the SSP on top of the half pay.  This is something that in the majority of cases they do not have to do.  The NHS is the only employer that I am aware of that does this. There is just one proviso that if the half pay plus SSP come to more than full pay payment is capped at full pay. 
The NHS sick pay scheme is probably one of the most generous in the country.

Our local government contract is the same. I can't confirm that all local government operates these terms since local bargaining was introduced. But all the councils around here have the same terms.