Understanding SSP. Please help.

snarffie

Any help on this would be greatky appreciated,

My partner has been off work since October 2007. For the first three months, her pay slips were the same as before she went sick.

For the last two months (December and January) the pay slips have shown an element of "sick pay" totalling around £330 each month. This has brought her monthly pay to the equivalent of what she was taking while she was in work.

Her company have said that from February, they are unwilling to pay for unworked hours, but will allow her to work from home for as many hours as she can manage. She is sonsidering working for approx half a working week (approx 18 hours), each week for the forseeable future.

My question is regarding how sick pay works. I have heard that my partner would be better off claiming full pay for two 9 hour days and being off work for the remaining three days of each week, rather than claiming for five half days each week, and not actually having any full days off sick. It has been suggested that splitting working days in this way will allow her SSP to be continuous, and if she can't return to work in the next three-six months, she would also qualify for a higher rate of SSP.

We are very confused as to how this all works, and although her company are very flexible regarding her hours, the payroll people are not experts at this, so any advice and guidance would be appreciated to ensure that we maximise any benefits. btw, we both earn average salaries, so won't qualify for any kinds of income support.

Thanks in advance.

stazi

Sorry, but she cannot work for a few hours/days per week and then get SSP for the remainder of the week. Neither should her employer be saying that she can work at home and continue to get SSP.

For example- if she works Mon & Tues, SSP would not be payable for the remaining days W/TH/F (assuming she works M-F), as she would be breaking her Period Of Incapacity for Work (PIW- or period of sickness). SSP is not payable for unless there are normally 4 sick days in a PIW.
SSP is not paid for half days either.
More SSP info is here-
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/ssp.htm

tigtag02

Your post is very confusing.

She cannot work AND claim sick, its one or the other.

Her sick pay will reflect her comapny policies unless she is only entitled to SSP which is £72.55 per week.

snarffie

stazi wrote: »

Sorry, but she cannot work for a few hours/days per week and then get SSP for the remainder of the week. Neither should her employer be saying that she can work at home and continue to get SSP.

For example- if she works Mon & Tues, SSP would not be payable for the remaining days W/TH/F (assuming she works M-F), as she would be breaking her Period Of Incapacity for Work (PIW- or period of sickness). SSP is not payable for unless there are normally 4 sick days in a PIW.
SSP is not paid for half days either.
More SSP info is here-
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/ssp.htm

Thanks for replying.

I thought that the PIW included weekends and bank holidays, so working on a Monday and Tuesday would leave 5 non-working days, which would qualify for sick-pay.

From the HMRC website:

To qualify for SSP from your employer ...

You have been off work sick for four or more days in a row. All days count for this including weekends and bank holidays and any days you don’t normally work. This is called a Period of Incapacity to Work (PIW)

Am I misunderstanding this?

snarffie

tigtag02 wrote: »

Your post is very confusing.

She cannot work AND claim sick, its one or the other.

Her sick pay will reflect her comapny policies unless she is only entitled to SSP which is £72.55 per week.

She wouldn't be working for 5 out of seven days...ie. unable to work a full week.

tigtag02

the sickness has to be continuous

her qualifing days would depend on how many days she works (although some employers do operate 7 days regardless)

it doesnt matter if she works one day or seven days a week ~ she is working therefor unable to claim sick pay!!!

Its not really difficult to understand.

stazi

My understanding is that this is how the PIW is first 'formed'. The normal assumption is that an employee would not then do any work whilst sick- you cannot be fit for work every M & T, and then sick every W/Th/F.

In addition, the employer is on dodgy ground (with HMRC and their own insurance company), allowing someone to work, when they would be holding a sick note from the employee's GP that advises them 'to refrain from work'.

What would happen if the employee suffer a work accident when they had a sick note for the same time??
As you said the payroll people are not experts at this - time for them to seek advice from HMRC and their own insurance company - the latter I'm sure, would not allow it - as it leaves them both wide open to any liability.

shellsuit

We are very confused as to how this all works, and although her company are very flexible regarding her hours, the payroll people are not experts at this.

Are the payroll people the ones who suggested working so many hours & claming SSP at the same time?

As the others have said, if you are able to work, you are not sick, so cannot claim SSP.

Yes you need to be off work sick for more than 4 days in a row before you can claim SSP, but that doesn't mean each working week.

Your OH will either have to go back to work, or stay off sick and not be able to work any hours at all.

snarffie

shellsuit wrote: »

As the others have said, if you are able to work, you are not sick, so cannot claim SSP.

stazi wrote:

My understanding is that this is how the PIW is first 'formed'. The normal assumption is that an employee would not then do any work whilst sick- you cannot be fit for work every M & T, and then sick every W/Th/F.

To be clear, she is receiving ongoing treatment, which leaves her very tired, and a full week would be far too much to deal with. Two days would be feasible (although we won't be sure until she tries it).

As she has a full GP sick note, and an understanding employer, AND satisfies the TECHNICAL requirements laid down by HMRC to qualify for SSP (ie sick for 5 continuous days, albeit EVERY week), this appears to be at the very least a possibilty worth investigating.

Also, with regards to insurance risk, she will be working from home, from her own laptop pc, with an internet connection.

With respect to the people replying to my original post, I appreciate that there may be a feeling that we may be trying to abuse the system in some way, but this is not the case. If the rules allow us to claim SSP, then it would be foolish not to. After all, we have financial commitments to meet and any additional money will help.

Of course, the only way to get the final word on this is to discuss with HMRC/citizens advice, which I hope to do tomorrow. Thanks for the comments.

tigtag02

For the THIRD time (and thats just by me) she CANNOT work and claim SSP, no matter how many times you try to interperate HMRC's wording to make it fit what you want to hear!!!

dmg24

snarffie wrote: »

To be clear, she is receiving ongoing treatment, which leaves her very tired, and a full week would be far too much to deal with. Two days would be feasible (although we won't be sure until she tries it).

As she has a full GP sick note, and an understanding employer, AND satisfies the TECHNICAL requirements laid down by HMRC to qualify for SSP (ie sick for 5 continuous days, albeit EVERY week), this appears to be at the very least a possibilty worth investigating.

Also, with regards to insurance risk, she will be working from home, from her own laptop pc, with an internet connection.

With respect to the people replying to my original post, I appreciate that there may be a feeling that we may be trying to abuse the system in some way, but this is not the case. If the rules allow us to claim SSP, then it would be foolish not to. After all, we have financial commitments to meet and any additional money will help.

Of course, the only way to get the final word on this is to discuss with HMRC/citizens advice, which I hope to do tomorrow. Thanks for the comments.

The employer will not allow her to work if she has a 'full GP sick note'.

Insurance does not just relate to a person physically being in the building. The employer has a duty of care towards the employee, and they would be breaching this if they allowed her to work.