Statutory Sick Pay Advice

andy1974_2

My wife is currently off work with post natal depression and will shortly be on half pay which will be reduced £600 a month from £1,200.

Someone at work has mentioned that she will be eligible for SSP as they top up but I dont think this is right as SSP is £75.40 per week making £301.60 per month but she would be earning more than this.

Can anyone advise me as its getting a worrying time and we wont be able to afford the mortgage.

chez000

Hi,

If your wife is already recieving more than statutory sick pay then she wont be eligible for it.

Might be helpful to think of it as; the first £75.40 of contractual sick pay is actually statutory sick pay anything over that is then paid by the employer.
That is to say that contractual sick pay tops up statutory not the other way around.

Usually when someone recieves contractual sick pay it is full pay for 6 months and then half pay after this, Is this the case for your wife?

If it is then the scenario is different as sick pay is only payable for 6 months after which Incapacity benefit is claimed, it should be possible to claim incapacity benefit (or at least some IB) in addition to half pay.

Hope that helps

andy1974_2

Thanks for that.

Yes she has been on full pay for 6 months and is being reduced to half pay for 6 months from May.

Hope we can claim IB as any addittional income will help with us being £600 a month down.

simongregson

Is she a teacher? I only ask this as the arrangements sound very similar to teacher sick pay. If she is her union can advise, via its website or by phone.

tigtag02

andy1974 wrote: »

Thanks for that.

Yes she has been on full pay for 6 months and is being reduced to half pay for 6 months from May.

Hope we can claim IB as any addittional income will help with us being £600 a month down.

Has your wife been sent an SSP1 form?

I doubt that you will be able to claim IB whilst CSP is in payment.

Cleosmum

When I was off sick I got SSP paid by employer and company sick pay. Varies for company sick pay but mine was for 26 weeks, after that I got SSP until that ran out and then once that ran out I could then claim IB.

Cleosmum

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Illorinjured/DG_10018786

http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/Customers/WorkingAgeBenefits/008025.xml.html

klane

Check your mortgage small print / call them and ask - if you are up to date with your payments, have a good history with them, etc some might let you have a short payment holiday (the interest still goes on, but would help you in the short term?). I'm no expert on this though, so look/research thoroughly if you go down that route.

supersavershal

Is there not an occupational health dept where your wife works, could she begin a return to work plan.Where I work full time workers who have had a long period of sickness come back in phased stages, just 2 half days to start building up to what the employee can cope with.They still get full time pay for this too.Im not sure if it will be easy to claim IB for post natal depression as in time this condition is likely to improve, and the agencies that dictate are now encouraging people to go back to work, is this a possibility.
I dont mean to be personal but is the PND severe, has your wife needed admission to a mother and baby unit, was she sectioned , does she have a cpn - these are all factors that will contribute to her claim for IB.
I sypathise with your wife PND is a terrible condition to have, it can hit anyone, my friend got it when her baby was 6 months old.Good luck.