Sick Pay Rights

When in employment, you may be forced to take time off work due to illness, but how much you are paid will depend on your employer's sick pay policy.

Most people will usually be entitled to receive Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) if there is no additional sick pay policy in place, but this may not be a lot of money in comparison to a normal weeks wages.

The Contractual Sick Pay Scheme
If your employer has their own sick pay policy, it is normally more beneficial to the employee than SSP. The employer will usually pay the employee their standard rate of pay for the time that they are off due to illness, but employers may ask for a doctor's note before they make any payment.

The arrangements for any such scheme should be clearly set out in the contract of employment, and should be written to avoid any confusion.

If there is no contractual sick pay scheme in place, SSP should be paid.

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
This is the government controlled scheme to ensure that some sick pay is available to those that are eligible.

SSP is a set amount of money paid to employees from the fourth day of absence upon the presentation of a doctor's sick note.

The current rate is £75.40 per week.

If you receive no additional payments on top of this amount, it will just be subject to the deduction of income tax, but if you receive payments which take the amount above the National Insurance threshold, you will also have to pay National Insurance.

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