Labour Research (March 2014)

Law Queries

Sick pay

Q. I was on sick leave last month and was not paid for the first few days. I am an employee and thought I was entitled to sick pay. I don’t understand why I wasn’t paid.

A. It depends on what your contract says. The contract might include a right to company sick pay.

This will be on more generous terms than Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). If you are entitled to company sick pay it will be in accordance with your employer’s sick pay policy.

If you are not entitled to company sick pay, you will be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) as a minimum, even if it is not mentioned in your employment contract.

The current rate of SSP is £86.70 per week for up to 28 weeks. In order to receive SSP, you have to be on sick leave for a minimum of four days in a row. You will be entitled to get SSP for the days you would normally have worked. SSP is not paid for the first three days you are off, known as waiting days.

Two periods of sick leave can be linked together if there is no more than eight weeks between them.


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