Statutory Sick Pay is money paid to you by your employer if you are sick and unable to work.

Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

Age rules: There are no age rules

Type of benefit: Non means tested

Taxable: Yes

Administered by: Your employer
 

Most employees get Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), including part-time workers, agency workers and workers on a fixed-term contract.

You must earn an average of at least £123 a week to qualify. If you do not earn enough to qualify, or if you are self employed, then you could claim Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) instead.

You usually have to have been sick for at least four days in a row to be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay.

If you have already received SSP for 28 weeks from your employer, you won't be able to get it again unless you have been back at work for at least eight weeks.

Reviewed: January 2023

Statutory Sick Pay is a fixed amount of £109.40 a week.

You may get more sick pay on top of this if contractual sick pay is included in your contract of employment.

If you are getting Statutory Sick Pay, you could get Universal Credit to top up your income depending on your circumstances. Use our Benefits Calculator to check how much Universal Credit you could get.

You can get Statutory Sick Pay for up to 28 weeks of sickness. After that, if you still cannot work, you can claim Employment and Support Allowance.

Benefit Cap

Statutory Sick Pay is not included in the Benefit Cap which limits the total amount in some benefits that working-age people can receive.

How will I be paid Statutory Sick Pay?

Your employer pays Statutory Sick Pay in the same way and at the same time as your wages are normally paid, for example, weekly or monthly.

Statutory Sick Pay and other benefits

Statutory Sick Pay counts in full as income when calculating your entitlement to other means-tested benefits.

Updated: April 2023

The way you claim Statutory Sick Pay depends on your employer. They may have their own rules about how you should show that you cannot work. You will generally need to tell your employer within 7 days of becoming ill but some employers have a shorter deadline.

Usually, you have to fill in a form provided by your employer for the first week you are unable to work. Or you could write a letter explaining that you are sick (the postmark is taken as the date you informed them), or phone them.

Another option is to fill in Form SC2 (Employee's Statement of Sickness) which you can get from your doctor's surgery or download: Form SC2

What documents will I need to claim Statutory Sick Pay?

After the first week, you usually have to send a doctor's certificate or fit note to your employer to get Statutory Sick Pay. 

When will my Statutory Sick Pay claim begin?

You do not get Statutory Sick Pay for the first three days you are sick. It is paid from the fourth day. However, if you have already had a period of sick leave in the previous eight weeks, you can usually claim from the first day as it is counted as one period of 'incapacity for work'.

Change of circumstances

You must report changes in your circumstances which might affect your entitlement to this benefit.

If you disagree with a Statutory Sick Pay decision made by your employer, you can contact HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Statutory Payments Disputes Team.

This may affect your job and your relationship with your employer so you may want to seek specialist advice on this matter first.

Further Information

ACAS Employment Advice