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Statutory Sick Pay - effect on other benefits and payments
If you are entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) it can affect some other benefits and payments that you may be entitled to.
Employment Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefit
You cannot get Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Incapacity Benefit (IB) if you are entitled to SSP. If you have had ESA or IB you may receive these benefits again, instead of receiving SSP.
If you have received ESA within 12 weeks of being sick, you are not entitled to SSP because you can reclaim ESA.
If you have received IB within eight weeks of being sick, you are not entitled to SSP because you can reclaim IB.
You may also be entitled to reclaim ESA or IB if you are sick again within 104 weeks of a previous claim to benefit and would not be entitled to SSP during this time. If this is the case you will have received a letter from your Jobcentre Plus office at the end of your previous claim, please give this to your employer.
If you receive SSP only while you are sick, you may also be able claim other benefits.
Pregnancy and SSP
If you receive SSP for a pregnancy related illness at the start of the four weeks before your baby is due or in the four weeks before your baby is due, SSP will stop. Any entitlement to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) or Maternity Allowance (MA) will start automatically in this four week period.
Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance
If you are entitled to SMP or MA, you cannot get SSP under any circumstances for 39 weeks starting with the first day of entitlement to those payments.
If you are not entitled to SMP or MA, you cannot get SSP for a period of 18 weeks. For more information about this, please contact your employer or the HM Revenue & Customs Employee helpline on 0845 302 1479.
Statutory Paternity or Adoption Pay
If you're getting SSP you won't be able to claim Statutory Paternity or Adoption Pay at the same time.
You should be able to delay these and claim SSP until you're fit to take the leave. You must take it within 56 days of the birth or expected date of your adopted child's placement with you.
Occupational sick pay schemes
Many employers have their own sick pay scheme. If your employer has a sick pay scheme, which is equal to, or more than SSP, they do not have to operate the SSP scheme. They may also have different rules, which you must keep to receive payment.
If your employer operates their own sick pay scheme, they will still need to consider any underlying entitlement you may have to SSP for up to 28 weeks.
If you satisfy the conditions for payment and your occupational sick pay ends before 28 weeks of sickness your employer needs to pay you SSP for any remaining weeks up to the maximum period of 28 weeks.
If you have no underlying entitlement to SSP, or if your occupational sick pay ends before 28 weeks you are not entitled to SSP, your employer must complete form SSP1 for you to claim Employment Support Allowance.
If you are sick after 28 weeks of occupational sick pay your employer must complete form SSP1 for you to claim Employment Support Allowance.
Please read 'sick pay rights' for more information about occupational sick pay schemes.
