A person whose earnings
are below the limit to attract Class 1 contributions. The scheme in operation: An employee must be incapable of working for at least four days (this can include weekends and holidays), this is called a Period of Incapacity for Work (PIW). Any two PIW's that are separated by less than 56 days (8 weeks) are linked and treated as one; PIW's cannot link for more than three years. SSP is not payable for the first three qualifying days (waiting days) in a PIW, although these can be linked as above. Qualifying days are normal working days. For the first seven days of sickness an employee may certificate themselves sick on a form SC2 - Self Certification Form. After seven days a certificate is required from a registered medical practitioner. An employee is entitled to a maximum of 28 weeks SSP; thereafter the Benefit Agency takes over the sickness payments. The weekly rate for the tax year 2001/02 is £62.20; the daily rate is the weekly rate divided by the number of days worked each week. Payments of SSP that exceed 13% of the total national insurance for that month (excluding Class 1A contributions) may be recovered. Example: an employee with qualifying days of Monday to Friday and the employee is sick from Monday onwards.
Payne Sherlock can advise
on various aspects of employment law. No transaction should be effected
from the information contained within this document without first obtaining
specific professional advice.
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