SSP for Part Time Worker

[LynnH]

Hi hoping someone can help...

I have am having to deal with my first staff sickness so I headed off to the UK gov website to run the calculation.

Basic details as follows - Employee due to be off sick for at least 8 weeks due to the need to have a operation.

Sickness started on the 11th Jan and she just meets the min qualifying weekly wage...only just ( average over last 8 weeks is a bit higher as she worked a few extra days in Nov & Dec). The results from the online calculator come back as follows
Week 1 £44.23
Week 2 onwards £88.45

I understand all about the waiting days etc...

I thought this amount was based on 5 days working so was about to divide it by 5, then I asked google and got conflicting information....so I phoned the helpline and they have said that because she works the same two days every week ( known as qualifying days) she is entitled to the full £88.45 weekly.

I would like confirmation if this is correct as her sick pay is actually only £27 quid less than her actual weekly pay which does not seem right?? and as I understand it if my full timer was off she would be entitled to the same £88.45??

Can someone please advise asap as I need to sort out for payday at the end of this week.

Many Thanks

 

[payrolloxford]

Looks correct to me. Because it is a standard payment and not based on earnings, other than being above the qualifying earnings limit, it is always going to be nearer the pay of a low earning individual than an average or higher earning employee.

 

[LynnH]

Thanks for the response I have gone ahead and started to do the calculation based on the employee getting the full £88.45. Guess I should thank my lucky stars that on the whole they are great staff and do not have regular time off sick! Thanks again

 

[Newchodge]

It is right. SSP is payment for a week's absence. If they have only 1 qualifying day per week they get a week's payment (about £88 from memory). If they have 5 qualifying days per week they get a week's payment- the same £88. If they are not absent for a full week (after the waiting days) they get a week's payment pro-rataed to the number of qualifying days. So someone absent in their 3rd week of absence who has 2 qualifying days ad is sick on the first and back to work ion the second gets half the week's payment.

 

[CitySlicker]

I think you are right. The lunacy of it is that this person could in theory have 2 or 3 other part time jobs with different employers and would potentially be able to claim the same amount of SSP from each one of them. This is a loophole which could enable someone to make a very nice living from being sick!

 

[Newchodge]

I think you are right. The lunacy of it is that this person could in theory have 2 or 3 other part time jobs with different employers and would potentially be able to claim the same amount of SSP from each one of them. This is a loophole which could enable someone to make a very nice living from being sick!

As you have to earn £112 per week to get SSP and SSP is only £88.45, there is not much chance of that.