If you satisfy the below qualifying criteria, then the SSP starts after a period of 3 days has passed which are known as the Qualifying or Waiting Days (QDs or WDs). This is as long as you have not been sick in the previous 8 weeks.
Qualifying Criteria
- Is paid at the same time and in the same way as your director’s fee/wages.
- You must be classed as an employee and have done some work for your employer.
- Your minimum level of earnings, referred to as the Average Weekly Earnings (AWE), must have been equal to or above the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) for NIC of £123.00 for 2023/24.
- The period of incapacity to work (PIW) must be for 4 days or more, but if you have 2 periods of illness within an 8-week duration then the 2 claims are linked.
- If you have already served your 3 QDs in an earlier linked period, then you do not have to serve a further 3 in the second period of sickness.
- A period or illness begins on a Sunday and ends at midnight the following Saturday.
- These figures should be reported on the end of year RTI submission.
- SSP is paid at a rate of £123.00 for 2023/24 per week for up to 28 weeks.