If an employee takes ill during a period of unpaid leave, are they still entitled to receive SSP?

Posted in : First Tuesday Q&A NI on 5 February 2019
Chris Fullerton
Arthur Cox
Issues covered:

An employee may become ill during a period of unpaid leave, be that a career break or sabbatical. In order to be eligible for statutory sick pay (‘SSP’) an employee must meet the following eligibility criteria:

  • be an employee;
  • be too ill to undertake any work under his contract of employment on any day for which he claims SSP;
  • have at least four consecutive days' sick absence (including Sundays and Bank holidays) during which he/she is too ill to work i.e. a “period of incapacity for work”;
  • average weekly earnings at or above £116 a week;
  • notify his/her absence to his employer; and
  • supply evidence of his/her incapacity.

Employers should have an unpaid leave policy in place that details

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Back to Q&A's This article is correct at 05/02/2019
Disclaimer:

The information in this article is provided as part of Legal-Island's Employment Law Hub. We regret we are not able to respond to requests for specific legal or HR queries and recommend that professional advice is obtained before relying on information supplied anywhere within this article.

Chris Fullerton
Arthur Cox

The main content of this article was provided by Chris Fullerton. Contact telephone number is 028 9023 0007 or email Chris.Fullerton@arthurcox.com

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