We have many staff who are contracted to work 19.5 hours per week but also work regular and irregular additional hours each week. They qualify for our paid sick leave for their 19.5 contracted hours but if they are rota’d to work additional hours on a week they are sick, do they qualify for statutory sick pay for the additional hours?

Thanks,

Clare

Answered by Sheila Scott

Dear Clare,

Thank you for your question. Your question needed a response from an expert in the field and so I asked Oliver McCann at Napthens for his advice and here it is:

Whether any additional SSP is due depends on how long the person is off. Remember, the first 3 days of absence are waiting days and so no pay due.

Further, SSP is payable only if the average weekly earnings in the 8 weeks before the sick period being is in excess of £112 per week or if there aren’t 8 weeks average earnings then you need to check that their “normal” weekly earnings would exceed this.

Further SSP is payable in relation to their normal working days/hours – any extra/additional hours which they are not obliged to work under the contract can be ignored for SSP purposes.

Therefore, I would suggest you pay SSP on the contracted 19.5 hours per week only, on the basis that any hours over above are not the “normal” working hours.

http://www.napthens.co.uk/

With best wishes.

Sheila