Statutory Sick Pay for Employees

National Health Service Employees

If you work for a Health Authority (in Northern Ireland the Health and Social Services Board (HSSB)) at more than one hospital or unit and one or more of those hospitals or units become a NHS Trust then you will have two or more contracts of employment. The earliest date on which a Trust could be set up is 1 April 1991.

This may mean that you will get more than one lot of SSP, see under More than one job. It may also mean that because your earnings have been split between contracts, your average earnings under one or more of those contracts are below the LEL and you will not qualify for SSP.

There are special rules for this situation. If you were employed by a Health Authority, HSSB or Trust when your contract was split between a Health Authority or HSSB and a Trust or between two or more Trusts, you can elect to have your contracts treated as one for SSP purposes if it would be helpful to you.

If you want to make an election, you should tell each of your employers in writing before the end of the fourth day you are sick.

At any time after 1 April 1999 two Trusts, or a Health Authority or HSSB and a Trust may merge to become one employer. If Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment (TUPE) Regulations apply to the merger and you worked for more than one employer prior to them merging and you have entitlement to SSP with each of the merging employers, continuing over the date of the merger, you will keep your entitlement to SSP with each employer until you return to work. This multiple entitlement will last only until the end of the current spell of sickness that spans the merger date. During any future linked, or unlinked PIWs, you are entitled to only one payment of SSP.