Glossary · UK
What is SSP Linking Rule?
The rule that treats separate periods of sickness as one continuous claim for Statutory Sick Pay purposes if they are eight weeks or less apart.
Full Definition
The Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) linking rule treats two or more separate periods of sickness absence as a single, continuous 'period of incapacity for work' for SSP purposes if they are separated by eight weeks (56 days) or less. Ordinarily, SSP is only payable once an employee has been sick for at least four consecutive days (a 'period of incapacity for work'), and the first three 'qualifying days' of any period are unpaid waiting days before SSP kicks in on the fourth qualifying day. Where sickness absences are linked under the eight-week rule, the waiting days only apply once, at the start of the very first linked period, rather than being reapplied every time the employee falls sick again -- so someone with several short, recurring bouts of the same or a different illness within eight weeks of each other moves straight onto paid SSP from the first qualifying day of each subsequent linked absence. Linking also matters for the overall 28-week maximum entitlement to SSP: because linked periods are treated as one continuous claim, the days already paid in earlier linked absences count towards using up the 28-week cap, so an employee cannot reset their entitlement simply by having a short gap in sickness. Once 28 weeks of SSP have been used across a linked series of absences (or the employee has been off work sick for more than the maximum period without qualifying), the employer must issue form SSP1, which the employee can then use to claim Employment and Support Allowance or another benefit instead.