Eligibility for SSP

To claim SSP, an employee must be ill for at least four days in a row (including weekends and bank holidays). SSP is only paid for the days the employee normally works. These are called qualifying days. SSP is not paid for the first three qualifying days, which are called waiting days. For example, an employee who works Monday to Friday and falls ill on a Saturday cannot claim SSP until the following Thursday, assuming the illness lasts that long. If the employee is ill again within eight weeks, and each period of illness lasts at least four days, the two periods are linked and the employee does not have to serve the waiting days again.