How Long Does SSP Last in the UK? The 28-Week Limit Explained

Statutory Sick Pay runs for a maximum of 28 weeks per period of incapacity for work. Once those 28 weeks are used, your employer has no obligation to continue paying SSP, regardless of whether you are still unwell. The 28-week limit is one of the most important dates in UK sickness law, yet many employees only discover it when payments stop.

This article explains how the 28-week clock starts, how linked periods can extend or connect absences, and what your options are when SSP ends. Use the statutory sick pay calculator to estimate total SSP over a given number of weeks at the current rate of £118.75 per week.

Where the 28-week limit comes from

Parliament set the maximum SSP duration at 28 weeks when the current system was introduced. The idea was to provide a basic safety net for short to medium-term illness while expecting longer-term cases to move onto state benefits or employer occupational schemes. The weekly rate is fixed at £118.75 for 2025/26, so the maximum statutory payment over 28 weeks is £3,325 before tax for a full-time worker.

The 28 weeks do not have to run continuously without interruption. You can be off sick, return to work, go sick again, and continue using your remaining SSP weeks if the absences link. What matters is the total number of weeks of SSP paid within a linked series of periods of incapacity for work, not whether you were physically absent for 28 consecutive weeks.

When the clock starts

SSP entitlement begins after you have been sick for four or more consecutive days, forming a period of incapacity for work. The first three qualifying days are waiting days and are unpaid. SSP is then paid for each subsequent qualifying day until you recover, return to work, or reach 28 weeks of payment.

The clock measures weeks of SSP actually paid, not calendar weeks off work. If you work part time and receive SSP for only two qualifying days per week, it takes longer in calendar time to use up 28 weeks of entitlement. A full-time worker receiving SSP every working day will hit the 28-week limit in roughly 28 calendar weeks of continuous absence.

Linked periods of sickness

Two periods of sickness link if they are separated by four weeks or fewer and are related to the same condition, or if they are separated by eight weeks or fewer regardless of whether the conditions are related. Linked periods share a single 28-week SSP allowance. Waiting days are not reapplied to a linked period if the first PIW started within the previous 56 weeks.

Consider an employee who is off sick for 12 weeks with a back injury, returns for three weeks, and then goes off again with the same back problem. The second absence links to the first. SSP continues without new waiting days, and the 12 weeks already paid count towards the 28-week total. The employee has 16 weeks of SSP remaining, not a fresh 28.

When a new 28 weeks begins

A genuinely new period of incapacity for work starts when you return to work for more than eight weeks, or when more than 56 weeks have passed since the start of the previous linked series and a new unrelated illness begins. In that case, waiting days apply again and you have a new 28-week SSP entitlement. Employers and payroll software track these dates, but keeping your own log of return-to-work dates helps you verify their calculations.

Calculating total SSP over a long absence

For a straightforward continuous absence, multiply £118.75 by the number of weeks you will receive SSP, up to 28. Twelve weeks gives £1,425. Twenty weeks gives £2,375. The full 28 weeks gives £3,325. Deduct tax if applicable. Remember the first three qualifying days of the first PIW are unpaid, which reduces the total slightly in the opening week.

The SSP calculator models these figures quickly. Compare the result with your normal earnings through a UK salary calculator to understand the income shortfall during a long illness. Someone earning £30,000 per year takes home roughly £2,000 per month after tax and NI. Twenty-eight weeks of SSP at £118.75 per week provides less than £500 per month, a fraction of normal pay.

Phased returns and part weeks

You can return to work gradually under a fit note that recommends phased hours. SSP stops for days you work and continues for days you are recorded as sick. This stretches the 28-week entitlement across a longer calendar period. An employee who works two days and is sick three days each week uses SSP for three-fifths of a week, so 28 weeks of entitlement lasts roughly 47 calendar weeks.

Phased returns can be beneficial for recovery and for preserving SSP weeks, but they require employer agreement on the schedule. Your employer is not legally required to offer a phased return, though many do as part of reasonable adjustments under disability discrimination law if your condition qualifies as a disability.

What happens after 28 weeks

When SSP entitlement is exhausted, your employer stops paying it. You may be able to claim Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) if you have paid sufficient National Insurance contributions. ESA has its own assessment process and rates. Universal Credit may also be available depending on household income and savings.

Your employment does not automatically end when SSP stops. Some employees remain on unpaid sick leave. Others negotiate ill-health retirement, redundancy, or a return with adjustments. Your employer can dismiss on capability grounds if you cannot do your job and there are no reasonable adjustments that would help, but they must follow a fair process including medical evidence and consultation.

• Employment and Support Allowance: state benefit for longer-term illness
• Universal Credit: means-tested support depending on household circumstances
• Contractual sick pay: may continue beyond 28 weeks if your contract provides it
• Income protection insurance: private policy if you took one out before illness
• Occupational health schemes: some employers run their own long-term sickness arrangements

Contractual sick pay beyond 28 weeks

SSP is a floor, not a ceiling. If your employment contract provides six months of full pay when sick, you receive that instead of or on top of SSP depending on the contract wording. Many public sector and large private sector employers offer occupational sick pay schemes that far exceed the 28-week statutory limit. Smaller employers often provide nothing beyond SSP.

Check your contract carefully. Some schemes pay full salary for a set period and then half pay. Others top up SSP to your normal pay for a limited time. If you are a company director designing staff benefits, the cost of extended sick pay is a real overhead that sits alongside other employment costs such as employer NI and pension contributions modelled in our sole trader vs limited company calculator.

Planning ahead for a long absence

If you face surgery or a condition likely to keep you off work for months, calculate when your 28 weeks of SSP will run out and what income replaces it. Build a timeline: weeks one to four on potential full contractual pay, weeks five to twenty-eight on SSP at £118.75, week twenty-nine onwards on ESA or savings. Speak to your employer's HR team about occupational sick pay and phased return options early.

Keep fit notes current and maintain contact with your employer during absence. Gaps in medical evidence can give employers grounds to dispute ongoing SSP, though once SSP is properly in payment it generally continues until the 28-week limit or recovery. Document everything: dates, fit notes, SSP payments on payslips, and return-to-work meetings.

SSP and tax over 28 weeks

SSP is taxable but often falls within your personal allowance when it is your only income. If you receive SSP alongside partial salary during a phased return, your tax position may shift. Under PAYE, your tax code should adjust automatically, but it is worth checking your payslip if you return part time. For background on how tax bands apply to employment income, see UK income tax bands explained for 2025.

The 28-week limit has not changed in recent years, and there is no current government proposal to extend it. Treat £118.75 per week for 28 weeks as the maximum statutory support and plan your finances accordingly. Anything beyond that depends on your employer, your insurance, or the wider benefits system.

If your employer disputes whether two absences link, ask for their calculation in writing. Payroll software applies linking rules automatically, but errors happen when sickness is recorded against the wrong dates or when a return to work is logged late. Your own diary of absence dates, fit notes, and return-to-work meetings is the best evidence if you need to challenge a premature stop in SSP payments before the 28-week limit is reached.