How to Complete and Issue Form SSP1: Deadlines and Disputes

Form SSP1 is the document a UK employer gives an employee when Statutory Sick Pay cannot be paid or is about to end, so the employee has the evidence they need to claim state benefits such as New Style Employment and Support Allowance or Universal Credit. You download it from GOV.UK, complete it on screen or by hand, and pass it to the employee. The form was updated in April 2026 to reflect major changes to SSP rules, so check that the version you are using carries that date.¹

When You Must Issue the SSP1

The law requires you to give an employee the SSP1 whenever you cannot pay SSP, or their SSP is running out. The most common trigger is the 28-week cap. SSP is payable for a maximum of 28 weeks in total, and once that is reached your obligation stops.² If you can see an absence will exceed 28 weeks, issue the form early so the employee has time to apply for benefits before payments stop.

Watch for linked periods. Separate spells of sickness count as one continuous period if each lasts more than three days and they are no more than eight weeks apart.² Several short absences over the year can bring an employee to the 28-week cap sooner than a quick glance at payroll suggests.

The form itself lists every other reason SSP is not payable, each as a tick box:³

The employee’s contract has ended or is about to end, or the illness began after the contract finished.
The employee received Employment and Support Allowance within the last 12 weeks.
The employee is expecting a baby soon or has just had one, and is moving to Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance.
The employee has been sick on and off for more than three years without an eight-week break back at work.
The absence relates to a trade dispute that began before the first day of sickness.
The employee is in legal custody or serving a prison sentence.
The employee was working outside the UK when they fell ill and you were not liable for Class 1 National Insurance contributions.
The employee did not tell you about their sickness in time.
The employee had not yet started work for you when the illness began.

On a pregnancy-related absence in the four weeks before the week the baby is due, Statutory Maternity Pay can start automatically.⁴ You stop paying SSP at that point and issue the SSP1 so the employee can claim Maternity Allowance if she does not qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay.

What Changed on 6 April 2026

Three changes to SSP took effect on 6 April 2026 and are reflected on the current version of the form:

The Lower Earnings Limit no longer applies. All eligible employees now qualify for SSP regardless of earnings, and the corresponding tick box has been removed from the SSP1.⁵
The three-day waiting period is gone. SSP is now payable from the first full day of sickness absence.⁶
SSP is now paid at 80% of the employee’s average weekly earnings or the flat rate of £123.25 per week, whichever is lower. Lower-paid employees may therefore receive less than £123.25.⁷

One transitional point. If an absence started on or before 21 September 2025 and continued without a break through 5 April 2026, the old rules keep running for that spell until the employee returns to work for at least eight consecutive weeks.⁵ For any long-running absence that straddles the changeover, check the transitional guidance before deciding whether SSP is due.

Filling In the Form

Download the SSP1 from its GOV.UK publications page. You can type into the PDF and print, or print blank and write in the details. Confirm the document is dated April 2026 or later.¹

Employee Details

Enter the employee’s title, surname, all other names in full, address with postcode, and National Insurance number.³ Cross-check the NI number against your payroll records. A single wrong character can hold up the benefit claim.

Reason and Date

Tick the one reason that applies from the list on the form. Enter the date from which the employee cannot get SSP. If you have been paying SSP and it is running out, that is the day after your last SSP payment. If the employee never qualified, it is normally the first day of the sickness absence.

Employer Declaration

Sign the declaration confirming the information is correct and that SSP will continue up to and including the day before the date you entered.³

Working Out Average Weekly Earnings

The 80% calculation depends on average weekly earnings. The relevant period starts the day after the last normal payday before the sickness began and runs back at least eight weeks. Add up all gross earnings in that period and divide by the number of weeks.⁷ These figures do not all appear on the SSP1, but they decide whether SSP was owed in the first place and at what rate.

Deadlines and Delivery

If the employee never qualified for SSP, send the SSP1 within seven days of their first day off sick.² HMRC’s own guidance confirms the same seven-day window from the point you are notified of the sickness.⁸

If SSP is ending because the 28-week cap is approaching, issue the form before the payments stop, and issue it as soon as you know the absence will run past 28 weeks.²

Post the form to the employee’s home address or hand it over in person. Missing the deadline can trigger enforcement action from HMRC.

What the Employee Does With It

The completed SSP1 is the evidence the employee attaches to their benefit application. The two main routes are New Style Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit.⁹

New Style ESA is available to employees under State Pension age with a disability or health condition affecting their ability to work. The employee can apply up to three months before SSP ends, which is worth flagging when you hand the form over. During the initial assessment phase, which can run up to 13 weeks, ESA pays £75.65 per week for claimants under 25 and £95.55 per week for those aged 25 and over.¹⁰ Both figures are lower than most SSP payments, so the employee should expect a drop in income.

Universal Credit can be claimed instead of, or alongside, New Style ESA. Where both are in payment, the Universal Credit amount is reduced by the ESA.⁹ A first Universal Credit payment usually takes about five weeks.¹¹ Applying while SSP is still being paid is what closes that gap.

If the Employee Disputes Your Decision

An employee who thinks you have wrongly refused SSP, or paid the wrong amount, should raise it with you first. If that does not resolve it, they can contact HMRC’s Statutory Payment Dispute Team:¹²

Phone: 0300 322 9422, Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm, closed bank holidays.
Textphone: 0300 200 3212.
Post: Statutory Payment Dispute Team, PT Operations, North East England, HMRC, BX9 1AN, United Kingdom.

The employee should contact HMRC within six months of the issue arising. Where SSP was paid at the wrong amount, that six-month clock runs from the date of the final payment. The employee will be expected to send the SSP1 along with any relevant letters, emails, or payslips. HMRC investigates, can ask you for further information, and issues a formal decision that binds you. If you are ordered to pay, you must do so by the first payday after the appeal deadline expires.

1
GOV.UK. Employer Form SSP1: Statutory Sick Pay and an Employee’s Claim for Benefit
2
GOV.UK. Statutory Sick Pay (SSP): Employer Guide – Eligibility and Form SSP1
3
GOV.UK. Statutory Sick Pay and an Employee’s Claim for Benefit – SSP1 From April 2026
4
GOV.UK. Maternity Pay and Leave – Pay
5
GOV.UK. Sickness Absences That Start Before and End on or After 6 April 2026
6
GOV.UK. Statutory Sick Pay Changes
7
GOV.UK. Work Out Your Employee’s Statutory Sick Pay Manually
8
GOV.UK. Statutory Payments Manual – SPM110700 – Statutory Sick Pay (SSP): General Information: Employee Not Entitled to SSP
9
GOV.UK. Employment and Support Allowance Eligibility
10
GOV.UK. Benefit and Pension Rates 2026 to 2027
11
GOV.UK. Universal Credit – How You’re Paid
12
GOV.UK. Statutory Payment Dispute Team