Sick pay
Linked spells of sickness: when the 28 weeks run out
Two absences close together are one period of sickness in law. How to count the gap, the weeks used and the date SSP stops.
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Statutory Sick Pay is limited to 28 weeks in any one period of incapacity for work, and the law joins separate spells of sickness into a single period when they are 8 weeks (56 days) or less apart. Each spell has to last at least one full working day to count. Once linked, the spells share the same allowance: a second illness three weeks after returning to work continues the count rather than starting a new one. The allowance is counted in qualifying days, 28 times the days you normally work in a week, so a five-day employee has 140 days and a three-day employee 84. A chain of linked spells cannot stretch beyond 3 years. When SSP is going to end while you are still ill, your employer must send form SSP1 at the latest at the start of week 23, so that you can claim Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance in time.
Two spells of sickness: one period or two?
Linked: the 28 weeks keep running
110 days left
| Gap allowed for a link | 56 days (8 weeks) |
| Ceiling in qualifying days | 140 |
| Weeks of SSP left | 22.0 |
A worked chain of spells
Take an employee working Monday to Friday and earning £520 a week. She is off from 4 May 2026 to 26 June 2026: that spell pays 40 qualifying days, £986.00. She returns to work and falls ill again on 17 August 2026. The gap is 51 days, under the 56-day limit, so the second spell links to the first. Her remaining allowance is 100 days. If the second spell lasts until 18 December 2026, SSP stops on no date in that range, after 90 more days paid, £2,218.50. Had she come back to work for one more week, any new spell starting after 22 August 2026 would have opened a fresh allowance.
Counting the allowance in days, not weeks
The 28-week limit is applied in qualifying days, because SSP itself is paid by the day. The ceiling is 28 times the number of days in your working pattern. That matters when the pattern changes, or for part-timers whose short weeks make each week of sickness use fewer days.
| Days worked a week | Allowance in qualifying days | SSP if paid at the flat rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28 | £3,451.00 |
| 2 | 56 | £3,451.00 |
| 3 | 84 | £3,451.00 |
| 4 | 112 | £3,451.00 |
| 5 | 140 | £3,451.00 |
| 6 | 168 | £3,451.00 |
| 7 | 196 | £3,451.00 |
The GOV.UK calculator for employers uses the same method: the days already paid in a linked period are taken off the ceiling before the new spell is paid. The calculator on this site asks for that number directly.
The three-year limit
Linking can go on as long as the gaps stay short. To stop indefinite chains, a continuous series of linked periods cannot last more than 3 years. In practice it bites for long-term conditions with frequent short absences: once the series passes three years, SSP is no longer payable even if the 28 weeks have not all been used, and the employer issues form SSP1.
What changed, and what did not, in April 2026
Before 6 April 2026 the link mattered for a second reason: waiting days were served only once per linked period, so linking spells meant losing fewer unpaid days. That disappeared with the waiting days themselves. The 8-week test, the 28-week ceiling and the three-year limit are unchanged, in Great Britain and in Northern Ireland. The April 2026 reform covers the rest.
Keeping your own count
Employers keep sickness records, but mistakes in linking are common when absences are short and spread over months, especially across a change of payroll provider or manager. Keep a simple list: the first and last day of each spell, the days you would have worked inside it, and the SSP shown on each payslip. Two checks then settle most disputes. First, measure every gap in calendar days: a single day too many breaks the link and restores the full allowance. Second, add up the qualifying days paid since the start of the chain and compare them with 28 times your working days. A part-timer working Tuesday and Thursday has an allowance of 56 days, which can last many months of intermittent illness, and an employer applying a five-day count by mistake would stop SSP far too early.
If you believe SSP was stopped too soon, ask your employer for the dates and the count they used. They must give their reasons, and HMRC’s Statutory Payment Disputes Team can decide if you still disagree.
Form SSP1 and what comes next
Your employer must send form SSP1 within seven days if SSP ends unexpectedly while you are still sick, or by the start of week 23 if they can see it will run out first. If they know from the outset that you will be off for more than 28 weeks, they can send it earlier, which lets you start a claim for Employment and Support Allowance before the money stops. Keep your fit notes: the benefit claim will ask for medical evidence covering the whole period. To see your own dates laid out week by week, use the Statutory Sick Pay calculator and enter the days already paid in the linked spell.