Letter enclosing Form SSP1

You must provide Form SSP1 to an employee when their SSP is coming, or has come, to an end as the information you give on it will help the government to decide on the employee’s benefit claim. If you know in advance that the employee’s SSP is to end before their incapacity does, make sure you issue the form, and our letter, by the beginning of the 23rd week of SSP.

Form SSP1

Form SSP1 is the form that you must complete and give to an employee who isn’t entitled to SSP, or when SSP entitlement has ended or is coming to an end. It can then be used to support the employee's claim for social security benefits, such as Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). You can find Form SSP1 free online on GOV.UK. You must give Form SSP1 to the employee:

• within seven days of them going off sick, if they don’t qualify for SSP
• within seven days of their SSP ending, if it ends unexpectedly whilst they’re still sick
• on or before the beginning of the 23rd week, if their SSP is expected to end before their sickness does.

The information you provide on the form will then help the government to decide on the employee’s claim for benefit. You can complete the form before the end of SSP if you know an employee will be off sick for more than 28 weeks, e.g. because their statement of fitness for work, or fit note, already extends beyond that date. This means they can apply for benefits such as ESA before their SSP comes to an end.

End of entitlement

Our Letter Enclosing Form SSP1 is for use where the employee’s SSP entitlement has ended or is coming to an end. An employee can’t get SSP after they’ve received it from you for 28 weeks in a row, or for periods of sickness that are eight weeks or less apart and which are more than 28 weeks in total. It confirms the date on which SSP will end, advises the employee that they may then be able to claim statutory benefits from the government and encloses Form SSP1 to help them make their claim. If you have any fit notes which cover a period you can’t pay SSP for, you should send them back to the employee with Form SSP1 (keep a copy).