Statutory Sick Pay - with two jobs

ggloria007

I have been employed by a construction company for the last 19 years and currently due to cancer I am on sick leave last 34 weeks. In the meantime my Statutory Sick Leave was terminated with my company and I have now applied for ESA and got a contribution payment of 77.00 until the decision. I also have a small teaching job (declared for tax etc) with the local university, but my colleagues helped with assessing the students instead in May and June. I have now gone to review all emails from them that I have missed in the last few months due chemo... Anecdotally they have confirmed that I now have a permanent position with them and FTE 0.164 My tax allowance etc is all done via my construction job. I didnt even think about this small freelance job until this morning. What shall I do now? Sorry for the stupid quesion but is there a Statutory sick pay via this job as well? From the payslip I can see that I am /was paying NIN with the university as well as with the construction job? How does SSP work if a person had 2 different jobs before becoming ill/disabled??? Thank you

poppy123456

Yes, you can claim SSP from each employer that you work for, if eligible. See link. https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/statutory-payments-manual/spm190400If you are still claiming SSP from the other employer than you won't be entitled to any money for ESA because it can't be paid at the time time.

janer1967

Hi there 

Check the links as I'm not sure your second job would pay enough for you to be eligible for ssp 

It is normally paid automatically if entitled you dint usually have to claim 

ggloria007

thank you poppy, but the link is not working 

ggloria007

How would I know that all this is happening? and that i am not in trouble getting ESA paid to me and than needing to returning the money... would ESA double check all this while they are processing... 

poppy123456

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/statutory-payments-manual/spm190400 Sorry about that, not sure what happened. This should work now. Eligibilty for SSP is here. https://www.gov.uk/statutory-sick-pay/eligibility

calcotti

ggloria007 said:

How would I know that all this is happening? and that i am not in trouble getting ESA paid to me and than needing to returning the money... would ESA double check all this while they are processing... 

ESA would rely on you declaring your employers and providing them with SSP1 form from each to confirm that SSP had ended or that you were not entitled.
They may do data matching later and if you have been incorrectly paid ESA you will be owed DWP anything incorrectly paid.

ggloria007

thank you all... 

ggloria007

my partner remind me that I have not used remaining holiday from the last year and also this year... 
if I interupt my sick leave and have almost 2 months of holiday and been paid by my employer, is this classed as earnings? of would i be jeoperdizing ESA by taking annual leave... 

janer1967

Hi there 

Normal practise is that your employer should pay you for any outstanding holiday from prev year or take it on return to work 

If you take the leave as holidays it will class as earnings but I'm not sure how this would affect esa poppy and calcotti are the experts on benefits 

poppy123456

Holiday pay is treated as earnings for ESA. Earnings must be less than £152/week. For New style ESA i'm unsure if it would end if you go over the permitted work earnings. See V4075 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1067588/admv4.pdf

What about SSP from this 2nd employer? if you're entitled to it then you should be receiving it, which will stop your ESA and any money you receive from this will be an overpayment.

I'd advise you to speak to that employer.

calcotti

Holiday pay is earnings. If the claimant is doing any work then the holiday pay would be taken into account for calculating whether or not the Permitted Work limits have been breached. However earnings are ignored if the claimant is not working so makes no difference. 

As poppy says, the crucial thing is whether or not you are in a period of SSP entitlement, if so you are not entitled to ESA. It is more sensible.to take holiday pay after the SSP has ended.

ggloria007

Thank you poppy, calcotti and janer. My line manager (university) is currently off and will be back on Monday so I will speak to her... I am so lost in all these documents, abbreviation and anxious I might do something wrong.. I am heavily discouraged with all these and not really sure I have strength to navigate through all this. The link poppy kindly shared named manual talks about SMP SAP 10KIYday etc... without a single reference what these abbreviation might mean…  I was keen to pursue this but now becoming frustrated... my construction HR explained I should apply for ESA which I have done.. but now is too complicated and I need time to recover from chemo rather than stress about this... Now, I am not even sure I am entitled to ESA ! while my university job pays around £400. So I would need to quit teaching in order to qualify for ESA? Is it really worth I am not sure.. £152x4=608 earning plus ESA: 117.60x4=470.40
Is it really realistic that I will be surviving with approximately 608+470=£1078 month? I was paying NI over 20 years to reach this stage when I am now for the first time in need for help and to face such a painful process…. How do you lovely disabled and poorly people survive??? given peanuts whilst being checked every month by a work coach at job centre... something does not feel right here... i am sorry i am negative ...

poppy123456

If your 2nd job is paying SSP then you can't continue with your ESA claim because it can't be paid at the same time as ESA.

If there's no SSP then the ESA just continues. It pays £77.00/week for the first 13 weeks. As you're currently going through chemo you will automatically qualify for Support Group and your payments should increase to £117.60/week from week 14.

The only other benefit that's possible to claim is Universal Credit. As advised, if you live with a partner you need to claim as a couple and your joint circumstances will be taken into consideration. Your ESA will be deducted in full from any UC entitlement.

If you have savings/capital of more than £16,000 you're excluded from claiming. Use a benefits calculator to check entitlement. Unfortunately, paying your NI for all those years will make no difference to entitlement to any means tested benefits.

Other than that the only other benefit is council tax reduction.

calcotti

ggloria007 said:?..while my university job pays around £400.

If you are earning less than £123/week you will not be eligible for SSP.

ggloria007

"If you are earning less than £123/week you will not be eligible for SSP." I have approached university payroll and they should be coming back to me on Monday. Thank you for your helo calcotti, Poppy thank you too for spelling out things for me. THANKYOU

ggloria007

"What about SSP from this 2nd employer? if you're entitled to it then you should be receiving it, which will stop your ESA and any money you receive from this will be an overpayment." Hi Poppy i have received the email from the university payroll lady.. she said thay are paying SSP but they didnt pay anything as it does not show their end i am on a sick leave. I have limited hours I work for them and some of my colleagues examined students for me while i was poorly and the course finished in May...  So they are not paying me SSP on the payslip ... I am not sure if they are paying to the DWP anycontribution on my behalf.. do i need to check this too... I am so worried now.. My montly payments from uni are £576.12.. with NIn deductions etc ... i got £456.78 (for August) ... anything i need to do..check etc...?

calcotti

ggloria007 said:

"What about SSP from this 2nd employer?

Each employer is looked at separately. If you earnings from an employer are £123/week then you get SSP from that employer. If you get more than that from each of two employers then you get SSP twice. If you get less than that from each employer then you get no SSP even if the combined earnings are over £123.

it sounds as if the university payroll are not aware that you have been away sick. You need to sort that out. If your normal earnings are £576/month that is over £123/week (£533/month) so you would be eligible for SSP.

ggloria007

thank you calcotti! Is £533/month before or after tax/NI etc reduction?

calcotti

I think that is gross.