The SSP1 Form: When Employers Must Issue It

Statutory Sick Pay runs for a maximum of 28 weeks at £123.25 a week for the 2026-27 tax year, and an employer who pays it cannot reclaim a penny of it from HMRC ^[3]. When that 28-week ceiling approaches, or when an employee never qualified in the first place, the employer has a legal duty to hand over one specific document: form SSP1 ^[1].

The SSP1 is the bridge between an employer's sick pay obligation and the state benefit system. It tells the employee, in writing, why Statutory Sick Pay has stopped or was never payable, and it gives the Department for Work and Pensions the information it needs to assess a claim for Employment and Support Allowance or Universal Credit ^[1].

Issuing it late, or not at all, leaves a sick employee unable to claim the benefit they are entitled to, and exposes the employer to an HMRC dispute. This article sets out exactly what the form is, the two scenarios that trigger it, the strict deadlines attached to each, and how the SSP1 connects to the benefits an employee moves on to next.

Key takeaways

• The SSP1 form is issued when an employee's Statutory Sick Pay is ending or when the employee does not qualify for it at all.
• When SSP ends unexpectedly, the form must reach the employee within 7 days of the payment stopping.
• When SSP is expected to run its full course, the form must be sent on or before the start of the 23rd week.
• An employee who does not qualify for SSP must receive form SSP1 within 7 days of their first day off sick.
• The form supports a claim for New Style Employment and Support Allowance or Universal Credit, neither of which the employer pays.

What the SSP1 form is

Form SSP1 is an HMRC document that an employer completes and gives to an employee when Statutory Sick Pay is not payable, either because it has run out or because the employee was never eligible ^[2]. It records the dates SSP was paid, the date it ends, and the reason payment has stopped, so the employee can pass the detail to the Department for Work and Pensions ^[1].

The form matters because Statutory Sick Pay is finite. It is payable for a maximum of 28 weeks in a single period of incapacity for work or a series of linked periods, after which the employer's liability ends entirely ^[5]. At that point the employee may still be too unwell to return, and the SSP1 is what allows them to move onto a state benefit without a gap in income ^[2].

An employee who believes the employer has wrongly refused SSP can use the SSP1 to appeal to HMRC, which has the power to make a formal decision on entitlement ^[1]. The form therefore protects the employee's right of challenge as well as their access to benefits. Running this correctly is part of the day-to-day discipline of any HMRC-recognised payroll software for SMEs, which flags the 28-week point before it arrives.

The two situations that trigger an SSP1

There are only two reasons to issue an SSP1, and they carry different deadlines. The first is that the employee's SSP is coming to an end. The second is that the employee never qualified for SSP at all ^[1].

The table below sets out the scenario, the trigger and the deadline for each.

These deadlines come directly from HMRC's employer guidance and are not discretionary ^[1]. Sending the 23rd-week form early is sensible practice, because it gives the employee time to apply for Employment and Support Allowance before SSP actually stops, avoiding a break in income ^[1].

When Statutory Sick Pay is ending

The most common trigger is the 28-week ceiling. The maximum liability in an unlinked period, or in a series of linked periods, is 28 times the weekly rate ^[5]. Once an employee has had 28 weeks of SSP, no more is due, and the employer must issue the SSP1 so the employee can claim a benefit instead ^[3].

Entitlement can also end before 28 weeks. A continuous series of linked periods of incapacity that lasts more than three years exhausts SSP entitlement, even where fewer than 28 weeks have actually been paid ^[12]. In either case, an employer who can see the end coming should issue the form on or before the start of the 23rd week so the transition to benefits is seamless ^[1].

When the employee never qualified

The second trigger is an employee who fails an eligibility condition from the outset. Here the form must be sent within 7 days of the first day of sickness absence, so the employee can claim Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance without delay ^[6]. The reasons for non-qualification are specific and listed in HMRC guidance ^[1].

It is worth noting that one historic reason for non-qualification has disappeared. Until 6 April 2026, an employee whose average weekly earnings fell below the Lower Earnings Limit received no SSP and was issued an SSP1 on that basis ^[11]. The Employment Rights Act 2025 removed that earnings test, so low earners now qualify and receive 80% of their average weekly earnings rather than a refusal, a shift covered in detail in the guide to what changed in the SSP reform ^[13].

Reasons an employee does not qualify for SSP

When an employee fails to qualify, the SSP1 records the reason. The exceptions are tightly defined, and a payroll bureau platform managing many client schemes needs to apply them consistently across every employer it runs.

Each of these is drawn from HMRC's published eligibility list ^[1]. To qualify in the first place, an employee must have a contract of service, have done some work under it, have been sick for at least one full working day, and have given proper notice of sickness, the conditions explained in the overview of what Statutory Sick Pay is ^[14]. The period of incapacity for work is now defined as at least one full working day, a change from the previous four-day threshold ^[1].

What happens after the SSP1: the move to ESA

The SSP1 exists so the employee can claim a state benefit once the employer's sick pay stops. The two routes are New Style Employment and Support Allowance, a contributory benefit based on National Insurance record, and Universal Credit, an income-related benefit ^[8]. The employee uses the dates and reasons on the SSP1 to support the claim ^[2].

New Style ESA is paid at a personal rate that depends on age during the initial assessment phase, then rises once a work capability assessment places the claimant in a component group ^[10]. The weekly figures for the 2026-27 tax year are set out below.

These rates are published in the annual benefit and pension uprating ^[15]. New Style ESA is not means-tested and is unaffected by a partner's earnings or by most savings, which makes it the usual first port of call for an employee leaving SSP ^[9]. An employee may also claim Universal Credit alongside it where their household circumstances allow ^[16].

The employer's part in the handover

The employer does not pay ESA and is not involved in assessing it. The duty stops at issuing an accurate SSP1 on time ^[6]. Where an employer knows an employee will be off for more than 28 weeks, the form can be completed early, before SSP ends, so the ESA claim is in train before the income stops ^[1].

Accurate dates matter at this handover. The SSP1 must show when SSP started, the weekly rate paid, and the date it ends, because the Department for Work and Pensions uses those figures to set the ESA start date ^[2]. Payroll records that capture every qualifying day make the form straightforward to complete, which is one reason employers embed sick pay tracking inside an HMRC-recognised payroll API rather than reconstructing it by hand.

Record keeping and Real Time Information

SSP is paid through payroll like any other earnings, with income tax and National Insurance deducted, and is reported to HMRC through Real Time Information on the Full Payment Submission ^[3]. Because SSP is not recoverable, there is no Employer Payment Summary entry to reclaim it, unlike family-related statutory payments ^[3].

HMRC can ask to see sickness records if there is a dispute over an SSP payment, so an employer should retain evidence of qualifying days, average weekly earnings and the dates SSP was paid ^[3]. Software that holds the HMRC Recognised badge submits the FPS automatically and keeps the underlying SSP record, which is the same data the SSP1 draws on ^[12]. Sole traders and very small employers issuing one-off documents can produce a compliant instant payslip that reflects the correct SSP figure.

Conclusion

The SSP1 is a small form with an outsized role. It is the formal point at which an employer's sick pay liability ends and the state benefit system takes over, and the two deadlines attached to it, 7 days for an unexpected end and the 23rd week for an expected one, leave little room for delay. Issued accurately and on time, it protects both the employee's income and the employer's compliance position.

The wider direction of travel makes the form more visible, not less. The removal of the Lower Earnings Limit on 6 April 2026 brought a large group of previously excluded low earners into SSP, which means more sickness absences now generate an SSP entitlement, and in time more of them will reach the 28-week ceiling where the SSP1 is due. Absence tracking that surfaces that ceiling before it arrives is becoming a core part of running compliant UK payroll.

Frequently asked questions

Who fills in the SSP1 form, the employer or the employee?

The employer completes the SSP1 form. It records the dates Statutory Sick Pay was paid, the weekly rate, and the date payment ends or the reason the employee did not qualify ^[2]. The employee then uses the completed form to support a claim for Employment and Support Allowance or Universal Credit ^[1].

How long does an employer have to issue an SSP1?

It depends on the trigger. If SSP ends unexpectedly while the employee is still sick, the form must be sent within 7 days of payment stopping. If the end is foreseeable, it must be sent on or before the beginning of the 23rd week of SSP. If the employee never qualified, the form is due within 7 days of their first day off sick ^[1].

Can an employee get money after their SSP runs out?

Yes. An employee whose SSP has ended may claim New Style Employment and Support Allowance, a contributory benefit based on National Insurance record, or Universal Credit, depending on their circumstances ^[8]. The SSP1 provides the dates and reasons the Department for Work and Pensions needs to assess the claim ^[2].

Does the employer pay Employment and Support Allowance?

No. Employment and Support Allowance is a state benefit paid by the Department for Work and Pensions, not by the employer ^[10]. The employer's responsibility ends with paying Statutory Sick Pay for up to 28 weeks and issuing an accurate SSP1 on time so the employee can claim ESA ^[6].