SSP for Zero Hours Casuals

[Lockardian]

I understand that zero-hours agency staff are entitled to SSP if they are absent through sickness for 4 or more days. I also understand we are not paid for the first 3 days of absence.

However, Angard have now advised me that we are only paid SSP for weekdays, so if your absence spans a weekend you won’t be paid for the Saturday or Sunday.

So although SSP is supposed to be approx £99.35 a week (it may have gone up recently), Angard casuals will only receive 5/7 of that.

Seeing as we aren’t contacted Monday to Friday (in fact a substantial amount of my shifts have been at weekends), this doesn’t seem very fair. I
assume they are following the law, but I can’t find any reference to such in my contract or anywhere online.

Anyone know anything further?

[tabact]

According to the govenrment website for manually calculating SSP.
"A full week for SSP purposes begins on a Sunday and ends at midnight on the following Saturday."
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/statutory-s ... y-for-work
Angard is a 7 day operation so don't know how they come up with Mon-Fri only and not weekends as qualifying. The government site makes it clear it can be a 7 day period for calculating it.

I see what you mean about lack of information online, all the examples I looked at assume you don't work weekends.

[Lockardian]

I’ve emailed payroll again asking for a further explanation as this does seem a bit unusual and unfair.

By the way, how is AWR pay affected by sick absence? Does the rate of pay go down after a six week absence, regardless of whether SSP is paid?

[tabact]

6 weeks is paused if off sick up to 28 weeks.

[Lockardian]

Thanks tabact.

As for the SSP, I received the full £99.35 for last week. It seems the SSP is divided by 5 for each day, rather than 7. If absent Monday-Friday and resuming work Saturday (and the Monday wasn’t the start of the absence) then we might just get the full weekly amount if they use the same calculations. Seems a bit bizarre though that the weekends don’t count.