Supply teachers generally don’t expect the school to pay for their services unless they actually work, and many assume this means they’re not entitled to sick pay, but the truth is that many are entitled to claim. In fact, for teachers who are employed by an umbrella company, their entitlement may extend between assignments, and even into the school holidays when they didn’t expect to work. In this article, we’ll look at how umbrella company employment can affect your supply teachers’ entitlement to SSP.
How does Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) work for supply teachers?
SSP is a legal entitlement for employees who are unable to work due to illness or injury. The cost of paying SSP to your supply teachers will be met by their employer – which will either be their umbrella company, or you if you’ve engaged them directly through agency PAYE.
If your supply teachers are employed by an umbrella company, the umbrella is responsible for paying any SSP that is due, as they are the teacher’s employer. At the time of writing the rate is £116.75 per week for up to 28 weeks.
Your teachers are eligible for SSP if they’re employed, earning £120 per week and are unable to work due to illness or injury. SSP will start on the fourth day of incapacity; the first three days are known as “waiting days” and are not paid.
They can “self-certificate” for up to seven days, after which they will need a “fit note” from a doctor.
What’s this about the school holidays?
When supply teachers are engaged and paid directly by the agency, they’re usually only engaged while they’re on assignment. This means that if they have entitlement to employment rights like SSP, they end when the assignment ends.
However, when they’re employed by an umbrella company, they have continuous employment across all their assignments. This means their employment rights, including entitlement to SSP, continue even when they’re not working.
So, if your teachers are incapacitated due to illness, even during the school holidays, they may be entitled to SSP.
| The new Labour government have promised to make changes to workers’ rights in their first 100 days.
These include extending employee rights to those currently classed as “workers”, and making some employee rights, including sick pay, effective from “day one”. They’ve also promised to remove the earnings limit for sick pay. This would effectively mean that your supply teachers are eligible to claim sick pay from the moment they start work. Obviously, it’s great that teachers will be protected right away, but it does represent an additional cost and risk to you – unless you outsource employment to an umbrella company or PEO. |
If your teachers need to claim SSP
If they need to claim, they should inform their umbrella company, using the internal process the umbrella has put in place. It’s a good idea to prompt them to find out what this is ahead of time, so they know exactly what they need to do in the event that they are unwell.
If you have questions or if we can help in any way, please call our expert team on 01604 360 222 or email sales@fairpayservices.co.uk.