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Manage Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) in QuickBooks Online Advanced Payroll

by Intuit•4• Updated 1 month ago

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is the legal minimum you must pay an employee who is off work due to illness. In QuickBooks Online Advanced Payroll, you can manage SSP payments, update linked absences, and handle situations where an employee doesn’t qualify.

Before you begin

Before processing SSP, make sure the employee meets the qualifying criteria:

  • Period of Incapacity for Work (PIW): The sickness must last four or more consecutive days, including non-working days and weekends. Sickness lasting fewer than four days doesn’t meet SSP requirements.
  • Average Weekly Earnings (AWE): The employee must earn at least the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) for National Insurance.
  • Qualifying Days: These are the days the employee usually works and are used to calculate waiting days and SSP payments.
  • Waiting Days:
  • Average Weekly Earnings (AWE): The employee must earn at least the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) for National Insurance.

Adding Statutory Sick Pay for an employee

Watch the quick video below or follow the steps to add Statutory Sick Pay to a pay run for an eligible employee.

  1. Go to Payroll.
  2. Select the Pay Runs tab.
  3. Open the relevant pay run.
  4. Select the arrow next to the employee’s name.
  5. Select Actions.
  6. Choose Pay statutory leave.
  7. Select Statutory Sick Pay from the dropdown options.
  8. Choose the start and end dates of the sickness. Waiting days will default to 3.
  9. QuickBooks automatically calculates AWE, but you can override this if needed.
  10. Under Basic Pay Adjustment, choose one:
    • Reduce basic pay by statutory amount: Pays the Basic pay after deducting the SSP.
    • Do not pay basic pay: Pays only the SSP, excluding the Basic pay.
    • Pay basic pay as entered: Pays the Basic pay along with the SSP.
  11. Under Advanced options, update Qualifying days if needed (defaults to Mon–Fri).
  12. Select Save.

If an employee’s basic pay adjustment is incorrect before finalising the pay run, you can amend it.

  1. Open the pay run.
  2. Hover over the SSP line for the employee.
  3. Select the red square icon.
  4. Re-enter the SSP details as needed. The waiting days, SSP days, and total SSP amount will be recalculated

Re-enter the SSP details as needed. The waiting days, SSP days, and total SSP amount will be recalculated


Linking absence and waiting days

If an employee is off sick again within eight weeks of a previous PIW, the absences are linked. In this case, you don’t need to apply the three waiting days again.

  1. Go to Employees or Payroll menu.
  2. Select the Employees tab.
  3. Choose the relevant employee.
  4. Select Statutory/Occupational Pay.
  5. Select Add.
  6. Choose Statutory Sick Leave from the dropdown options.
  7. Enter the required absence information.
  8. Select Advance options.
  9. Next to waiting days, select Override.
  10. Enter 0 to ensure no waiting days are deducted.
  11. Review the calculated amount to be paid.
  12. Select Save.

This ensures the employee receives the correct SSP, based on previously linked sickness periods. Keep in mind that the maximum SSP payable is 28 weeks. SSP is not reclaimable from HMRC.


Employee doesn't qualify for Statutory Sick Pay

If an employee isn't eligible for SSP, it could be because they have already received the maximum 28 weeks of SSP or they don't earn enough. In these cases, you'll need to fill out an SSP1 form.

  1. Go to Employees or Payroll menu.
  2. Select the Employees tab.
  3. Select the employee who needs the SSP Adjustment.
  4. Select Statutory/Occupational Pay.
  5. Select Add.
  6. Choose Statutory Sick Leave from the dropdown options.
  7. Enter the necessary information.
  8. Select Choose not to pay SSP.
  9. Choose a reason from the dropdown options.

After you finalise the pay run:

  1. Go to the Employee's details.
  2. Select Leave balances.
  3. Select SSP1 form.
  • You’ll see a warning in the View log and cannot pay more SSP.
  • Use the Documents section in the employee’s details to store sick certificates

To review or set the days the employee usually works:

  1. Go to the employee's details.
  2. Select Pay run defaults.
  3. Choose Standard week.
  4. Select Advanced to edit specific working days

If you’ve switched to QuickBooks from another payroll provider and an employee is already on sick leave:

  • You can set waiting days to 0 in the pay run.
  • You can adjust the AWE in the pay run if needed.
QuickBooks Online Payroll Advanced

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