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Employment Support Allowance

You cannot get Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) if you're entitled to SSP. If you're sick and have had ESA you may receive these benefits again, instead of receiving SSP.

If you've received ESA within 12 weeks of being sick, you're not entitled to SSP because you can reclaim ESA. You may not be entitled if you’ve received ESA for 365 days and are not in the Support Group. Find out more about changes to ESA using the following link.

• Changes to contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance

The 104 weeks linking rule has been abolished from 30 April 2012. This means that you won't be able to claim contribution-based Employment Support Allowance if you become ill within 104 weeks of a previous claim ending. The 12 weeks linking rules still applies.

• Employment and Support Allowance - introduction

If you receive SSP only while you are sick, you may also be able claim other benefits.

• Income Support

• Housing Benefit

• Council Tax Benefit

Pregnancy and SSP

If you are getting SSP for a pregnancy related illness at the start of the four weeks before your baby is due or in the four weeks before your baby is due, SSP will stop. Any entitlement to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) or Maternity Allowance (MA) will start automatically.

If you do not have a pregnancy related illness, you can get SSP up to the day before SMP or MA is due to start.

Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance

If you are entitled to SMP or MA, you cannot get SSP under any circumstances for 39 weeks starting with the first day of entitlement to those payments.

If you are not entitled to SMP or MA, you cannot get SSP for a period of 18 weeks. For more information about this, please contact your employer or the HM Revenue & Customs Employee helpline on 0845 302 1479.

• Statutory Maternity Pay

• Maternity Allowance

Statutory Paternity or Adoption Pay

If you're getting SSP you won't be able to claim Statutory Paternity or Adoption Pay at the same time.

You should be able to delay these payments and claim SSP until you're fit to take the leave. You must take it within 56 days of the birth or expected date of your adopted child's placement with you.

• Statutory Adoption Pay

• Ordinary Statutory Paternity Pay

Occupational sick pay schemes

If your employer operates their own sick pay scheme, they will still need to consider any underlying entitlement you may have to SSP for up to 28 weeks.

If you satisfy the conditions for payment and your occupational sick pay ends before 28 weeks of sickness your employer needs to pay you SSP, if you qualify, for any remaining weeks up to the maximum period of 28 weeks.

If you have no underlying entitlement to SSP, or if your occupational sick pay ends before 28 weeks you are not entitled to SSP, your employer must complete form SSP1 for you to claim Employment Support Allowance (ESA).

If you are sick after 28 weeks of occupational sick pay your employer must complete form SSP1 for you to claim ESA.

It is important for your employer to give you this form as soon as possible to support a claim to ESA. Without this form a decision about entitlement to ESA cannot be made which may delay payment.

Please read 'sick pay rights' for more information about occupational sick pay schemes.

• Sick pay rights (employment section)

• Employment and Support Allowance - introduction (disabled people section)

More useful links

• Sick pay rights (employment section)