Statutory sick pay eligibility for casual work

Short answer

Yes, you can be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) in a part-time, casual or zero-hours job, including a student job, provided you meet the qualifying conditions. Being part-time, casual or on a zero-hours contract does not by itself disqualify you. What matters is your employment status for SSP purposes, your average weekly earnings, and how long you are off sick.

The qualifying conditions

To get SSP you generally need to satisfy all of the following.

1. You must be classed as an employee for SSP purposes and have done some work under the contract. This is a wider category than it sounds. HMRC treats many casual, short-term and zero-hours staff, and many agency workers, as employees for SSP even if they are not “employees” for other employment law purposes. So a zero-hours student worker who has actually worked shifts can still qualify.

2. You must earn at least the Lower Earnings Limit on average. For the 2025/26 tax year this threshold is £125 per week (averaged, before tax, over the relevant eight-week period). This is the condition that most often catches out students in low-hours or irregular work, because if your average earnings fall below the limit you will not qualify.

3. You must be sick for at least four consecutive days, including non-working days. These four days form a “period of incapacity for work”. The first three qualifying days are normally unpaid “waiting days”, so SSP is only actually paid from the fourth qualifying day onwards (unless you have had a linked period of sickness recently).

4. You must have “qualifying days”. These are the days you would normally have worked. For someone on regular shifts this is straightforward. For genuinely irregular zero-hours work it can be harder, and this is often where employers wrongly refuse SSP. If there is no fixed pattern, a qualifying day can usually be agreed or worked out, and there is guidance on identifying qualifying days where shifts vary. An employer cannot simply refuse SSP by saying you have no set days without properly working this out.

5. You must tell your employer you are sick within their time limit (or seven days if they have no rule) and provide evidence if asked. For absences of more than seven days employers can require a fit note.

How casual and zero-hours work affects the amount and duration

The amount is currently up to £118.75 per week (2025/26), or 80% of your average weekly earnings if that is lower than the standard rate. SSP is paid by the employer through payroll like wages and can last up to 28 weeks.

For casual, short-term and zero-hours staff, the period for which SSP is payable can depend on whether you have had three months of continuous engagement. If you have not, entitlement can be limited to the current or expected engagement. If a fixed-term or casual engagement ends while you are sick, SSP from that employer generally stops when the engagement ends.

Common reasons students are refused, and whether the refusal is valid

The most common lawful reason is that average weekly earnings are below the Lower Earnings Limit. If you work only a few low-paid hours, you may genuinely fall below £125 a week on average, in which case SSP is not due. That is a legitimate outcome, not wrongdoing by the employer.

A common invalid reason is an employer claiming that zero-hours or casual workers “don’t get SSP at all”. That is wrong. Another is a bare assertion that you have no qualifying days, without actually calculating them. If your earnings are above the threshold and you have worked, you should press the point and ask the employer to explain their refusal in writing.

If you cannot get SSP because you do not qualify (for example your earnings are too low, or your engagement ended), your employer should give you form SSP1, which you can use to claim Universal Credit or, in some cases, Employment and Support Allowance instead.

Forthcoming changes to be aware of

Reforms to SSP are being introduced that are intended to remove the lower earnings threshold and the three waiting days, so that lower-paid and casual workers become entitled to a percentage of earnings from the first day of sickness. These changes are not yet fully in force, so for now the conditions above still apply. It is worth checking the current position at the time you actually need to claim, because the eligibility rules and rates may change once the reforms commence.

Practical next steps

1. Work out your average weekly earnings over the relevant period and compare them with the current Lower Earnings Limit, so you know whether you cross the earnings threshold.

2. Report your sickness to your employer promptly following their notification rules, and keep a dated record of when and how you told them.

3. If you are off more than seven days, get a fit note from your GP or NHS 111.

4. If SSP is refused, ask the employer in writing for the specific reason and, if they say you have no qualifying days, ask them to show how they worked that out.

5. If you still cannot get SSP, request form SSP1 and consider whether Universal Credit or ESA would help.

6. If you believe you qualify but the employer will not pay, you can raise a dispute with HMRC’s Statutory Payment Disputes Team, which can make a formal decision on your entitlement.

What would change the answer

The key variables are your average weekly earnings, whether your engagement is ongoing or has ended, and whether you genuinely have qualifying days. If you tell me your typical weekly pay, how your shifts are arranged, how long you have worked there, and how long you have been or expect to be off sick, I can give you a more precise view of whether SSP is payable and for how long.