Linked periods of sickness and the 28-week limit
SSP is paid for up to 28 weeks for a period of sickness. When sickness comes and goes, separate absences can link together into a single longer period, which matters because the 28-week clock runs across linked periods, not per absence. This page explains linking, the 3-year cap, and what happens when the 28 weeks run out.
Linking, in one line
Two periods of sickness link when each lasts at least one full working day and they are 8 weeks or less apart. Linked periods count together toward the 28-week maximum.
How linking works
Suppose a retail worker in Cardiff is off for two weeks in January, returns for five weeks, then is off again for three weeks for the same recurring condition. The gap is less than 8 weeks, so the periods link: five weeks of the 28-week entitlement are already used before the second absence begins. If the gap had been more than 8 weeks, the periods would not link, and the second absence would start a fresh entitlement. The 8 weeks are counted between periods, and each period must last at least one full working day to link at all — a single partial day does not create a link.
The 28-week maximum
Once you have received 28 weeks of SSP for a period of sickness, including linked periods, your SSP for that period ends, even if you are still sick. At the full rate, 28 weeks pays £3,451.00 gross. Your employer must send you form SSP1 on or before the beginning of the 23rd week if your SSP is expected to end before your sickness does, or within 7 days of SSP ending if it ends unexpectedly while you are still sick. That timing matters: the 23rd-week rule exists so you can apply for Employment and Support Allowance or Universal Credit before your SSP income stops, rather than after.
The 3-year linked-series limit
You are no longer eligible for SSP if you have a continuous series of linked periods that lasts more than 3 years. This is a long-stop, not a routine limit: it catches unbroken chains of linked sickness stretching over years, not ordinary repeat absences with proper gaps. If your absences have gaps of more than 8 weeks, the chain breaks and the 3-year clock does not keep running. Keep a personal log of absence dates and return dates if your condition recurs; without it, neither you nor payroll can reconstruct whether periods link.
Annual leave inside a sickness period
Taking annual leave during a period of incapacity for work does not interrupt that period for SSP purposes. A holiday taken between two sick spells does not break linking, and does not reset the 28-week clock. What breaks a link is a gap of more than 8 weeks between periods of sickness, not a holiday. Equally, returning to work and then falling sick again within 8 weeks links the new absence to the old one, even if you worked normally in between.
After the 28 weeks
When SSP ends, the next step is usually a claim for Employment and Support Allowance, Universal Credit, or both, depending on your National Insurance record, household circumstances, and health. Form SSP1 supports that application and explains your position to the Department for Work and Pensions. You can complete form SSP1 before the end of SSP if you know you will be off for more than 28 weeks, so an ESA claim can be made before SSP ends. See when SSP ends for the full sequence, deadlines, and dispute route.