Am I Entitled To Sick Pay After An Accident At Work?

By Lewis Cobain. Last Updated 11th July 2024. If you’re wondering ‘what is sick pay at work and will I get paid it?’, this guide can help. Whether through illness or injury, you may be entitled to SSP or statutory sick pay if you need to take time off after your injury.

Depending on your employer, role and contract type, you may also be entitled to get additional or top-up sick pay. A self-run sick pay scheme by your employer is known as Company Sick Pay (CSP). Such a scheme will pay more than statutory sick pay, but it’s not something employers are obligated to provide. However, your employer must at least pay Statutory Sick Pay, providing you meet eligibility requirements.

Please keep reading on if you have queries such as ‘am I entitled to sick pay at work and will I get paid?’ Depending on the severity of your accident and injury the amount of accident at work sick pay you could be entitled to can vary. You might also be able to claim benefits.

We’ll also discuss claiming work injury compensation which you may be entitled to in addition to any sick pay you may receive. To speak to an advisor about accident at work sick pay and potentially claiming compensation, you can contact Legal Expert today by:

• Calling us on 0800 073 8804
• Reaching us online through our contact form or our 24/7 live chat service

Select a section 

1. What Is Statutory Sick Pay?
2. Accident At Work – Sick Pay Eligibility
3. When Are You Not Entitled to Claim For Statutory Sick Pay?
4. What Should You Do If Your Employer Refuses To Pay Sick Pay At Work?
5. How To Seek Accident At Work Compensation And Claim Sick Pay
6. How Is Sick Pay After An Accident At Work Factored Into A Payout?
7. No Win No Fee Accident At Work Claims

What Is Statutory Sick Pay?

Statutory sick pay is a specific amount of pay you are legally entitled to from your employer if you have to miss work due to illness or injury. Not all workers are entitled to claim statutory sick pay. To qualify for the payment you must be working for an employer (self-employed workers are not entitled to this). Criteria you must satisfy include;

• Are currently working for your employer, i.e. your employment contract has started.
• Are ill for four whole days or more. This is including non-working days such as weekends. The days need to be in a row.
• Earn more than an average of £120 each week.
• Not falling into one of the groups of people who are not eligible. (Read on to find out more.)
• You have followed your employer’s procedures for claiming sick pay.

You can still be entitled to accident at work sick pay if you are a casual worker or are employed by an agency. Part-time workers and those on fixed-term contracts are also entitled to claiming statutory sick pay.

Despite what many people may have read, you are still entitled to sick pay if you are employed on a ‘zero-hours-contract’. If your employer refuses you this, you need to ask them why they are not paying it.

For more information on sick pay rules, read on or get in touch with our team today for free legal advice.

Accident At Work – Sick Pay Eligibility

Depending on the terms of your contract, your employer, following an accident at work, could pay you sick pay, though they are not obliged to.

You may be eligible to claim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), which is currently set at £99.35 per week and can be paid to you for up to 28 weeks. However, following an accident at work, the sick pay you receive from your employer may differ depending on your contract. They cannot pay you lower than the SSP amount, but your contract might state that you are entitled to more for a specific period of time. It is important to check your contract to see if you are entitled to contractual sick pay before trying to claim SSP through your employer.

To qualify for SSP, you must meet the following criteria:

1. You must be classed as an employee and have done some work for your employer.
2. You must earn £123 per week on average.
3. You must have been ill for at least 4 days in a row, including non-working days.

If you are eligible for SSP, you will be paid for all the days you are off sick that you would have normally worked, except for the first 3 days.

Do not hesitate to contact our advisors today if you have any questions about making a claim for a work-related injury or about sick pay in the UK. Our friendly advisors are available 24 hours a day to help answer your questions and offer you free legal advice.

When Are You Not Entitled to Claim For Statutory Sick Pay?

You are not entitled to be paid statutory sick pay (SSP) in the following circumstances.

1. You’re currently self-employed.
2. You have used up your allowance, ie. you have already received sick pay for the twenty-eight-week limit.
3. If you have received ESA (employment and support allowance) within the last twelve weeks.
4. Are already being paid maternity allowance(s) or statutory maternity pay.
5. If you are pregnant and your baby’s due date is within the next four weeks, AND your sickness is related to your pregnancy.
6. If you have given birth in the last fourteen weeks. (this increases to eighteen weeks if the baby was over 4 weeks early at birth).
7. Are a member of the UK armed forces.
8. When in legal custody.
9. If you are an agricultural worker.

For some, even if your employer has listed you as self-employed, you may be technically a worker for that employer. If so, the answer to the question “am I entitled to sick pay at work and will I get paid it?” is yes. It is best to check if this applies to you and you can do so by contacting a solicitor. You’re welcome to contact Legal Expert for advice on this matter from our own solicitors.

What Should You Do If Your Employer Refuses To Pay Sick Pay At Work?

If you have had an injury are legally entitled to accident at work pay, your employer has a duty to pay this. Common employer claims for not paying this (especially for small businesses) are that they can not afford to do so. If this is the case, there are steps you can take to recover the pay you were entitled to.

You should start by contacting HMRC (HM Revenue and Customs). Lines are open Monday – Friday 8am to 6pm and calls cost 12p per minute from a landline. Remember mobile calls will cost more and you could be on hold or in a queue for a while before getting through.

How To Seek Accident At Work Compensation And Claim Sick Pay

You could potentially receive payments from separate claims for an accident at work and sick pay in certain cases. This is because you can make a personal injury compensation claim regardless of whether or not you receive SSP.

Your employer owes you a duty of care under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. This duty, according to Section 2 of the Act, is to take all reasonably practicable steps that keep employees safe from harm.

Therefore, you could have a valid accident at work claim if you can show that:

• Your employer owed you a duty of care in the time and place of the incident.
• They breached their duty. For example they failed to provide you with necessary personal protective equipment.
• The accident caused you to suffer physical and/or mental harm.

We are often asked, “Do I get full pay if injured at work in the UK?” SSP generally does not do this, but if you successfully claim for an accident at work, part of your payout could potentially address a loss of earnings caused directly by injuries suffered in a workplace accident.

This is an example of special damages, which is one possible head of loss that can feature in a compensation payout. We discuss special damages in more depth in the following section.

You can call us to ask any other questions you may have, including claiming for an injury at work, sick pay eligibility, and if an experienced No Win No Fee personal injury solicitor could help you make a case against your employer.

How Is Sick Pay After An Accident At Work Factored Into A Payout?

Receiving sick pay after an accident does not disqualify you from receiving compensation. In fact, your accident at work sick pay can be factored into a personal injury payout.

Loss of earnings is one example of financial loss caused by injuries that can be compensated for under the special damages head of loss. In certain qualifying cases, special damages compensation can form part of a payout.

If you have an injury at work and sick pay does not match your normal wage, you could seek compensation for the difference. It can also account for the impact that your absence has on a work bonus you would have otherwise received, or your pension.

You might also be able to seek a payment covering, for example:

• Medical bills.
• Travel costs.
• Care fees.

Evidence is vital for this head of loss. With that in mind, remember to keep hold of any payslips, bills, receipts or invoices you receive.

Claiming For Pain Caused By A Workplace Accident

The main head of loss that appears in a workplace accident claim payout is called general damages. It accounts for the physical pain and mental suffering that caused you to miss work and claim sick pay.

Those working out general damages compensation will consider the nature and extent of injuries, as well as loss of amenity, which means the ability to carry out normal tasks.

They could refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) for help, as this document provides guideline compensation brackets for a variety of injuries.

We have used the JCG to create the table you see below. Only the top line is not from figures found in the document. However, please remember that it is only a guide.

If you have questions like, “If I get injured at work, do I get paid?” and “What can I claim for apart from work-related injury sick pay?”, don’t hesitate to call our helpline for free advice.

No Win No Fee Accident At Work Claims

Although having a solicitor represent you isn’t necessary for a personal injury claim following an accident at work, it’s certainly the best way to make sure that you have someone with legal expertise to advise you on the process. But for many people, making the decision to have a solicitor work on their personal injury case is an expense that they cannot afford.

Luckily, our No Win No Fee Agreement means that there’s no financial risk to you when making a claim. With it, you won’t pay anything before your claim starts, or while it’s ongoing.

If your claim isn’t successful, then you won’t be asked to pay a penny. If you win your claim, then we’ll take a success fee from your compensation to cover the solicitor’s fees.

To get in touch with our accident at work claim solicitors, you can speak to our advisors at any time to find out more. Below are a few ways to contact us:

• Pop up to an online claims advisor at any time using our free live chat service
• Call us on our free 24/7 legal advice line on 0800 073 8804
• Request a call back from our advisors by completing an online claim form

Further Accident At Work Claims Guides

Here are some more of our guides that could help you if you decide to make an accident at work claim.

• Read this guide to learn if you could make a forklift truck claim after an accident in a warehouse.
• If you have been harmed by defective work equipment while working, see if you could claim.
• This guide looks at the eligibility to make burn injury at work claims.

Thank you for reading our guide ‘what is sick pay at work and will I get paid it?’.