SPM10650 - Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) - Calculating average weekly earnings: New employee - linking previous contracts

If a new employee has worked for the employer before under a previous contract, earnings paid under that contract do not count towards the calculation of AWE, unless the contract is treated as continuous, that is, it is unbroken under TUPE, seeSPM10215.

There is no provision within the SSP (General) Regulations 1982 to “link” earnings in a new contract to earnings in an earlier contract with that employer. There is only provision within regulations to “link” periods of SSP from previous contracts.

Therefore, only where TUPE applies, if there are not enough pay days in a second or subsequent contract, to work out the relevant period, and the contracts link, you must take into account the pay days in the previous (linked) contract when calculating the AWE.

You should not use the weeks and or days between the linked contracts in the relevant period. The calculation should include earnings over a period of at least eight weeks, excluding the periods between the contracts.