The formal decision is issued to the interested parties on a Notice of Decision (DAA1). See SPM60355
The wording of the decision has to
Carefully word a decision in order to comply with the statutory
requirements and to avoid a legal challenge which may deem it
invalid
. This means a decision must follow a prescribed
format with wording that is brief and to the point. Decisions will
normally contain both an entitlement and a liability decision.
There may also be a period of entitlement followed by a period of
non-entitlement or exclusion. Make sure all disputed periods are
covered. If SSP ends before the period of incapacity or claimed
incapacity, the employer may wish to dispute the period of
entitlement/liability, but the employee would probably wish to
dispute the decision that SSP was not payable after that date so
the associated non entitlement/liability decision must also be
given.
Always use the actual name of each person in the decision.
Use initials with surname or forenames and surname without a title
where that is appropriate. Where employees share similar names
include their National Insurance numbers to avoid any confusion.
Do not make decisions that specify future dates because you
cannot be sure what will happen in the future. Always use a closed
period ending on or before the date the decision is given on
liability to pay SSP/SMP/SAP/SPP cases.
As a decision is briefly worded to fit in with the legal requirements, it is usually necessary to send a letter of explanation with the Notice of Decision which briefly reiterates the information in previous correspondence and confirms the grounds for the decision. The decision is given for the period of known entitlement only so there may be a further period of entitlement, such as to the end of the SMP pay period, which will need to be covered in the letter.
