Hi all. Any fellow teachers on half pay? I’m at the end of 6 months full pay and still have a diep reconstruction and radiotherapy to go. I don’t think I’ll be back until april or may, so I’m about to go into half pay.
Can anyone help with these questions please?
Is it exactly half pay that i will get or is it half pay with SSP on top? Is the pension, NI and tax reduced?
No-one at my work knows my answers…I’m the first to get breast cancer on a teacher’s wage.
Thank you
This might help.
Thank you @mrsjelly. I’ve been through this several times but no mention of what half pay looks like regarding whether ssp is extra or included. Even my head teacher doesn’t know. She will contact hr to find out. Thank you for the link though and taking the time to post. Much appreciated. I hope you are well. X
I’m not a Teacher, so don’t know details of your contract.
Tax is deducted from any income that is above the lower earning level or high earning level. If your pay within the tax year (apr to mar) falls below one of those thresholds you should see a change in tax code, although the adjustment is never immediate (in my experience). Any overpayment is offset against your tax contributions for the next year.
Regarding SSP, it’s my understanding that this is a minimum payment your employer has to make, hence the term “statutory”. I don’t recall seeing it as a separate, extra payment on one of my payslips but it was several years ago.
I agree with sal that your pay will be half your salary. The school has chosen to pay you more than the statutory minimum you are required to be paid.
Hi
I’m not a teacher but when I googled your question it appears teachers get ssp on top of the half pay for up to 28 weeks, tax, ni, pension should be adjusted to your earnings. Have you looked on the government website?
Hope your doing okay after all you’ve been/going through
Take care
Xx
I’m not a teacher but work for a Local Authority and regarding employment terms and conditions they are usually pretty similar. My understanding is that you would get half pay which is taxed at the rate applicable to how much you are being paid. Tax code will be the same, you will pay the same rate of tax but it will be less as your salary is less. As your half pay is likely more than SSP you would not be paid this as your contractual terms are better. SSP is paid once your contractual sick pay period runs out if you are still off. Employer contributions to your pension would also be in line with the half pay so although they will pay the same percentage the amount will be less.
Thanks @southwest123 and @chillout365. Both your answers contradict each other but prove exactly why my head teacher and myself are so confused! So ive read that ssp is on top of half pay and also that it is part of half pay. Currently my full pay includes ssp. So my local authority are paying normal wage but part of it is now funded as ssp. If this continues when i go to half pay then as @southwest123 suggests i will get half pay and be taxed and pensioned accordingly. But if @chillout365 is correct i will get half pay plus the extra. Maybe I’ll just have to wait and see!
Thank you both! Hope you’re both well x
I’m helping a friend claim sick pay so was interested in your post. Is it just teachers who get paid more than SSP or all people who work in the public sector? It seems pretty unfair on those of us in private industry who are still paying the same NI or have I got this wrong? And how many weeks/months do you get?
Hi, I work in payroll and have experience of my husband being off sick and getting half pay . He didn’t get SSP on top.
He isn’t a teacher but SSP is meant to be in lieu of pay , not as well as.
Tax and national insurance are deducted from SSP .
It’s based on your tax code for that tax year , so if you’ve been paid above tax and NI thresholds , you will see it deducted .
You can notify HMRC that your pay will be lower than usual .
We show SSP as a separate line on a pay slip .
My husband is in private industry and he was on full pay for 6 months , half pay for 6 and then SSP. It depends on your contrast of employment.
Mine is SSP after a week but my employer generously paid me full pay , albeit I am part time and I worked as much as I could during treatment.
Hi,
Sorry to hear youre going through this confusion. Im a teacher but didnt get to the point of half pay.
Best thing to do is for you to contact HR yourself & have it fully explained. If they cant give you a definitive answer id go to your union as there will be a policy somewhere which states wxactly what you should be getting.
Goos luck
I worked in education until August 2024 when I took redundancy.
I was paid half pay for six months which was more than SSP. But at the end of the SSP period, I got a letter to say it was finishing. I would assume that my employer was claiming the SSP from the government as part of my half pay. I was then given an SSP1 form to send the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) to claim as I still want fit to go back to work.
I asked HR and payroll for information but they weren’t very helpful. I had to find it out for myself. They would just say we are paying your this figure at full pay and this figure at half pay from such and such a date.
As far as private and public services and sick pay amounts, it will depend on your contract.
Citizens Advice, Maggie’s and MacMillan offer guidance.
Hi @teddy271. Teachers get 100 days full and 100 days half. It is less if the teacher has not worked four years forvthat local authority. I understand that for private sector teachers and academies, it is entirely up to the individual school what they pay, do yes that is unfair. However, my cancer treatment has been complicated and I’m into second year. I don’t think this is common for breast cancer cases.
I hope you are getting/got a good sick pay deal. X
SSP is paid for the first 28 weeks of sickness absence. If you have been off six for 6 months, you are almost out of entitlement. Your employer can pay you more (per your contract) but not less. I think any SSP entitlement would be shown separately on your payslip but your employer would top you up to half pay, not pay it on top. SSP is explained in a lot of detail on gov.uk.
Thanks @Coddfish. Its different for teachers whose schools use Burgandy Book rules. We get 100 school days full and 100 school days half. It works out about 6 months of each. I’m at the end of the full bit. Hope you are well x
@teddy271 I’m a public sector worker and after being in post for four months get one month full and one month half pay. This goes up each year by a month until being in post for six years when it is the maximum six months full pay and six months half pay.
I was lucky(?!) as had been in my job for five months when I was diagnosed so was entitled. Time off for anything related to cancer treatment or screening is paid too so I had a week off (at my boss’ insistence even though I didn’t really need it) during radiotherapy and was fully paid.
I have been fortunate as financial concerns on top of everything people are going through must be so difficult.
Thanks for that info. And glad you are getting good support.
Hi @bluesatsuma,
I’m a primary school teacher and returned to work in September after a year off.
I received 100 working days (6 months) full pay that includes SSP and then 6 months half pay, without SSP as that is only paid for 28 weeks. My take home pay was slightly more because of reduced tax and NI. On top of this you can claim ESA. This is paid when SSP ends but you are still off sick and not receiving your full salary. It’s not a lot but it helps make up the difference. Make sure you apply for ESA straight away as it takes ages to get all the paperwork though and they will only backdate so many weeks.
I hope this helps.
Best wishes for your diep and radiotherapy.
Niki x
Pls as a headteacher I have been off since 15th July last year and I’m just bewildered as I’ve got ongoing treatment still.