Need some advice re casual work and ssp

[Quadrophenia]

I currently work on the 'bank' for a residential care home for adults with an acquired brain injury. I usually work around two shifts a week and sometimes as many as 5 or 6 depends on what shifts they have going and my availability. Anyhow I need to take next week off work or effectively cancel my shifts as I have pneumonia and have been told to rest, my friend who also hapens to be my boss doesn't seem to think as a casual worker I will be entitled to ssp. My employers don't pay sick pay anyway but I would have thought that I would have been entitled to ssp, help please, I can't afford to not go in if i don't get some form of pay, thanks

Do you work for a private home or a local authority home? Or NHS?

Anyway, these 2 shifts a week. For how long have you been working each week, week after a week? Are there breaks between weeks, ever? Are you just put down on the rota, or do you get a choice about working?

Oh, do your colleagues get sick pay or just SSP?

Have you worked the last 8 weeks?

its a private home I've worked nearly every week for the last nine months, am scheduled in for shifts next week and had to turn down shifts this week which were offered to me. The home owners pay no sick pay at all, just ssp.

Casual workers are not excluded from SSP because they are on a casual contract. However, they do have to meet the same eligibility criteria for SSP as everyone else. The basic criteria is that you will be off sick for 4 days or more (inc weekends/bank holidays) and that your weekly earnings are on average £90 per week. No payment is made for the first 3 days of absence.

I couldn't find anything specific about how they can calculate the 'average' weekly earnings, but whoever does the payroll for your employers should be able to use the SSP calculator to calculate the SSP owed.

Average pay is over 8 weeks before sickness see DWP for rules