diane walker asked:


Louise Mitchell, Director of Precise Payroll provides information and advice in relation to statutory pay.

If you would like advice, then please write in where you questions will be answered by Louise Mitchell

Q I run a small company. One of my employees is currently off sick and it looks likely that he will be off for some time. Do I have to pay him his normal salary whilst he is off ill?

A No. If he qualifies for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), he will be entitled to £70.05 per week. If, on average, he earns less than £84.00 per week, he does not qualify for SSP. If this is indeed the case, you must provide them with an SSP1 form detailing this so that they can take this to the DSS to claim assistance. In order to receive SSP, the employee would have to be absent for four or more days. For example, if the employee is off for two weeks (Monday – Friday), they would receive their normal pay for the first three days, and thereafter receive SSP for the additional seven days. However, for any absence longer than a week, they are required to provide medical evidence.

Q One of my employees is due to have a baby in April 2007. I think I remember reading that the period that Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is paid for is due to increase – is that correct?

A For babies born after 1 April 2007 SMP should be paid for a continuous period of up to 39 weeks.

Q How do I work out an employee’s SMP?

A You should review the employee’s gross earnings in a set period – this is usually the eight week period up to and including the 15th week before their due date.

For the first 6 weeks SMP should be paid at 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings. Whilst for the remaining 33 weeks SMP is paid at the lower of either the standard rate (£108.85) or a rate which is equal to 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings.

Q One of my employees is currently receiving Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) – can I reclaim this and if so how and who from?

A It is possible for you to reclaim this through your monthly PAYE, however, only in the following circumstance: If you multiply the total gross NIC figure (add the gross employer and employee NIC for all employees paid within the specified PAYE period) by 13% and this figure is less than the SSP figure paid, you can reclaim the difference.

Q One of my newest employees, she has been with us for just over six months, has just told me that she is in the process of adopting a child. Can you advise me whether she should be paid Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP)?

A Your employee will be eligible for SAP if she meets the following conditions:

* She has been matched with a child for adoption by an adoption agency?

* She has been in your employ without a break for at least 26 weeks up to and including the week the adoption agency told her that she has been matched with a child for adoption

* She earns enough on average to be relevant for NI purposes.

If an employee’s gross weekly earnings are £84.00 or more then she should receive Statutory Adoption Pay at £108.85 or 90% of her average gross weekly earnings if this is less than £108.85 for 26 weeks.

diane walker asked:


If you would like advice, then please write in where you questions will be answered by Louise Mitchell

Q I run a small company. One of my employees is currently off sick and it looks likely that he will be off for some time. Do I have to pay him his normal salary whilst he is off ill?

A No. If he qualifies for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), he will be entitled to £70.05 per week. If, on average, he earns less than £84.00 per week, he does not qualify for SSP. If this is indeed the case, you must provide them with an SSP1 form detailing this so that they can take this to the DSS to claim assistance. In order to receive SSP, the employee would have to be absent for four or more days. For example, if the employee is off for two weeks (Monday – Friday), they would receive their normal pay for the first three days, and thereafter receive SSP for the additional seven days. However, for any absence longer than a week, they are required to provide medical evidence.

Q One of my employees is due to have a baby in April 2007. I think I remember reading that the period that Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is paid for is due to increase – is that correct?

A For babies born after 1 April 2007 SMP should be paid for a continuous period of up to 39 weeks.

Q How do I work out an employee’s SMP?

A You should review the employee’s gross earnings in a set period – this is usually the eight week period up to and including the 15th week before their due date.

For the first 6 weeks SMP should be paid at 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings. Whilst for the remaining 33 weeks SMP is paid at the lower of either the standard rate (£108.85) or a rate which is equal to 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings.

Q One of my employees is currently receiving Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) – can I reclaim this and if so how and who from?

A It is possible for you to reclaim this through your monthly PAYE, however, only in the following circumstance: If you multiply the total gross NIC figure (add the gross employer and employee NIC for all employees paid within the specified PAYE period) by 13% and this figure is less than the SSP figure paid, you can reclaim the difference.

Q One of my newest employees, she has been with us for just over six months, has just told me that she is in the process of adopting a child. Can you advise me whether she should be paid Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP)?

A Your employee will be eligible for SAP if she meets the following conditions:

She has been matched with a child for adoption by an adoption agency?

She has been in your employ without a break for at least 26 weeks up to and including the week the adoption agency told her that she has been matched with a child for adoption

She earns enough on average to be relevant for NI purposes.

If an employee’s gross weekly earnings are £84.00 or more then she should receive Statutory Adoption Pay at £108.85 or 90% of her average gross weekly earnings if this is less than £108.85 for 26 weeks.

Francis Githinji asked:


The available wealth of information concerning preconception health should enable you to enrich your baby’s life as well as yours. Years back women were ignorant about preconception health. Conception and child birth was best learn through experience or in other words through severe mistakes. Our generation is lucky enough to be able to take sexual responsibilities in their lives. It is possible to plan when to get that wanted pregnancy. There is information about safe days, contraception and the prime time when a woman can conceive. In this day and age, an unwanted pregnancy shows that the woman is careless with her sexual life.



A female’s age is a big point to consider while planning about your reproductive life. According to theory, the reproductive age is said be between 15 to 45 years of age. Preconception health advises that a woman should not conceive at the two extremes of this range. If the woman is too young, her body is not in a full capacity to cater for the pregnancy. There will be an emotional and physical dissatisfaction in the pregnancy. Teenage pregnancies subject the mother to great harm. If you are a man, do not sire babies with young girls because you are harming their body’s health. On the other hand, women over 35 years are not reproductively suit to produce healthy babies. Chances are the babies born of these older mothers will have a problem with congenital abnormalities for example Downs’s syndrome and others.

If you have had problems with past pregnancies, you should be keen when you want to conceive yet another time. What affected the previous pregnancy might as well rear its ugly head on the one you are planning. May be it is a miscarriage. You aborted before it was due. This is very painful to any woman. It is such pain to lose a life you had started to develop a connection with. To avoid a repeat of the same, visit your doctor for some preconception health advice. If you were a victim of serial abortions you might be in real hot soup too. Medics say that if you had aborted once or twice you might be lucky to carry your pregnancy until its due. If you have a habit of aborting the fetus when they are two or three months in the womb, you might have a problem with carrying the pregnancy to its full time. It is worse if the frequency of abortions exceeds five times. If the baby previously born had a birth defect, you should see the doctor to establish the cause before you conceive again.

Preconception health advises that you have to look in to your lifestyle and nutrition if you are planning to have a healthy baby. Everything good comes with a price so you have to watch what you consume and what you do. Stress reduces the chances of conceiving. You might think you are infertile while actually you are undergoing stress. For the sake of your unborn baby eliminate stress. Diet is a key issue during preconception planning. As the pregnancy advances, the requirement in terms of nutrition increase too. While pregnant, make it a habit to visit your doctor in order to get a prescription of a well balanced diet. The diet should provide enough minerals, vitamins, proteins and energy for the mother and the fetus. If you want to make healthy babies abstain from alcohol, cigarettes and any form of drugs.