Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is the minimum an employer must pay an employee who is too ill to work. For 2026/27 it is £123.25 a week or 80% of the employee's average weekly earnings, whichever is lower, paid for up to 28 weeks. Since 6 April 2026 it has been payable from the first day of sickness, with no waiting days, and to every eligible employee regardless of how little they earn. Those two changes, made by the Employment Rights Act 2025, are the biggest reform to SSP in decades, and a lot of sickness policies and payroll set-ups have still not caught up.
What statutory sick pay means
SSP is a statutory payment made by the employer, through payroll, to an employee who is incapable of work because of illness. It is a floor, not a ceiling. An employer can pay more under a company (contractual or occupational) sick pay scheme, but cannot pay less than the statutory amount.
SSP is paid on the normal payday, in the same way as wages, and it is taxable: income tax and National Insurance are deducted as usual. The employer bears the cost. There is no general scheme for reclaiming it from HMRC. The employer rates page says simply: "You cannot recover Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)."
How much SSP is in 2026/27
The weekly rate is set by section 157 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992. From 6 April 2026 that section provides that the rate is the lower of £123.25 and 80% of the employee's normal weekly earnings. For comparison, the 2025/26 flat rate was £118.75, and there was no earnings-related alternative. Employees earning below the lower earnings limit simply received nothing.
The 80% test only matters for low earners. As an illustration, 80% of £154.06 is £123.25, so anyone whose average weekly earnings are below about £154 will receive less than the flat rate, and anyone above it receives the flat £123.25. A part-time employee on average weekly earnings of £100 would receive £80 a week.
SSP is paid only for qualifying days, normally the days the employee is contracted to work. The daily rate is the weekly rate divided by the number of qualifying days in that week. HMRC publishes the standard daily rates:
| Qualifying days in the week | Unrounded daily rate (2026/27) |
|---|---|
| 7 | £17.6071 |
| 6 | £20.5416 |
| 5 | £24.65 |
| 4 | £30.8125 |
| 3 | £41.0833 |
| 2 | £61.625 |
| 1 | £123.25 |
Those figures assume the flat rate applies. Where 80% of average weekly earnings is lower, the employee has their own daily rate, worked out the same way from their lower weekly figure.
Who qualifies
To qualify, the employee must have a contract of employment, have done some work under it, and have been sick for at least one full day. Together with any linked absence, this is a "period of incapacity for work". A day on which the employee worked for even a minute before going home sick does not count as a sick day. Agency workers and employees with more than one job can qualify, and someone can be sick for one job but fit for another.
Since April 2026 there is no minimum earnings condition. The old rule that excluded anyone earning below the lower earnings limit was removed from Schedule 11 to the 1992 Act. The main exclusions that remain are:
- Maximum reached. The employee has already had 28 weeks of SSP in the current period of entitlement;
- Maternity. The employee is getting Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance, or is off with a pregnancy-related illness in the 4 weeks before the week the baby is due;
- Recent ESA. The employee received Employment and Support Allowance in the last 85 days;
- Custody or strike. The employee was in custody or on strike on the first day of sickness.
Average weekly earnings, linking and the 28-week limit
Average weekly earnings are taken over a "relevant period" of at least 8 weeks ending with the last normal payday before the first full day of sickness. They include all earnings on which Class 1 National Insurance is due, or would be due if pay were high enough. For monthly-paid staff, HMRC's method is to total the earnings in the period, divide by the number of months, multiply by 12 and divide by 52, without rounding. Employees who have not yet had 8 weeks' pay still qualify. Their average is taken over whatever earnings they have received under the contract.
Two absences that are 8 weeks (56 days) or less apart are linked and treated as one. The rate and the qualifying conditions are fixed at the start of the first absence, and the 28-week maximum runs across the whole linked period. A continuous series of linked periods lasting more than 3 years ends entitlement altogether. This is why short, repeated absences need tracking even when each one looks trivial.
Notice, fit notes and form SSP1
The employee must tell the employer they are sick within the time limit the employer sets, or within 7 days if none is set. The employer cannot insist on notice in person or on a special form. SSP need not be paid for days the employee was late in notifying, unless there was a good reason.
A fit note can only be required once the absence lasts more than 7 days in a row, counting non-working days. A fit note can be issued by a GP or hospital doctor, a registered nurse, an occupational therapist, a pharmacist or a physiotherapist, and it can be digital. The employer cannot withhold SSP because a fit note arrives late.
When SSP is not payable or is ending, the employer must give the employee form SSP1 so they can claim Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance:
- Not eligible. Within 7 days of the first day off sick;
- Ending unexpectedly. Within 7 days of SSP ending while the employee is still sick;
- Expected to run out. On or before the beginning of the 23rd week, where SSP is expected to end before the sickness does.
What employers should check now
The April 2026 changes affect cost and process more than the headline rate does. The practical points:
- Day-one pay. Absence policies and handbooks that still mention three waiting days are out of date. SSP is now due from the first qualifying day of sickness;
- Low earners. Staff on small part-time hours, who were previously excluded, are now entitled at 80% of their earnings. Payroll must calculate average weekly earnings for them rather than defaulting to nil;
- Company schemes. A contractual scheme can be more generous than SSP but never less, so any scheme that mirrored the old waiting days or earnings threshold needs updating;
- Records. Employers can choose how they keep sickness records, but HMRC may ask to see them if there is a dispute. Holiday continues to accrue during sick leave;
- Pensions. Whether SSP counts towards auto-enrolment contributions depends on the scheme's definition of pay. See is SSP pensionable.
The rates in this guide come from HMRC's rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 and section 157 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992. For the other statutory payments that run through payroll, see our guides to statutory maternity pay and business payroll.
Acumon runs SSP, linked-period tracking and SSP1 paperwork as part of payroll management and outsourced payroll. If your sickness policy predates April 2026, it is worth having it reviewed against the new day-one and 80% rules before the next long absence.