What changed on 6 April 2026
The Employment Rights Act 2025 reformed Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) in England, Scotland and Wales from 6 April 2026. Three rules changed at once:
- No waiting days. SSP used to start on the fourth qualifying day of sickness. It is now paid from the first;
- No lower earnings limit. Employees earning less than the National Insurance lower earnings limit (£129 a week in 2026/27) used to get nothing. They now qualify;
- An earnings-related rate. SSP is now the lower of the flat rate and 80% of average weekly earnings, so low earners are not paid more when sick than when working.
Section 157 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 now sets the weekly rate as the lower of £123.25 and 80% of the employee's normal weekly earnings. Anyone with average earnings of £154.07 a week or more gets the full £123.25.
How SSP is calculated
SSP is paid for qualifying days, the days on which the employee would normally work. The daily rate is the weekly rate divided by the number of qualifying days in that week. HMRC publishes the 2026/27 daily rates at the flat rate:
| Qualifying days per week | Daily rate | 1 day | 3 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | £17.6071 | £17.61 | £52.83 |
| 6 | £20.5416 | £20.55 | £61.63 |
| 5 | £24.65 | £24.65 | £73.95 |
| 4 | £30.8125 | £30.82 | £92.44 |
| 3 | £41.0833 | £41.09 | £123.25 |
Amounts are rounded up to the next penny. Average weekly earnings are normally worked out over the 8 weeks before the sickness began. Employees who have not yet received 8 weeks' pay still qualify, using the earnings they have received.
Worked examples
Priya earns £450 a week and works Monday to Friday. She is off sick for 3 days. Her weekly rate is £123.25 (80% of £450 would be £360, so the flat rate is lower), her daily rate is £24.65, and she receives 3 × £24.65 = £73.95. Before April 2026 these would all have been waiting days and she would have received nothing.
Tom earns £120 a week over 3 days. That is below the lower earnings limit, so under the old rules he got no SSP at all. Now he gets 80% of £120 = £96 a week. If he is off for one full week, he receives £96.
How long SSP lasts
SSP is paid for up to 28 weeks in a period of entitlement. At the flat rate that is a maximum of £3,451. Separate spells of sickness are linked, and count towards the same 28 weeks, if they are 8 weeks or less apart. When SSP is about to run out, or if an employee does not qualify, the employer must give them form SSP1 so they can claim Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance.
Employer obligations
- Notice. Employees should tell you they are sick within your time limit, or within 7 days if you have not set one;
- Fit notes. You can only ask for a fit note after more than 7 days in a row off sick, including non-working days;
- Payroll. SSP is paid on the normal payday with tax and National Insurance deducted;
- No recovery. Employers cannot reclaim SSP from HMRC, unlike maternity and paternity pay;
- Company sick pay. A contractual scheme can pay more than SSP, but never less.
What this calculator does not cover
- Northern Ireland. SSP there is governed by separate legislation;
- Eligibility exclusions. Employees getting Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance, those in custody, or those who recently received Employment and Support Allowance may not qualify;
- Partial days. A day only counts if the employee does no work at all. If they work for a minute or more before going home sick, that day is not a sick day;
- Weeks with different patterns. If qualifying days vary from week to week, each week's daily rate is different;
- Sickness that began before 6 April 2026. Transitional rules in the Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 3 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2026 apply where a spell of sickness began on or before 5 April 2026 and continued after it. In particular, an employee who was already being paid SSP before 6 April 2026, with normal weekly earnings between £125 and £154.05, keeps the flat £123.25 rate rather than 80% of earnings for the rest of that period of entitlement, but not for a later spell of sickness that links to it.
Getting it right
The 2026 reforms mean payroll systems, sickness policies and contracts written for waiting days may now be out of date. Our outsourced payroll team applies SSP correctly from day one, and our payroll management service can review your sick pay setup. For employees on family leave, see our maternity pay calculator.