Statutory sick pay from April 2026: dates, earnings and linked absences

The reforms removed the lower earnings limit and the three waiting days. For the new rules, SSP is paid from the first qualifying sick day at the lower of £123.25 a week and 80% of average weekly earnings. There is no minimum earnings threshold to exclude a low-paid worker, but ordinary eligibility and notification conditions still apply. The changes apply in Northern Ireland as well as England, Scotland and Wales.

Check GOV.UK eligibility, the current HMRC rates, nidirect’s SSP guidance and the HMRC bulletin confirming UK coverage. Removing waiting days does not turn SSP into a payment for every day of the week: qualifying days still matter.

A qualifying day is a day agreed for SSP purposes, usually a day you normally work. Enter the whole sickness spell, including a weekend while you were still ill, then count only qualifying days for the payment. SSP statutory weeks run Sunday to Saturday. A day on which you worked before becoming ill is not ordinarily a full day of sickness for SSP.

If your fixed pattern is Monday to Friday and you are sick Tuesday to Thursday, there are three payable qualifying days. If you work Tuesday and Thursday only, a single sick Tuesday is one of two qualifying days. A changing rota needs the actual agreed pattern for each week; the fixed-pattern calculator cannot safely substitute five days for every worker.

The day count and SSP payment are separate from contractual absence records. Tell your employer by its deadline, or normally within seven days if it has no deadline. A fit note is normally needed after more than seven calendar days of sickness; self-certification generally covers the first seven. See how to claim SSP.

The ordinary earnings period is anchored to the last normal payday before the first full sick day. Find the earlier normal payday at least eight weeks before it; the period starts the day after that earlier payday and ends on the later payday. Use relevant gross earnings actually paid, including applicable overtime, commission and bonuses, rather than assuming annual salary divided by 52.

For eight weekly payments totalling £800, the average is £100. For two monthly payments totalling £2,000, the weekly average is £2,000 ÷ 2 × 12 ÷ 52 = £230.769230… . Keep that unrounded average through the percentage calculation. Ask payroll to check irregular payments, a changed payday, new starters or a relevant period with no earnings. A linked chain usually retains the average established at its beginning.

Use HMRC’s SSP calculation method and tables and the unrounded-average rule. Our records mode shows the payday boundaries so that you can check them with payroll.

At £300 average weekly earnings, 80% is £240, so the £123.25 cap applies. For a five-day qualifying week and three sick qualifying days: £123.25 × 3/5 = £73.95 gross SSP.

At £100 average earnings and two qualifying days, the weekly SSP amount is £80. One sick qualifying day pays £80 × 1/2 = £40. Using the flat rate for this worker would overstate SSP.

For six qualifying days and four payable days at the cap, calculate £123.25 × 4/6 = £82.1666… and round the weekly payment up to £82.17. Do not first round the daily amount and multiply it: the published HMRC rate table and statutory rounding rule govern this result. The GB payment rounding regulation and Northern Ireland regulation 11 require a fractional penny in the payment to be rounded up.

Qualifying sickness spells separated by no more than eight weeks generally link. Count the clear days between the last day of the earlier spell and the first day of the next; 56 clear days is within eight weeks, while 57 is outside. Linked periods can use up the same 28-week maximum rather than restarting it each time.

For a fixed five-day qualifying pattern, 28 weeks corresponds to 140 payable qualifying days. At a constant £123.25 cap, 28 complete payable weeks total £3,451. Part-weeks consume the corresponding fraction. A different qualifying-day pattern changes the day conversion, so do not carry “140 days” over to a worker whose normal pattern is two days. Linked chains lasting more than three years and changing patterns require payroll’s eligibility calculation.

Enter the entire linked history in our calculator. The remaining entitlement shown is only as complete as that history. A new employer, a period before the new rules, maternity-pay overlap and other exclusions need an individual check. See GOV.UK payment and linked-period rules.

Do not apply the new formula backwards to every day of an absence that started in March. Entitlement, waiting days, earnings assessment and protection for existing recipients can differ around 6 April. People previously excluded by the old earnings limit also need the specific transition assessment. The result depends on the actual earlier history.

Our dated absence calculator starts with linked chains beginning on or after 6 April 2026. It rejects an earlier chain and directs you to HMRC’s transition guidance. Give payroll every relevant spell and the earlier earnings calculation. A known future payment window is also essential: the calculator marks payments beyond verified rates as unknown instead of keeping £123.25 indefinitely.

A contract might promise normal pay for a time and then half pay. That often includes SSP within the promised total. Ask for the statutory amount and the employer-funded top-up separately rather than adding SSP to an inclusive full-pay figure. SSP normally goes through PAYE and NI; a gross entitlement calculation is not the final amount in your bank.

Send payroll: “Please confirm my qualifying days, all linked sickness periods used, the relevant earnings period and unrounded weekly average, the days remaining in my 28-week entitlement, and how SSP is included in my contractual sick pay.” Compare its answer with the payslip checker and your contract.

If you cannot receive SSP or it is coming to an end, request form SSP1 and follow the official route for New Style ESA or Universal Credit as applicable. These benefits have their own conditions, and household income or savings can matter. A refusal should explain which condition payroll considers unmet.