Statutory Sick Pay UK 2026/27
What changed on 6 April 2026
Three changes from the Employment Rights Act 2025 came into force together on 6 April 2026, and they are the biggest change to sick pay in decades. They apply in Great Britain and in Northern Ireland.
- SSP from day one. SSP used to start on the fourth day of sickness — the first three days were unpaid waiting days. Now it is payable from the first qualifying day of a sickness absence. If you are off for one day, you are paid for that day.
- No Lower Earnings Limit. Until April 2026 you had to earn at least roughly £125 a week to qualify for SSP at all. That test has been scrapped entirely. Acas estimates around 1.3 million workers who were previously ineligible are now in scope. If you earn very little, the 80% rule below still limits what you get — but you are no longer shut out completely.
- The 80% rule. SSP is now the lower of the flat weekly rate or 80% of your average weekly earnings. That only bites if you earn about £154.06 a week or less, because 80% of £154.06 is £123.25. Above that, everyone gets the flat £123.25.
The rate itself was also uprated as usual: £123.25 a week for 2026/27, up from £118.75 in 2025/26. The old rules still apply to sickness that started before 6 April 2026 — transitional rules cover absences that straddled the change date.
How much SSP do you get?
Your weekly SSP is the lower of £123.25 or 80% of your average weekly earnings. Average weekly earnings are normally worked out over the 8 weeks before your sickness started. Then it is paid per qualifying day — the days you normally work — at the daily rate, which is your weekly SSP divided by the number of qualifying days in the week. An SSP week runs Sunday to Saturday.
| Your average weekly earnings | 80% of earnings | Your weekly SSP | Daily rate (5-day week) |
|---|---|---|---|
| £500 | £400.00 | £123.25 | £24.65 |
| £300 | £240.00 | £123.25 | £24.65 |
| £200 | £160.00 | £123.25 | £24.65 |
| £154.06 | £123.25 | £123.25 | £24.65 |
| £140 | £112.00 | £112.00 | £22.40 |
| £100 | £80.00 | £80.00 | £16.00 |
| £60 | £48.00 | £48.00 | £9.60 |
GOV.UK publishes daily rates for each pattern of qualifying days at the standard £123.25 rate: 1 day a week is £123.25 a day, 2 days is £61.63, 3 days is £41.08, 4 days is £30.81, 5 days is £24.65, 6 days is £20.54 and 7 days is £17.61. If 80% of your earnings is lower than £123.25, your own daily rate is lower in the same proportion. SSP is paid through payroll like normal wages, so income tax and National Insurance are deducted.
Worked examples
Full-time worker, £500 a week, off sick for 2 weeks. Weekly SSP is £123.25 (80% of £500 is £400, so the flat rate applies). Two full weeks is £246.50 before tax. Under the old rules the first 3 days would have been unpaid, so the same absence would have paid about £172.55 — the April 2026 change is worth roughly £74 here.
Part-time worker, £140 a week, off for 1 week. 80% of £140 is £112, which is lower than £123.25, so weekly SSP is £112. Before April 2026 this worker would have got nothing at all, because £140 a week was above the old Lower Earnings Limit of about £125 — actually they would have qualified then too, but only from day 4. The point stands for lower earners: someone on £100 a week now gets £80 a week of SSP, where before April 2026 they got nothing.
Off for 3 days in a 5-day week. Daily rate £24.65 times 3 days is £73.95. Before April 2026, three days off meant three waiting days and no SSP at all.
Who qualifies?
You qualify for SSP if you are an employee (including agency workers and part-time workers), you have been sick for at least one full working day, you tell your employer in time (within 7 days, or by their deadline if they set one), and you give evidence of your illness if they ask for it. You can self-certify for the first 7 days; after that your employer can ask for a fit note from a doctor, nurse, pharmacist, physiotherapist or occupational therapist.
You do not get SSP if you are self-employed, if you have already had the maximum 28 weeks of SSP, if you are in the armed forces, if you are in legal custody, or if you started a new job and have not yet had a period of incapacity that began after you started. If you are not entitled, your employer must give you form SSP1 explaining why — you can use that to claim benefits instead, such as new style Employment and Support Allowance or Universal Credit. Check GOV.UK for which benefit fits your situation.
How long does SSP last?
SSP is paid for up to 28 weeks in one period of incapacity for work. A period of incapacity is 4 or more days of sickness in a row, including non-working days. Periods are linked if they are separated by 8 weeks or less — the linked periods count together towards the 28-week limit, so two spells of sickness a month apart do not each get a fresh 28 weeks. Once the 28 weeks run out, your employer must give you form SSP1 and SSP stops, even if you are still ill. That is when a benefit claim usually takes over.
Your employer may pay more than SSP. Many employers — the NHS, the civil service, schools, banks and large companies — pay contractual sick pay or occupational sick pay on top of SSP, often at full pay for a set number of weeks. SSP is the legal floor, not the ceiling. Check your contract or staff handbook: if your employer pays full pay for the first 6 months of sickness, SSP is already inside that figure rather than on top of it.
What to do if your employer will not pay
Ask for form SSP1 in writing, with the reason. If you think the reason is wrong, contact Acas or HMRC’s Statutory Payments Disputes Team. Keep your fit notes, your payslips and a note of the dates you were off and the dates you told your employer. Disputes are usually about the average weekly earnings figure or about whether the days counted were qualifying days, so the dates matter.
Related: Maternity Pay Calculator · Take Home Pay Calculator · Redundancy Pay Calculator
Sources: GOV.UK “Statutory Sick Pay” (what you’ll get, eligibility, 28 weeks); GOV.UK “Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027” (£123.25); Acas guidance on the 2026 SSP changes (day-one pay, Lower Earnings Limit abolished, Employment Rights Act 2025 in force 6 April 2026). Checked 13 November 2026.