A Jamie HR manager's guide

The manager's guide to Statutory Sick Pay

A practical guide for managers and small businesses on Statutory Sick Pay: who qualifies, the current rate, the April 2026 day-one and Lower Earnings Limit changes, and how to calculate, administer and record SSP correctly.
SSP from day one
No earnings limit
April 2026 rules

Statutory Sick Pay changed fundamentally on 6 April 2026.

This guide sets out what SSP is, who qualifies, and how much and for how long it is paid. It covers the removal of the three waiting days and the removal of the Lower Earnings Limit from 6 April 2026 under the Employment Rights Act 2025, and the practical steps for calculating, administering and recording SSP correctly under the current rules.

What's inside
What is Statutory Sick Pay?3
The rate and how long it runs4
SSP from day one5
The Lower Earnings Limit has gone6
Notification and fit notes7
Calculating SSP correctly8
Record-keeping and administration9
When your employee doesn't qualify10
When SSP ends11
Getting ready for the April 2026 rules12
How Jamie HR helps13

What is Statutory Sick Pay?

SSP is the legal minimum you must pay an eligible employee who is off sick.
  • SSP applies to anyone classed as employed for tax purposes, including many agency workers.
  • To qualify, your employee must have done some work for you and have been ill for at least one full working day.
  • They must tell you they are unable to work, by the deadline you have set or within 7 days if you have not set one.
  • Two or more periods of sickness that each last more than one full working day, and are 8 weeks or less apart, are linked and treated as one period for SSP purposes.
  • Where linked periods form a continuous series lasting more than 3 years, your employee is no longer eligible for SSP.
Manager tip
Set your notification deadline out clearly in your sickness policy, for example before an employee's normal start time, so the 7-day default is not the working assumption.

The rate and how long it runs

The amount and maximum length of SSP are fixed by law and reviewed each tax year.
  • The SSP weekly rate for the 2026 to 2027 tax year is £123.25.
  • Where 80% of your employee's average weekly earnings is lower than the flat rate, that lower figure applies instead.
  • SSP is payable for up to 28 weeks in any single period, or linked series of periods, of sickness.
  • Once an employee has received the maximum 28 weeks, they no longer qualify for further SSP for that period.
Manager tip
Check the current SSP weekly rate on gov.uk at the start of each tax year, since it is reviewed annually and last year's figure will be wrong from 6 April.

SSP from day one

From 6 April 2026, the three waiting days that used to delay SSP have been removed.
  • Before 6 April 2026, SSP was payable only from an employee's fourth qualifying day of sickness; the first three were unpaid waiting days.
  • Under the Employment Rights Act 2025, eligible employees are now entitled to SSP from their first full day of sickness absence.
  • This took effect from 6 April 2026 and applies across the UK.
  • For sickness that began before 6 April 2026 and continues afterwards, SSP is still not payable for any waiting days that fell before that date; gov.uk sets out how to apply the old and new rules to the correct days of an absence that spans the change.
Watch out
A payroll system or sickness policy that still builds in three waiting days will underpay eligible employees from their first day off. Confirm with your payroll provider that the day-one rule is applied.

The Lower Earnings Limit has gone

SSP eligibility no longer depends on how much your employee earns.
  • Before 6 April 2026, an employee needed average weekly earnings at or above the Lower Earnings Limit to qualify for SSP at all.
  • From 6 April 2026, that earnings threshold has been removed, so SSP is available to eligible employees regardless of their weekly earnings.
  • The government's Employment Rights Act 2025 factsheet states this change extends SSP to around 1.3 million previously ineligible low-paid workers.
  • Employees whose earnings still mean 80% of their average weekly earnings is below the flat rate receive that lower, earnings-linked amount rather than the full flat rate.
  • Part-time and lower-paid staff who previously earned too little to qualify are now covered on the same eligibility terms as everyone else.
Manager tip
Review contracts, offer letters and staff handbooks for any wording that says an employee does not qualify for SSP below a set earnings level, and update it to reflect the removal of the earnings limit.

Notification and fit notes

Clear notification and the right evidence keep an SSP decision straightforward.
  • Your employee must tell you they are unable to work within any deadline you have set, or within 7 days if you have not set one.
  • Sickness of 7 calendar days or less can be self-certified, with no fit note required.
  • For sickness lasting more than 7 days in a row, including non-working days, your employee must give you a fit note.
  • A fit note can be issued by a GP, nurse, occupational therapist, pharmacist or physiotherapist.
  • You can also accept alternative evidence, such as an Allied Health Professional Health and Work Report or an agreed return-to-work plan.
Manager tip
A late or missing notification, without a reasonable excuse, can be grounds to withhold SSP for the days affected, so make your deadline easy for employees to find and follow.

Calculating SSP correctly

SSP is worked out using your employee's qualifying days and, where relevant, their average weekly earnings.
  • Qualifying days are the days your employee is normally contracted to work; SSP is only payable for these days.
  • If you and your employee cannot agree which days are qualifying days, every day in the week counts as a qualifying day, except any day you both agree no employee would be required to work.
  • Average weekly earnings are calculated over an 8-week reference period ending with the last normal payday before your employee's first complete day of sickness.
  • Add up all earnings paid in that period and divide by 8, without rounding the figure up or down.
  • For a part week of sickness, divide the weekly SSP rate by the number of qualifying days in that week, then multiply by the number of qualifying days your employee was sick.
Manager tip
Use gov.uk's Statutory Sick Pay calculator or your payroll software to check a manual calculation, particularly for a new starter without a full 8 weeks of pay history.

Record-keeping and administration

The record-keeping rules for SSP have been simpler since 2014, but you still need to be able to show your figures.
  • Employers have not been required to keep specific sickness absence records since the relevant regulation was revoked in April 2014.
  • You must still be able to produce records to HMRC showing that SSP has been paid correctly, if asked.
  • General wage records for every employee must be kept under the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001.
  • Record the dates of sickness, the qualifying days used and how each SSP payment was calculated, so you can answer a query without having to reconstruct it from scratch.

When your employee doesn't qualify

If your employee is not entitled to SSP, tell them promptly and in writing.
  • Send form SSP1 within 7 days of your employee's first day off sick if they do not qualify for SSP, or as their SSP is due to end.
  • Form SSP1 lets your employee apply to the Department for Work and Pensions for Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance instead.
  • If your employee thinks your decision not to pay SSP is wrong, they can appeal to HMRC's Statutory Payment Disputes Team.
  • Keep a copy of every SSP1 you issue alongside your other SSP records.
Watch out
Missing the 7-day deadline for form SSP1 can delay your employee's benefit claim, so build it into your standard sickness process rather than treating it as an afterthought.

When SSP ends

SSP does not continue indefinitely, and it is worth knowing what comes next for your employee.
  • SSP stops when your employee returns to work, or when they no longer qualify for it.
  • It also stops once your employee has received the maximum of 28 weeks in a period or linked series of sickness.
  • Employment and Support Allowance is a government benefit for people whose health condition or disability limits how much they can work.
  • Employees who are employed, self-employed or unemployed can apply for Employment and Support Allowance.
  • Point your employee towards form SSP1 and gov.uk's Employment and Support Allowance guidance as their SSP entitlement nears its end.
Manager tip
Raise Employment and Support Allowance and form SSP1 with your employee before their SSP ends, not after, so a gap in payment does not delay their benefit claim.

Getting ready for the April 2026 rules

A short checklist to confirm your business is applying the current SSP rules correctly.
  • Confirm your payroll system pays SSP from the first qualifying day of sickness, with no three-day wait built in.
  • Confirm your payroll system no longer applies a Lower Earnings Limit test before calculating SSP.
  • Update your sickness policy and staff handbook wording that still describes waiting days or an earnings threshold.
  • Check the current SSP weekly rate on gov.uk at the start of each tax year, since it is reviewed annually.
  • Brief managers on the current notification, fit note and SSP1 process, so no employee is paid late or misses a required step.

How Jamie HR helps

Getting SSP right depends on clean records and a process managers can follow every time. Jamie HR keeps both in one place.
  • Absence records that log qualifying days and SSP payments from day one, ready if HMRC asks to see them.
  • Payroll-ready data that keeps sickness and earnings information accurate for calculating SSP correctly.
  • Fit notes and evidence stored securely against each absence, separate from other employee data.
  • Policy library so your sickness policy and notification deadlines are always up to date and easy for managers to find.
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This guide is general information, accurate to the best of our knowledge as of 2026, and is not legal advice. Employment law changes and every situation is different, so for a specific case take professional HR or legal advice. Sources: gov.uk, ACAS and the Employment Rights Act 2025.