Statutory Sick Pay calculator

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is now payable from the first full day of sickness absence and is available to more employees. The Employment Rights Act 2025 made three changes from 6 April 2026: the lower earnings limit has been removed, so SSP is available to all eligible employees whatever they earn, the 3-day waiting period has been removed, and the rate is now the lower of the flat weekly rate and 80% of average weekly earnings. The changes apply across the whole of the United Kingdom. From 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027 the flat weekly rate is £123.25, and SSP is paid for up to 28 weeks.

SSP is paid for qualifying days, the days you normally work, in the same way as wages, for example on the normal payday, with tax and National Insurance deducted. A full week for SSP runs from Sunday to Saturday. If you are off for a full week and work the same qualifying days each week, you are paid the weekly rate. If the sickness is less than a full week, the daily rate is the weekly rate divided by the number of qualifying days in that week, multiplied by the qualifying days you were sick.

The gov.uk rate tables round the amount for the days you are paid up to the next whole penny. At the £123.25 rate, 4 sick days of a 6-day week pay £82.17, and 2 sick days of a 7-day week pay £35.22. This calculator follows the tables.

Your employer works out your average weekly earnings over a relevant period, using all earnings on which Class 1 National Insurance contributions are due. The relevant period ends on your last normal payday before the first complete day of sickness. It starts the day after the last normal payday that is at least 8 weeks before the end of the relevant period. Do not round the average to whole pence.

If you have worked for your employer for too little time to have 8 weeks of earnings, the relevant period is the period covered by all the earnings paid under the contract before the first day of sickness. If you received an exact number of weeks of pay, divide by that number of weeks. You still qualify for SSP if you started your job recently and have not yet received 8 weeks of pay.

SSP is only paid for qualifying days, which are the days you normally work, your contracted working days. Your employer can decide not to use contracted working days, for example if you work a different pattern each week. If you cannot agree your qualifying days, then: if you and your employer agree which days you are required to work, those are the qualifying days; if you both agree there are no working days in any week, Wednesday becomes the qualifying day; and if you cannot agree which days are working days in a particular week, every day is a qualifying day except days you both agree no employees would be required to work. You cannot count a day as a sick day if you worked for a minute or more before going home sick.

SSP is paid for up to 28 weeks. The limit is 28 times the weekly rate, so at the £123.25 flat rate the maximum is £3,451.00, and SSP stops on the day you reach it. The maximum is shared across linked periods of sickness, and you no longer qualify for SSP if you have received it. If your SSP is ending, your employer must send you form SSP1 so you can apply for Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance. If your employer knows you will be off for more than 28 weeks, they can complete SSP1 before your SSP ends.

A period of incapacity for work (PIW) is a period of sickness lasting at least one full day. All days of sickness count towards the length of a PIW, including bank holidays, weekends and non-working days, and SSP is paid from the first full working day in a PIW. If the gap between two PIWs is 8 weeks (56 days) or less, they are linked and treated as one PIW. Entitlement is decided by applying the qualifying conditions to the first day of the first PIW, and the SSP rate stays the same through a linked period even if your earnings change. You no longer qualify if a continuous series of linked periods lasts more than 3 years. Use the linked periods tab of the calculator to check a gap.

Older rules, not calculated here. Before 6 April 2026 SSP was a flat £118.75 a week (2025 to 2026), was paid from the fourth day of sickness, and only employees earning at least the lower earnings limit of £125 a week qualified. This calculator only works out qualifying days on or after 06/04/2026, using the current rules. For sickness that began before that date, gov.uk sets out these transitional rules:

• Waiting days no longer apply from 6 April 2026, but SSP is not paid for waiting days before that date.
• An employee who was not entitled to SSP because they earned below the lower earnings limit is entitled from 6 April 2026 if the sickness started on or after 22 September 2025, or started earlier but they returned to work between 22 September 2025 and 5 April 2026. If it started on or before 21 September 2025 and continued without a break to 5 April 2026, they are not entitled until they have returned to work for at least 8 weeks.
• An employee already receiving SSP before 6 April 2026 is paid the new rate from that date. If their average earnings are between £125 and £154.05 a week and their 80% rate would be lower, they are paid the new flat rate instead until they return to work or their SSP ends.
• If an absence restarted on 4 or 5 April 2026 and continued past 6 April, SSP is only paid for qualifying days on or after 6 April 2026 if it lasts 3 days or less, and for qualifying days from the first day if it lasts 4 days or more.

To qualify for SSP you must be an employee with an employment contract, have done some work under it, and have been sick for at least one full working day. You usually need to tell your employer before the deadline they set, or within 7 days if they have not set one. You can only be asked for a fit note if you are off for more than 7 days in a row, including non-working days. You can qualify in more than one job. You do not qualify if you have received the maximum 28 weeks, are getting Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance, are off with a pregnancy-related illness in the 4 weeks before the week your baby is due, were in custody or on strike on the first day of sickness, or are working outside the EU and your employer is not liable for your National Insurance contributions.