Statutory Sick Pay: information for employers

Statutory sick pay – the basics

Statutory sick pay is basically the minimum amount of sick pay you should pay your employee if they are absent from work due to sickness. 

From 6 April 2026, the following changes are happening to statutory sick pay: 

• Day One Eligibility: 
  Previously employees had to wait for three unpaid ‘waiting days’ before statutory sick pay was paid. From April 2026 waiting days are abolished and statutory sick pay is payable from the first day of sickness absence.
• Removal of Earnings Threshold: 
  Previously, employees had to earn at least the lower earnings limit per week (£125 in 2025/26) to qualify for statutory sick pay. From April 2026 this requirement is removed and all employees, regardless of income level, are eligible for statutory sick pay.

There are certain qualifying conditions for statutory sick pay which have to be met. For example, statutory sick pay is not payable at the same time as Statutory Maternity Pay and employees must have done some work under their contract to qualify – even if it is just a few hours' worth. This means that if your employee has only just started, they may be entitled to statutory sick pay even if they have not been paid yet. 

Statutory sick pay is available to all 'employed earners' (people working for an employer who has a liability to pay employer’s National Insurance), including casual and irregular employees, provided they otherwise qualify.

If your employee is not entitled to statutory sick pay, then you must give them form SSP1 explaining why not.

Statutory sick pay is the legal minimum you have to pay. If you have an alternative agreement with your employee (for example, to continue to pay them as normal when they are sick), you will not have to pay statutory sick pay over and above what you are already paying, provided what you are paying is above the statutory sick pay rate.

Of course, paying more than statutory sick pay may not be possible due to your financial circumstances. In this case (or if they aren’t entitled to statutory sick pay), your staff should consider whether they can claim contributory or ‘new-style’ employment and support allowance or universal credit, as explained on our Statutory Sick Pay for individuals page.

Verifying sickness

You will probably want to satisfy yourself that the illness is genuine before paying statutory sick pay. Your employee would usually 'self-certify' for the first week of illness and obtain a doctor’s note (these are no longer called a sick note, they are called a ‘fit note’) for longer periods of absence. Please note you cannot insist on a doctor’s note for the first 7 days. If you are not satisfied your employee’s sickness is genuine then you have to give a written reason for refusing to pay statutory sick pay to them.

Since July 2022, it is possible for other healthcare professionals to issue fit notes and they no longer need to be ‘wet signed’. This should make it easier for employees to get one. Further guidance for employers is available on GOV.UK. 

Calculating and recording statutory sick pay

Previously statutory sick pay was set at a flat weekly rate. From 6 April 2026, statutory sick pay is calculated as the lower of:

• 80% of an employee’s average weekly earnings, or
• The flat weekly rate – £123.25 in 2026/27 – but this is usually worked out daily. 

The amount your employee actually gets depends on the number of qualifying days they normally work each week and how many of those days they are off sick. 

Statutory sick pay is based on qualifying days. This means part-time workers qualify for statutory sick pay at the normal full weekly rate – they do not receive a pro rata amount. 

New 80% rule

The earnings taken into account for the 80% rule are broadly the average weekly earnings for the prior eight weeks. 

Where the employee has not yet been in the employment for 8 weeks, the 80% is worked out by reference to the amount of pay they are due to be paid under their employment contract.

For most employers, the new 80% rule represents no change to the amount payable. The main difference is that they must pay statutory sick pay from day one. Some employees who earn just above the lower earnings limit may see a slight reduction in statutory sick pay compared to current levels, although transitional protection may apply for those already on statutory sick pay before 6 April and still off sick on or after 6 April 2026. The transitional rules are linked to from the CIPP’s website. 

If you are an online filer, your payroll software (including HMRC's Basic PAYE Tools) will help you calculate any statutory sick pay due but it is useful to be able to understand for yourself how the figures are arrived at. If using HMRC’s Basic PAYE Tools, you should enter the amount to be paid under Statutory Payments, rather than in the usual place.

If you are a paper filer, there is a standalone calculator on GOV.UK to help you calculate the amount of statutory sick pay due.

Penalties may apply if you fail to make correct payments.

If you do have to make statutory sick pay payments, you need to keep records of this – including all dates that the employee’s sickness lasts, plus copies of any medical evidence provided. You can use HMRC’s statutory sick pay record sheet (SSP2) to do this, although you can retain the information in another way if you wish, for example within your payroll software. These records must be kept for 3 years after the end of the tax year to which they relate.

Paying statutory sick pay

If an employee is entitled to statutory sick pay, the payment will be due at the same time as their normal wages (for example, weekly/monthly) and statutory sick pay payments will be treated as earnings for Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax and National Insurance purposes.

If possible, it should be itemised on the payslip as statutory sick pay to differentiate it from any other taxable income.

Statutory sick pay usually stops once an employee returns to work or their contract ends (whatever comes first), unless the maximum number of weeks for statutory sick pay is reached.

If your employee has recently received statutory sick pay and is now receiving it again, then this period must be 'linked' with the previous period (even if the sickness is not related), if it is within 8 weeks of the last period of sickness. 

You should be aware that there is a limit of 28 weeks of statutory sick pay in any one period of sickness, including in a linked period. So, if you have already paid 28 weeks of statutory sick pay and the current period of illness is linked to the last period, then no further statutory sick pay is due. 

Your employee may no longer be eligible for statutory sick pay if they have had a continuous series of linked periods of absence that lasts more than three years, even if they haven’t been paid 28 weeks' worth of statutory sick pay.

Claim back statutory sick pay

If you were a ‘small’ employer, you used to be able to recover some of the statutory sick pay you paid to your employees, however you cannot now recover any statutory sick pay – unless it fell within the limited coronavirus related provisions for an employer rebate. 

Further help

There is lots of useful information in the GOV.UK statutory sick pay employer guide.

For a full collection of detailed guidance for employees and employers on statutory sick pay, Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay and Statutory Adoption Pay, please see GOV.UK. The statutory sick pay guidance covers statutory sick pay in complex or unusual situations.