Statutory sick pay

Introduction

Statutory sick pay (also known as SSP) is basically the minimum amount of sick pay you should receive from your employer if you are absent from work due to sickness. Your employer might pay more under their own contractual sick pay scheme, but they can’t pay less.

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

1. Day one eligibility: 
   Previously employees had to wait for three unpaid ‘waiting days’ before statutory sick pay was paid. From 6 April 2026 waiting days will be abolished and statutory sick pay will be payable from the first full day of sickness absence.
   This change will particularly benefit employees with short-term sickness, meaning they receive financial support immediately.
    
2. 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 6 April 2026 this requirement will be removed and all employees, regardless of income level, will be eligible for statutory sick pay.

This means that even very low paid employees could have access to statutory sick pay from the first day of absence.

Amount

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 you actually get depends on the number of qualifying days you normally work each week and how many of those days you are off sick. 

The way statutory sick pay works based on qualifying days, 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. If you have more than one job, you do not combine earnings from them for the purposes of this calculation (unless those jobs are with the same employer). 

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

For most employees, the new 80% rule represents no change to the amount received, aside from being payable from day one. Some workers who earn just above the lower earnings limit may see a slight reduction 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.

How to get SSP

Statutory sick pay is available for someone who is an ‘employed earner’ (basically those who are working for an employer that has a liability to pay National Insurance contributions (NIC) for them) and who has done some work under their contract (even if this is just a few hours’ worth). This means that if you are in a new job, you may qualify for statutory sick pay even if you have not been paid yet. 

If you are off sick and qualify for statutory sick pay, your employer should pay it to you automatically through the payroll and at the normal time. It is subject to tax and National Insurance just like other wages, although if it is the only amount being paid to you in a particular pay period, it may fall below the relevant thresholds. 

If you have two or more jobs, you can get statutory sick pay from both employers.

You should be able to get a ‘sick note’ (now called a ‘fit note’), if you need one, from a doctor or pharmacist or other healthcare professional. But please note that for the first seven days off work, employees can self-certify, so you do not need any evidence for your employer.

More on eligibility

Statutory sick pay may be available to casual, zero-hours contract and agency workers (although the period which you may get statutory sick pay for might be different – see the heading How long you can receive statutory sick pay for below).

A couple of things to note about these types of workers:

• Zero hours contract workers may qualify – provided they are an ‘employed earner’ as explained directly above and have done some work under their contract. Zero hours contract workers who have not yet done any work under their contract will not be entitled to statutory sick pay.
• If you are an agency worker, your agency should pay statutory sick pay where relevant, except if you are employed by an umbrella company, in which case your umbrella company should pay it. 

People who are self-employed (including those treated as self-employed for tax purposes by their engager) are not entitled to statutory sick pay – see the heading Statutory sick pay and being self-employed below for help you might get instead.

If you think that statutory sick pay is due but your employers have refused to pay it, contact the HMRC statutory payment dispute team. Note that there is a new Fair Work Agency from 6 April 2026. It is taking on responsibility for the state enforcement of statutory sick pay. You can read more on the ACAS website. 

How long you can receive statutory sick pay for

Statutory sick pay usually stops once an employee returns to work (for example once the period of illness ends) or their contract ends (whatever comes first). If you are an agency worker with less than three months continuous employment, any statutory sick pay entitlement will continue to the end of any assignment you had agreed to work, rather than in line with the normal rules.

If you have recently received statutory sick pay and are 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 statutory sick pay in any one period of sickness, including in a linked period. So, if you have already received 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.

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

Statutory sick pay and being self-employed

You cannot get statutory sick pay if you are self-employed or being treated as self-employed and so aren’t an ‘employed earner’. This is the case even if you are a ‘worker’ for employment law purposes. We explain this further on our employment rights page. 

If you are unable to work because you are ill then you may be able to claim new-style employment and support allowance (ESA) if you have paid enough National Insurance contributions. See directly below for more information. If you are being treated as self-employed and you do not think this is correct, read our guidance on false self-employment. 

If you cannot get statutory sick pay

Your employer should give you a form SSP1 which explains why you cannot get statutory sick pay. Form SSP1 is available on GOV.UK.

If you aren't entitled to statutory sick pay and your employer or the business you work for does not have any other arrangements in place, you may need to access financial support through the benefits system – for example, ‘new style’ employment and support allowance (ESA) (the new name for contributory employment and support allowance) and/or universal credit. Which you claim depends on whether you have paid enough National Insurance to claim new-style employment and support allowance (more on this below). Even if you have, you may want to claim universal credit in addition to topping up your income. See the warning below if you are already claiming other benefits and want to claim universal credit. 

Universal credit

Universal credit (also known as UC) has replaced six other benefits: working tax credit, child tax credit, housing benefit, income support, income-related employment and support allowance and income-based jobseeker’s allowance. People can no longer make claims to these other benefits. Instead, if you need financial support you will probably need to claim universal credit.

You should also be aware of the following:

• Universal credit takes savings over a certain level into account and your partner’s circumstances and income. If their income is too high, you may not qualify for any help.
• If your partner receives new-style or contributory employment and support allowance – you may be able to ask for it to be re-assessed to include an income-based element to top-up your income instead of claiming universal credit. If you are in this situation, you should seek advice.

Employment and support allowance (ESA)

In order to qualify for ‘new-style’ employment and support allowance, there are several National Insurance contribution requirements which are explained on the Entitledto website.

Please note that it is possible to fulfil one of the conditions with Class 1 National Insurance credits (which a person may get in various circumstances) and there are certain relaxations for the other condition.

You should be aware however, that if you are a person in very low-paid employment or self-employment, you are not necessarily going to easily meet those National Insurance requirements, particularly, for example, if you work in low-paid self-employment and have not yet filed your tax returns (this is the method through which you pay National Insurance if you are self-employed).

If you are self-employed and have filed your tax returns, but for whatever reason have paid your Class 2 National Insurance contributions ‘late’, then you should be aware that the Class 2 is treated as being paid six weeks after it is actually paid, the result being that your payment of employment and support allowance can be delayed. You can see this explained in HMRC’s guidance on GOV.UK.

Note that the requirement for Class 2 National Insurance contributions to be paid by the first Sunday in January after the tax year in question so as not to be late, was later changed to 31 January after the tax year in question.

Note that there were some changes to the rules around payment of Class 2 National Insurance contributions from 6 April 2024 onwards. See our guidance on National Insurance for more information.

Access to work grants

The access to work scheme provides government grants to help disabled people start, or stay in, work. If you become disabled or start to have long term health conditions for the first time, you might therefore wish to look into whether access to work can help you during this time.

On our dedicated page, we explain more about access to work.

Further information

There is information about statutory sick pay on GOV.UK. There is also a factsheet about the new rules available on GOV.UK. 

You can find a guide to statutory sick pay for employees, on the Citizens Advice website. 

We have a lot of information on statutory sick pay for employers on our page Statutory sick pay: information for employers, which may also be useful for employees.