Statutory Sick Pay 2026/27: Employer Guide

CitoHR illustration titled Statutory sick pay for 2026/27, covering the £123.25 weekly rate, day-one pay and worked examples. — Figures checked on 21 October 2026 against HMRC’s 2026 to 2027 rates and the legislation those rates come from.

Key takeaways

For 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027 the weekly rate is £123.25, or 80% of average weekly earnings if that is lower.
SSP is paid from the first full working day. The three waiting days have gone for sickness from 6 April 2026.
Earning below the National Insurance lower earnings limit no longer stops someone qualifying.
You cannot recover SSP from HMRC. It is paid with wages, and tax and National Insurance are deducted.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 wrote £118.75 into the rate. The 2026 uprating order replaced that figure with £123.25 from 00:01 on 6 April 2026. Pay £123.25, not £118.75.
Use HMRC’s calculator for a normal case. The daily tables on the rates page are for the flat rate only.

What is statutory sick pay?

Statutory sick pay is the sick pay an employer must pay an eligible employee. For 2026/27 it is the lower of £123.25 a week and 80% of their normal weekly earnings, for up to 28 weeks.

You pay it in the same way as wages. GOV.UK’s employee page says tax and National Insurance are deducted, and someone with two jobs may get SSP from each employer. The wider timetable is in the note on the Employment Rights Act 2025.

What is the weekly rate for 2026/27?

From 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027 the weekly rate is £123.25 or 80% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. HMRC’s rates and thresholds say you cannot recover SSP.

Two different numbers appear in the legislation, and only one of them is the rate to pay. Section 11 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 replaced the old rate with the lower of £118.75 and 80% of normal weekly earnings. Article 8 of the Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2026 then substitutes £123.25 for £118.75. The revised section 157 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 shows £123.25, in force at 00:01 on 6 April 2026. If a payroll product still shows £118.75, it is showing the Act’s original figure, not the uprated one.

Average weekly earnings usually cover the eight weeks before the sickness. Include earnings on which Class 1 National Insurance is due, or would be due if earnings were high enough, and do not round to a whole penny. New starters without eight weeks’ pay can still qualify. The manual guide covers weekly pay, monthly pay, new starters and salary sacrifice.

Who qualifies, now the earnings limit has gone?

The employer guide says the person needs an employment contract, some work under that contract, and sickness of at least one full working day. Earning less than the lower earnings limit is no longer a reason to refuse SSP.

Section 11 removed the lower-earnings-limit paragraph from the list of cases where SSP entitlement does not arise. That section came into force on 6 April 2026. The lower earnings limit itself still exists for National Insurance. On the same rates page it is £129 a week for 2026/27. It is a National Insurance threshold, not an SSP gate.

The SSP calculator says you are responsible where you pay Class 1 National Insurance for them, or would do if not for their age or earnings, they were sick for at least one full working day, and they told you in time. The employer eligibility page also requires a contract and some work under it. They do not qualify if any of these apply.

They have already had 28 weeks of SSP.
They are getting Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance. A pregnancy-related illness in the four weeks before the week the baby is due also blocks SSP. That week runs Sunday to Saturday.
They were in custody or on strike on the first day of sickness, including linked periods.
They work outside the EU and you are not liable for their National Insurance.
They received Employment and Support Allowance within 12 weeks of starting or returning to work for you. HMRC’s note on absences that cross 6 April 2026 instead says “the last 85 days”. Those are not the same span. Check the page that matches the absence before you refuse.

The employee page says agency workers may be entitled, and someone can qualify in one job and be fit for the other. If they are not eligible, or SSP is ending, send form SSP1: within 7 days of the first day off if they never qualified, within 7 days if it ends unexpectedly while they are still sick, or on or before the start of the 23rd week if you expect it to end first.

Do waiting days still apply?

No, for sickness from 6 April 2026. SSP is payable from the first full working day. The three unpaid waiting days at the start of a spell are the rule that section 10 removed.

Section 10 changes the period of incapacity so that one day can count, moves entitlement to the first qualifying day, and came into force on 6 April 2026 by SI 2026/373. HMRC’s rates page describes the daily amount as applying “from the first day of illness”. A spell that was already in its waiting days on 6 April 2026 is covered in the transitional section below: those earlier waiting days are not paid afterwards.

How much do you pay for part of a week?

Divide that week’s SSP rate by the qualifying days in the Sunday-to-Saturday week, then multiply by the qualifying days they are sick. Section 157(3) is that rule, and the manual guide repeats it for 2026/27.

Qualifying days are the days they normally work, unless you have agreed something else. On a flat-rate week the 5-day table pays £24.65, £49.30, £73.95, £98.60 and £123.25. Those amounts are for £123.25 only. If 80% of earnings is lower, divide that weekly figure by the qualifying days instead.

HMRC’s own 2026/27 examples, from the manual calculation guide. The five-day row is the matching amount on the rates table.
Case	Weekly SSP	Days	To pay
Average weekly earnings £185. 80% is £148, so the flat rate is lower.	£123.25	3 of 5 qualifying days	£73.95
Same earnings, off for the whole qualifying week.	£123.25	5 of 5	£123.25
Average weekly earnings £145. 80% is £116, which is lower than £123.25.	£116	2 of 4 qualifying days	£58

One figure does not match across HMRC’s own pages. The manual guide’s example for four days out of six qualifying days multiplies a rounded daily rate of £20.54 and gets £82.16. The rates table for the same pattern shows £82.17. Use the calculator where you can. If there is more than one linked period, the manual guide says you work it out by hand. The payroll compliance note and the HMRC payroll note are the neighbouring pages. We do not run that calculation in CitoHR.

When do you need notice and a fit note?

They should tell you by the deadline you set, or within 7 days if you have not set one. You cannot insist they tell you in person or on a special form.

You do not have to pay SSP for days they were late telling you, unless there is a good reason. HMRC’s example is an employee sick from Monday 2 June, with a five-day notice rule, who tells you on Monday 9 June. You do not pay the two late days. You start on Monday 9 June, the first qualifying day after they told you. The guide does not give a year for that Monday.

Ask for a fit note only after more than 7 days in a row, and count non-working days in the seven. You cannot withhold SSP because the fit note is late. It can come from a GP, hospital doctor, registered nurse, occupational therapist, pharmacist or physiotherapist, printed or digital. If you agree, another form of evidence can stand in, such as an Allied Health Professional Health and Work Report. The notice and fit notes page is the source for this section.

What if the absence started before 6 April 2026?

Do not put the new rate on the whole spell and stop there. HMRC published a separate note for sickness that starts before 6 April 2026 and ends on or after that date.

The straddling guidance says that from 6 April 2026 SSP is available regardless of earnings, payable from the first full day, at the lower of 80% of average weekly earnings and £123.25. The cases below are the ones a small employer is most likely to meet. Read the page before paying a spell that crosses the date.

Someone below the old earnings limit may qualify from 6 April 2026 if the absence started on or after 22 September 2025, or started earlier but they returned to work at some point between 22 September 2025 and 5 April 2026. Use earnings from before the absence, or the first linked absence. The cap is still 28 weeks.
They do not qualify from 6 April 2026 if the absence started on or before 21 September 2025 and ran, without a break, to 5 April 2026. That includes a linked absence that continues. They qualify again only after 8 weeks back at work. The same page says they are not eligible if they received Employment and Support Allowance in the last 85 days.
Waiting days still being served on 6 April 2026 stop counting from that date. SSP is not paid for waiting days before 6 April 2026.
If they had SSP, came back, and started again on 4 or 5 April 2026, a spell of 3 days or less is paid only for qualifying days on or after 6 April. A spell of 4 days or more is paid for qualifying days from the first day of that restarted absence.
Someone already on SSP moves to the new rate from 6 April 2026. If their earnings are between £125 and £154.05 a week, they were already receiving SSP, and they are still off on that date, pay the flat rate rather than 80%, until they return or entitlement ends. A later absence, even a linked one, uses 80% where that is lower.

How do linked periods of sickness work?

Separate spells can count as one for the 28-week limit and for the earnings used. The manual guide links them when the gap is 8 weeks (56 days) or less, and it tells you to judge entitlement on the first day of the first spell.

The pages do not use one sentence. The employer eligibility page says each period lasts at least one full working day and the gap is 8 weeks or less. The employee eligibility page says linked periods last more than one full working day. A series longer than 3 years ends eligibility on both pages. The rate is fixed at the start of the first spell and stays the same through a linked spell, even if earnings change, while the gap is 56 days or less.

How can a small employer keep the sickness record?

Write down the first day, the qualifying days, and the date they told you. The sum you pay still comes from payroll. The record is what you will need when someone asks why a day was or was not paid.

In CitoHR we keep holiday and sickness on the same person. Sickness does not reduce the holiday allowance. We can score short, frequent absences with the Bradford factor, and that score is a prompt for a conversation, not a disciplinary outcome. We do not calculate SSP or pay it. The leave and sickness page is that record. The UK HR compliance guide puts day-one sick pay next to the other 2026 duties, and pricing is where our free and Pro plans are set out. If your payroll is done by an accountant, send them the days and let them apply the rate.

Sources

Read on 21 October 2026. Follow the live page if it has moved on.

Frequently asked questions

Can an employer claim statutory sick pay back from HMRC?

No. HMRC’s rates and thresholds for 2026 to 2027 say you cannot recover Statutory Sick Pay. You can still recover a proportion of some other statutory payments, such as Statutory Maternity Pay, but SSP is not on that list.

Does someone earning under the lower earnings limit get SSP?

Yes, if the other conditions are met. From 6 April 2026 the lower earnings limit is no longer an SSP test. The weekly rate is then the lower of £123.25 and 80% of their average weekly earnings, so a low earner is paid the 80% figure, not the flat rate.

Are the first three sick days still unpaid?

Not for sickness from 6 April 2026. SSP is due from the first full working day. Waiting days that fell before 6 April 2026 are not paid in arrears. HMRC’s note on absences that cross that date sets out the exceptions.

When should you ask for a fit note?

Only when the employee has been off for more than 7 days in a row, including days they do not work. You cannot withhold SSP because the fit note arrives late. A GP, hospital doctor, registered nurse, occupational therapist, pharmacist or physiotherapist can issue it, on paper or digitally.

Why do the GOV.UK pages describe linked sickness differently?

The employer guide says linked periods last at least one full working day and are 8 weeks or less apart. The employee page says they last more than one full working day. The manual guide says a period of incapacity is at least one full day, and a gap of 8 weeks (56 days) or less links them. This article does not choose between those wordings.

Do you work out or pay statutory sick pay?

No. We record sickness in CitoHR and can score the Bradford factor. We do not calculate SSP, deduct tax, or pay wages. Pay the amount through payroll, using HMRC’s calculator or the manual method.