Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) supports businesses by ensuring their employees take the proper time to recover as well as preventing illnesses spreading through the workplace
- If one of your employees can’t work due to illness, Statutory Sick Pay requires you to pay them £123.25 a week – or 80% of their average weekly earnings, whichever is lower – for a maximum of 28 weeks.
- However, it has to be a full day. In-line with The Employment Rights Act 2025, Statutory Sick Pay kicks in from day one, down from the previous day four.
- From April 6, 2026, a lower wage limit of £125 per week no longer applies to be eligible for SSP. So, if you’ve got employees who earn less than that and weren’t eligible before, they’re entitled to sick pay from the first full day of illness as of April 6.
- SSP doesn’t affect an employee’s statutory holiday, which should still be accrued no matter how long they’re off sick, and they should be allowed to carry any holidays not taken due to sickness into the next year.
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) supports businesses by ensuring their employees take the proper time to recover as well as preventing illnesses spreading through the workplace.
SSP is still a complicated area of employment law, and many small businesses have questions about where and when their obligations end if an employee is off sick.
In this article we explain what SSP is, who it applies to, who is exempt, how it works, and how much it costs.
What is Statutory Sick Pay?
If one of your employees can’t work due to illness, Statutory Sick Pay requires you to pay them £123.25 a week – or 80% of their average weekly earnings, whichever is lower – for a maximum of 28 weeks.
If your company runs its own contractual or occupational sick pay scheme (which must be detailed in any employment contract), you can choose to pay your employees more during their sickness, but you can’t offer less. SSP is the legal minimum.
In order to qualify for SSP, employees must:
- Have an employment contract
- Have worked under that contract
- Have notified you of their sickness within your stipulated time limit or within seven days
In some circumstances an employee may be ineligible for SSP, including if they:
- Have received maximum SSP (28 weeks)
- Are currently receiving Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance
- Are off work due to a pregnancy-related illness within the four weeks before the due week of their baby
- Were in custody or on strike on the first day that their sickness started
- Are not liable for National Insurance contributions
- Work outside the EU
- Received Employment and Support Allowance within 12 weeks of starting or returning to work for you
Though it mostly applies to employees, agency workers may also be eligible for SSP.
[maxbutton id=”27″]
How does it work?
In-line with The Employment Rights Act 2025, Statutory Sick Pay kicks in from day one, down from the previous day four.
However, it has to be a full day.
If an employee has begun work on a day, that day can’t count as a sick day. Being off more than once within eight weeks for the same reason could be seen as a ‘linked period of sickness’. In this situation, the initial period’s average weekly earnings will be used for subsequent calculations.
This should be paid on the same schedule as their wages, and with income tax and National Insurance deducted if applicable. SSP is payable by the day.
As soon as an employee returns to work, you should resume paying them at their normal rate.
There’s no legal obligation to keep records of SSP payments, but it’s wise to maintain absence records in case there’s ever a pay dispute.
SSP doesn’t affect an employee’s statutory holiday, which should still be accrued no matter how long they’re off sick, and they should be allowed to carry any holidays not taken due to sickness into the next year.
Sickness absences before April 2026
From April 6, 2026, a lower wage limit of £125 per week no longer applies to be eligible for SSP. So, if you’ve got employees who earn less than that and weren’t eligible before, they’re entitled to sick pay from the first full day of illness as of April 6. They must still meet the rest of the eligibility criteria, though.
Can I ask for proof?
You can only ask for a fit note after your employee has been off for more than seven days in a row. A fit note must be issued by a doctor or hospital, or if you agree, proof can be in the form of an Allied Health Professional Health and Work report.
SmallBusiness.co.uk has teamed up with Intuit QuickBooks to help you find the right Payroll software for your business.
Find out more about getting your payroll and business finances all in one place.
Read more
8 key things to do when employing people
Disclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by finopulse.
Publisher: Source link
