Statutory Sick Pay April 2026
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is changing from this April. For some organisations, this will be a major change and potentially increase their wage bill dramatically, but other employers will see little difference. These changes are part of the Employment Rights Act 2025. Full details have still not been published by HMRC, but we can consider what we know so far in three parts:
1. Removal of “Waiting Days”
This is a big change and has several ramifications. The current position is that an employee must be absent for 4 consecutive days before SSP becomes payable from the fourth day. With the new legislation, SSP is payable from the first day.
Even if an employee is off for just one day, SSP is payable
If a five-day worker is off for a full week, currently only two days are payable in the first week, but from April, they will be due the full week
For absence periods to be linked, they currently have to be four consecutive days for each period within eight weeks, but this will no longer be the case. The eight weeks are still in place, but as only one day is now required, more absence is likely to be linked.
If an employee works one day per week, currently, no SSP would be due until the fourth week of absence. From April, they will be due a full week of SSP if they are absent on the day they would usually work.
2. Removal of the Lower Earnings Limit threshold for SSP
Currently, employees who earn below the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL), which is a threshold based on pay subject to National Insurance, do not qualify for SSP. From April, all employees will qualify for SSP no matter their historical or projected earnings.
For the 2025/26 tax year, the LEL was set at £125 per week and £542 per month. The threshold is still important for the state pension.
3. Calculation of SSP has changed
Currently, SSP is a flat rate, but this will change from April with a calculation similar to statutory parental pay. The SSP will be 80% of the Average Weekly Earnings or the flat SSP rate, whichever is LOWER. AWE is calculated from pay subject to National Insurance and is across 8 weeks/2 months ending at the pay day before the start of the period of absence, so it is the average weekly pay for the 8 weeks before the period of absence.
This means that a small group of employees will actually receive less under the new system. Employees earning between £125 and £154 per week would receive 80% of their pay rather than the flat rate they would currently expect.
Transitional Period
There is a transitional period for employees currently on sick leave at 6 th April. They will receive the flat rate SSP even if they would have been paid less under the 80% rule. This will also apply to linked sickness periods (if the linked period spans 6 th April 2026).
What else do you need to be aware of?
SSP is a rate that employers pay but cannot be offset against employers’ National Insurance, unlike parental leave, where the liability is reduced. If sickness is not managed, employers will potentially face much higher wage costs.
SSP1 form will need to be revised. This form can currently be used where an employee does not qualify for SSP because they earned below the LEL. The new version is unlikely to be available before 6 th April.
The twenty-eight weeks or three years maximum for SSP payments remains in place. As more periods of absence are likely to be linked, this means employees stand a greater chance of no longer being eligible. Linked SSP is where each period of absence is within eight weeks of each other, currently there is also a four consecutive days requirement.
Where periods are linked, the rate will be that used in the first period.
The SSP rate will be rounded up where the 80% rule is applied; this is minor but worth noting if you are forecasting.
We do not know what will happen if there were a pay rise and it should be backdated. Would this mean the AWE would need to be recalculated?
SSP is a weekly rate of pay; this will not be changing. The weekly rate of pay will then be divided by the number of days the employee works, where part weeks are calculated. For zero-hour workers, there needs to be a default work pattern agreed, this could be one day per week, typically a Wednesday, but we suggest taking a little more time to make sure this is appropriate for your workplace.
There will be further updates from HMRC and other sources, and there may be more you need to know depending on your individual circumstances. Please follow the links as necessary and make sure you are prepared.
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