How Much Is Statutory Sick Pay? Rates Explained
Statutory Sick Pay is worth £123.25 a week for the 2026-27 tax year, and since 6 April 2026 it has been paid from the first day of sickness rather than the fourth [1]. Two structural reforms took effect on that date, and both change the amount an employer ends up paying.
The figure most people search for is the headline weekly rate, but the real answer depends on how much the employee earns, how many days a week they work, and how long they stay off. A full-time worker on a comfortable salary receives the flat rate. A part-time or low-paid worker may receive less, because the rules now cap the payment at 80% of average weekly earnings [2].
This article sets out the weekly rate, how the daily figure is worked out for different shift patterns, what an employee can receive in total, and why the cost falls entirely on the employer.
Key takeaways
- Statutory Sick Pay is £123.25 a week for the 2026-27 tax year, or 80% of average weekly earnings if that figure is lower.
- SSP is payable from the first qualifying day of sickness, the three waiting days having been removed on 6 April 2026.
- The daily amount depends on how many qualifying days the employee works, so the same week of absence pays differently for a five-day and a six-day worker.
- SSP runs for a maximum of 28 weeks in a single or linked period of incapacity, a total of £3,451.
- Unlike family-related statutory payments, SSP cannot be recovered from HMRC, so the employer absorbs the whole cost.
The weekly rate for 2026-27
For the 2026-27 tax year, Statutory Sick Pay is £123.25 a week, or 80% of the employee's average weekly earnings, whichever is lower [1]. The flat rate applies to anyone whose 80% figure is higher than £123.25, which covers most full-time and many part-time workers. An employee only receives less than the flat rate when 80% of their average weekly earnings falls below it [2].
The 80% cap is a feature of the reform delivered by the Employment Rights Act 2025 [6]. Before 6 April 2026, an employee had to earn above the Lower Earnings Limit to qualify for SSP at all. That earnings floor has been removed, so every employee now qualifies regardless of how little they earn, with the lowest earners receiving 80% of their pay rather than nothing [8].
Average weekly earnings are calculated over an eight-week relevant period. The period ends on the last normal payday before the first complete day of sickness, and begins the day after the previous normal payday [3]. For an employee on a steady salary the average is straightforward. For someone on variable or zero-hours shifts the average can move from one absence to the next, which is why payroll teams cannot assume a single figure for an irregular worker [4].
How much is statutory sick pay per day?
SSP is quoted as a weekly figure, but sickness rarely lasts exactly one week, so the daily rate matters more in practice. The daily amount is the weekly rate divided by the number of qualifying days in the week, where qualifying days are the days the employee is normally contracted to work [3]. An employee with fewer qualifying days has a higher daily rate, because the same £123.25 is spread across fewer days.
The table below shows the daily figure for each common working pattern, alongside the amount payable for one to five days of absence in a week.
| Qualifying days per week | Daily rate | 1 day | 2 days | 3 days | 4 days | 5 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | £17.61 | £17.61 | £35.22 | £52.83 | £70.43 | £88.04 |
| 6 | £20.55 | £20.55 | £41.09 | £61.63 | £82.17 | £102.71 |
| 5 | £24.65 | £24.65 | £49.30 | £73.95 | £98.60 | £123.25 |
| 4 | £30.82 | £30.82 | £61.63 | £92.44 | £123.25 | n/a |
| 3 | £41.09 | £41.09 | £82.17 | £123.25 | n/a | n/a |
A five-day worker who is sick for three qualifying days receives £24.65 multiplied by three, which is £73.95 [3]. A six-day worker absent for four qualifying days receives £20.55 multiplied by four, which is £82.17 [9]. The weekly total can never exceed £123.25, regardless of how the days are split. Where the calculation produces a fraction of a penny, the result is rounded up to the next whole penny [3].
Calculating these daily figures by hand across a workforce is where errors creep in, particularly for staff on rotating shifts. HMRC-recognised UK payroll software applies the correct qualifying-day divisor automatically and carries the figure straight into the payslip and the Full Payment Submission.
How much can an employee get in total?
SSP is paid for a maximum of 28 weeks in any single period of incapacity for work, or across linked periods [2]. At £123.25 a week, 28 weeks of continuous absence comes to £3,451. That is the ceiling for one spell of sickness; an employee cannot draw more than 28 weeks of SSP from the same period [11].
Two separate spells of sickness count as one linked period if the gap between them is less than eight weeks [4]. In a linked period the average weekly earnings figure carries forward from the first spell, so a pay rise between absences does not lift the SSP rate. This catches out payroll teams who recalculate earnings for every fresh absence [3].
When entitlement is about to run out, the employer issues form SSP1 so the employee can claim Employment and Support Allowance instead. The form must be sent within seven days of SSP ending if the absence is ongoing, or on or before the start of the 23rd week if the end of entitlement can be predicted [5]. A late SSP1 delays the employee's benefit claim, so the timing is a compliance point in its own right [13].
Who pays for it?
The full cost of Statutory Sick Pay falls on the employer. Unlike Statutory Maternity Pay and the other family-related payments, SSP cannot be recovered from HMRC [12]. Small employers can reclaim up to 109% of family pay through Small Employers' Relief, but no equivalent exists for sick pay, so every pound of SSP is a net cost to the business [10].
The removal of the three waiting days makes that cost more visible. Short absences of one to three days used to cost nothing in SSP; now every qualifying sick day carries a charge from day one [13]. The government's own assessment put the combined effect of the reforms at around £450 million a year across all employers, roughly £15 a year per employee, concentrated in workplaces with high rates of short-term absence [8].
SSP is the legal minimum, not the maximum. Many employers run an occupational or contractual sick pay scheme that pays more, set out in the employment contract. SSP can be offset against occupational sick pay for the same period, so the two do not stack [10]. Accountants managing sick pay across several clients often rely on a multi-client payroll dashboard to keep each scheme's rules separate, and a sole trader issuing a single payslip can produce a compliant one through an instant payslip generator. For the underlying rules in full, the SSP reform explained guide covers the day-one and earnings-floor changes in detail.
Conclusion
The amount of Statutory Sick Pay an employee receives is rarely a single number. It starts from the £123.25 weekly rate, is capped at 80% of average weekly earnings for lower earners, is divided across qualifying days to give a daily figure, and is limited to 28 weeks in total. Each of those four levers can change the final sum, which is why a flat answer of "£123.25 a week" only fits the full-time worker on a steady salary.
For the employer, the reform has turned SSP from a cost that mostly disappeared on short absences into one that registers from the first sick day and cannot be recovered. As absence-management and payroll processes adjust to day-one payment, the businesses that handle it cleanly will be the ones whose small business payroll systems apply the qualifying-day maths and the linking rule without manual intervention.
Frequently asked questions
How much is statutory sick pay a week in 2026-27?
Statutory Sick Pay is £123.25 a week for the 2026-27 tax year, or 80% of the employee's average weekly earnings if that is lower [1]. Most full-time workers receive the flat rate, while the lowest earners receive 80% of their pay because the Lower Earnings Limit no longer applies [2].
How is the daily rate of SSP calculated?
The daily rate is the weekly rate of £123.25 divided by the number of qualifying days the employee normally works in a week [3]. A five-day worker has a daily rate of £24.65, while a six-day worker has a daily rate of £20.55. The employer multiplies the daily rate by the number of qualifying days the employee is sick, and the weekly total never exceeds £123.25 [9].
What is the maximum amount of statutory sick pay?
SSP is paid for up to 28 weeks in a single or linked period of incapacity, which at £123.25 a week totals £3,451 [2]. Once 28 weeks are used, the employer issues form SSP1 and the employee may claim Employment and Support Allowance instead [5].
Can an employer claim statutory sick pay back from HMRC?
No. Statutory Sick Pay cannot be recovered from HMRC, so the employer bears the full cost [12]. This differs from family-related statutory payments such as maternity and paternity pay, where small employers can reclaim up to 109% through Small Employers' Relief [10].
