What Is SSP Pay? UK Statutory Sick Pay Rules for Employers (2026 to 2027)
Employers and employees both ask what is SSP pay, and the answer is the same either way. Statutory Sick Pay, almost always shortened to SSP, is the legal minimum a UK employer must pay an eligible employee who is off work sick. For the 2026 to 2027 tax year it is £123.25 a week or 80% of the employee's average weekly earnings, whichever is lower, paid for up to 28 weeks.
Two rules changed on 6 April 2026, which is why a lot of guidance still online is now wrong. SSP is payable from the first full day of sickness absence, so the old three waiting days have gone. The lower earnings limit has gone too, so there is no minimum weekly wage an employee has to reach before they qualify.
Fabric is an AI hiring platform: its agents handle sourcing, outreach, screening, scheduling and Round 1 interviews. Sick pay sits outside what the product does. This guide exists because hiring teams field sick pay questions during offer conversations and need the figure that is current, not the one from two tax years ago.
This is not legal advice. SSP is UK statutory law, the weekly rate changes every April, and the eligibility rules were rewritten in 2026. Check the current position on GOV.UK and take advice from employment counsel qualified in the jurisdiction you are hiring in before you act on anything here. Every figure below was checked against GOV.UK on 6 August 2026.
Table of contents
- What is SSP pay, and who has to pay it
- How much SSP is worth, and how long it lasts
- Who qualifies for SSP after the April 2026 reform
- What employers must do, and when form SSP1 is issued
- SSP and company sick pay are different things
- SSP is UK law and does not map onto US practice
- Related posts
- FAQ
What is SSP pay, and who has to pay it
SSP pay is Statutory Sick Pay, and the SSP meaning is the same wherever you meet it: the floor UK law sets for what an employer must pay an eligible employee who is off work sick. It is a legal duty rather than a benefit an employer opts into, whatever the size of the business. GOV.UK's employer guide puts the rate for the 2026 to 2027 tax year at £123.25 a week or 80% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower, for up to 28 weeks.
The employer pays it, not the state. SSP goes out through payroll in the same way as normal wages, on the usual payday, with tax and National Insurance deducted. Employers cannot recover it from HMRC either. Statutory Sick Pay is absent from GOV.UK's list of reclaimable statutory payments, which runs to maternity, paternity, adoption, parental bereavement, neonatal care and shared parental pay.
An employee holding two jobs can receive SSP from each employer, because each employment is assessed on its own.
How much SSP is worth, and how long it lasts
SSP is the lower of two figures: £123.25 a week, or 80% of the employee's average weekly earnings. GOV.UK's rates and thresholds guidance for 2026 to 2027, last updated 5 June 2026, confirms both. The flat rate is what most employees receive, because 80% of average weekly earnings only falls below £123.25 once earnings drop under roughly £154 a week. Below that line, the percentage calculation takes over.
Entitlement runs to a maximum of 28 weeks in a single period. For part weeks, HMRC's manual calculation guidance divides the weekly rate by the number of qualifying days in that week, then multiplies by the qualifying days actually missed. Its own worked example uses an employee earning £185 a week: the £123.25 flat rate is lower than 80% of £185, and spread across five qualifying days that comes to £24.65 a day.
| Rule | Position for 2026 to 2027 (GOV.UK, checked 6 August 2026) |
|---|---|
| Weekly rate | £123.25, or 80% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower |
| First day paid | The first full day of sickness absence. No waiting days. |
| Earnings threshold | None. The lower earnings limit was removed for SSP on 6 April 2026. |
| Days it is paid for | Qualifying days, meaning the days the employee normally works |
| Maximum duration | 28 weeks in one period of entitlement |
| Tax treatment | Paid like wages, with tax and National Insurance deducted |
| Employer recovery | Not reclaimable from HMRC |
Who qualifies for SSP after the April 2026 reform
Sick pay entitlement is simpler than it used to be. Under GOV.UK's current eligibility rules, an employee qualifies if they are classed as an employee, have done some work for the employer, and have been ill for at least one full working day. There is no longer a minimum earnings threshold, because the lower earnings limit was removed for SSP purposes on 6 April 2026 under the Employment Rights Act 2025.
Waiting days went at the same time. SSP is payable from the first full day of sickness absence rather than the fourth. GOV.UK's transitional guidance, published 18 March 2026, confirms that waiting days an employee would have served under the old rules no longer apply. Acas sets out the same change and tells employers to update payroll for day-one entitlement and the earnings-linked calculation.
That is the position published on GOV.UK as at 6 August 2026.
Qualifying days
SSP is only paid for qualifying days, which GOV.UK defines as the days the employee normally works. A day does not count as a sick day if the employee worked for a minute or more before going home ill.
Who does not qualify
GOV.UK lists the exclusions. An employee does not get SSP if they:
- have already had the maximum 28 weeks of SSP
- are receiving Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance
- are off with a pregnancy-related illness in the four weeks before the due date
- were in custody or on strike on the first day of sickness
- received Employment and Support Allowance within 12 weeks of starting or returning to work
Separate periods of sickness that each last more than one full working day and fall 8 weeks or less apart are treated as linked, and entitlement ends after a continuous series of linked periods running more than three years.
What employers must do, and when form SSP1 is issued
The employer's obligations start before any money moves. The employee has to tell you they are sick within the deadline you set, or within 7 days if you have not set one, and you cannot insist they do it in person or on a particular form. A fit note is only required once the absence runs more than 7 days in a row, including non-working days, and GOV.UK is explicit that you cannot withhold SSP because a fit note arrived late.
You can choose how to keep sickness records, but HMRC may ask to see them if a payment is disputed. Where SSP is not payable, form SSP1 is how the employee is told, and it is what they use to support a claim for Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance. GOV.UK sets three deadlines for issuing it.
- Within 7 days of the employee's first day off sick, if they do not qualify for SSP at all.
- Within 7 days of their SSP ending, if it ends unexpectedly while they are still sick.
- On or before the beginning of the 23rd week, if SSP is expected to end before the sickness does.
That last deadline is the one payroll teams miss. It exists so an employee approaching the 28-week ceiling has time to apply for state support before their SSP stops.
SSP and company sick pay are different things
Statutory Sick Pay is a floor, and many employers pay above it. Anything extra is company sick pay, also called contractual or occupational sick pay, and GOV.UK's position is short: you can offer more through a company scheme, but you cannot offer less. Acas frames it the same way, adding that any enhancement has to be written into the contract or the workplace policy.
That makes the sick pay clause in an offer letter a live question, and candidates do ask about it. A typical scheme runs full pay for a set number of weeks, drops to half pay, then falls back to SSP alone once the enhanced period is exhausted. SSP keeps running underneath, capped at 28 weeks, so what looks like one long-term sick pay arrangement is really two entitlements stacked on each other. If you publish a benefits summary, say which layer is statutory and which is contractual.
SSP is UK law and does not map onto US practice
SSP is a creature of UK statute, and nothing in the United States works the same way. The US Department of Labor states that there are currently no federal legal requirements for paid sick leave, and that the Fair Labor Standards Act does not require employers to give time off for sickness with or without pay. The Family and Medical Leave Act provides unpaid, job-protected leave for eligible employees, which is a different mechanism doing a different job.
What fills the gap in the US is a patchwork of state and city paid-sick-leave laws plus whatever the employer chooses to offer. That is why a US handbook talks in PTO days and accrual rates rather than a weekly statutory figure. If you hire in both countries, keep the two frameworks in separate policy documents. Translating one into the other produces a policy that is wrong in both places.
Related posts
- Labor law and workplace compliance: the complete guide
- Leave of absence, PTO and floating holidays explained
- Bereavement leave policy: what to include
- Employee benefits and perks: pensions, EAP, tuition reimbursement and more
- Exempt vs non-exempt employees: what is the difference?
FAQ
How much will I get from SSP?
£123.25 a week for the 2026 to 2027 tax year, or 80% of your average weekly earnings if that figure is lower. It is paid for the qualifying days you would normally have worked, for up to 28 weeks.
Is SSP the same as sick pay?
Not quite. SSP is the statutory minimum every eligible employee gets, while company sick pay (also called contractual or occupational sick pay) is whatever extra an employer has written into the contract or workplace policy.
How much SSP do I get per month?
There is no monthly SSP rate. SSP builds up per qualifying day you are off sick, capped at £123.25 (or 80% of your average weekly earnings) for each full week, with tax and National Insurance deducted.
How much is SSP per day?
There is no fixed daily rate. GOV.UK's manual calculation method divides the weekly rate by the number of qualifying days in that week, so an employee with five qualifying days on the flat rate works out at £24.65 a day.
Is SSP taxable?
Yes. GOV.UK states that SSP is paid by the employer in the same way as normal wages, and that tax and National Insurance will be deducted.
Can an employer claim back SSP?
No. GOV.UK's list of statutory payments employers can reclaim from HMRC covers maternity, paternity, adoption, parental bereavement, neonatal care and shared parental pay, and Statutory Sick Pay is not on it.
What if an employee is not eligible for SSP?
The employer must send form SSP1 within 7 days of the employee's first day off sick, explaining why SSP is not payable. The employee uses it to support a claim for Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance.