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Free SSP Calculator
Calculate SSP using the rules from 6 April 2026: £123.25 a week or 80% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower, paid from the first full day off sick. Get the daily rate and total in seconds.
2026/27 rates Checked against GOV.UK on 2 October 2026
Employee details
Whichever is lower is paid
£123.25/week (lower than 80% of earnings) ÷ 5 qualifying days = £24.65/day × 10 days. Paid from the first full day off sick.
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Your sick spell on the 28 weeks SSP can last
10 sick days at £24.65 a day come to £246.50, paid from the first day off. That uses 2 of the 28 weeks of SSP an employee can get.
Drawn from a Monday, for someone who works Monday to Friday.
2of 28 weeks of SSP used
From 6 April 2026, SSP is £123.25 a week or 80% of the employee's average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. It is paid from the first full day off sick (there are no waiting days and no minimum earnings) for up to 28 weeks. Divide the weekly rate by the employee's qualifying days to get the daily rate.
Worked example: £185 a week, 5 qualifying days, 3 days off sick
SSP due for that week: £73.95 (the worked example GOV.UK gives).
Last checked against GOV.UK: 2 October 2026
This calculator applies the rules for sickness that starts on or after 6 April 2026. For an absence that started before then, GOV.UK has transition rules; use its guidance linked above.
From a calculator to a sick leave record
This calculator gives you the numbers. TimeTally tracks sick leave, approvals, and absence records automatically — so you never need to calculate it manually again. From £3/employee/month.
Staff submit leave requests via the iPhone or Android app. Balances update automatically. No emails, no forms, no back-and-forth.
Live BalanceUpdates instantlyNotify ManagerInstantlyAll leave requests land in your dashboard. Approve or decline with a single tap. Every decision is timestamped — no more disputes about who was notified and when.
Every approved leave request, sick day, and bank holiday sits on one calendar. Spot absence patterns before they become a problem — no more cross-referencing spreadsheets.
Approved leave is included in your payroll export automatically. Direct integration with Xero and QuickBooks — no manual adjustments, no missed deductions.
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Employees see their current balance and their projected future balance — accounting for leave already booked but not yet taken. Optionally let staff see who else in their department has booked time off, so they can plan around colleagues. Managers can manually adjust any employee's balance at any time — ideal when setting up mid-year from a previous system.
Pick the accrual method that fits each employee: upfront (full entitlement from day one), monthly accrual (earned gradually each month), daily accrual (builds day by day), or hours worked (earned per hour worked at a rate you set, 12.07% by default). All calculations are handled automatically — no spreadsheets needed.
TimeTally comes with annual leave, sick leave, maternity, paternity and bank holidays set up. Need something else, like compassionate leave? Create unlimited custom leave types with any name. For each type you control: whether it's paid or unpaid, whether it deducts from the annual leave balance or has its own separate pot, and who it's turned off for.
Decide exactly what happens at year end: toggle carryover on or off, set a maximum number of days that can carry, and optionally add an expiry date so carried-over days must be used within e.g. 3 months. You can also allow employees to book leave before they've earned it (negative balance), with an optional cap to limit exposure.
Set each employee's contracted hours per day of the week (or use a company default). TimeTally uses this to deduct the right amount of leave — a half-day Tuesday only costs half a Tuesday's hours — and to pay the correct amount for each day taken. Pro-rata entitlements for new starters and leavers are calculated automatically from their start date.
Employees can request leave in hours, half days, or full days from the app or website — no training required. Managers can book leave on behalf of any employee. Public holidays are added automatically for the country you choose. Set a custom leave year start date (e.g. 7th April) and balances reset automatically. Easy to set up even when migrating from another system mid-year.
Managers can approve any leave request in one tap. Rejections include an optional reason so employees know why, and they can send a new request. Employees can also ask to change or cancel approved leave, and you approve or turn it down. Any booked leave can be deleted if plans change, and the days go back on the balance — all with a full audit trail.
Leave sits in the main team calendar alongside timesheets and rota shifts — one view of the whole business. If you use time tracking, overtime converts to TOIL automatically at a rate you define. Leave analytics give managers a clear picture of absence patterns, entitlement usage, and remaining balances across the whole team.
SSP rules trip up even experienced payroll teams. Here are the key facts every UK employer needs to get right.
From 6 April 2026, Statutory Sick Pay is £123.25 a week or 80% of the employee's average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. Average weekly earnings are usually worked out over the 8 weeks before the sickness started. To qualify, employees must have an employment contract, have done some work under it, and have been sick for at least one full working day. There is no longer a minimum earnings test: the Lower Earnings Limit stopped applying to SSP on 6 April 2026, so low earners now get SSP at 80% of their earnings.
Until 5 April 2026, the first three 'qualifying days' of any period of incapacity for work were unpaid 'waiting days'. From 6 April 2026, SSP is payable from the first full day of sickness absence. A 'qualifying day' is still a day the employee would normally be expected to work, so someone who works Monday to Friday and is sick all week is paid SSP for all five days. A day only counts if the employee did no work at all: working a minute or more before going home sick means that day is not a sick day for SSP.
Employers can set their own notification requirements for sickness absence — typically requiring notification on the first day of absence by a specific time and method. For absences of up to 7 calendar days, employees can self-certify (using an SC2 form or the employer's equivalent). Beyond 7 calendar days, a fit note issued by a GP or other registered healthcare professional is required. Employers cannot insist on a fit note for shorter absences. Failure to notify in the required way does not remove the right to SSP, but it may affect when SSP liability begins.
Sickness absence that is related to pregnancy during the last 4 weeks before the expected week of childbirth (the 'disqualifying period') automatically triggers the start of maternity leave — and SSP is replaced by Statutory Maternity Pay from that point. For pregnancy-related sickness before the disqualifying period, SSP is payable in the usual way. Pregnancy-related absence should never trigger disciplinary proceedings or count in absence triggers — doing so is sex discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.
SSP is payable for a maximum of 28 weeks in any period of incapacity. Once exhausted, the employer's SSP liability ends. If SSP is expected to run out before the sickness does, the employer must send form SSP1 on or before the beginning of the 23rd week (or within 7 days if SSP ends unexpectedly), so the employee can claim New Style ESA from the DWP. Linked periods of sickness (within 8 weeks of each other) are treated as one continuous period for SSP purposes — so repeated short absences can exhaust the 28 weeks more quickly than a single long absence if they occur in a pattern.
Employers can offer contractual sick pay that is more generous than SSP — for example, full pay for the first 4 weeks, then half pay for 8 weeks, then SSP only. Contractual sick pay absorbs the SSP entitlement: an employee cannot receive both in excess of their contractual entitlement. Where contractual sick pay is exhausted before 28 weeks are up, the employer must still pay SSP for the remainder of the 28-week period. Contracts should specify exactly how the two interact to avoid misunderstandings.
Agency workers are entitled to SSP, paid by the agency (as their employer) rather than the end-client business. Zero-hours workers are entitled to SSP too: since 6 April 2026 there is no earnings threshold, so low or irregular earnings no longer rule anyone out. Their earnings still set the amount, because SSP is the lower of £123.25 a week and 80% of average weekly earnings, and the variable nature of their hours means those average earnings must be calculated over the 8-week reference period.
HMRC's PAYE rules say to keep payroll records, including payments to employees and their leave and sickness absences, for 3 years from the end of the tax year they relate to. Sensible SSP records include: dates of sickness and qualifying days; amount of SSP paid each week; any SSP1 forms issued; and notification and fit note records. Since April 2014, employers can no longer reclaim SSP from HMRC (the Percentage Threshold Scheme was abolished). Statutory parental payments are different: employers can usually reclaim 92% of them, or 109% with Small Employers' Relief (£45,000 or less in Class 1 National Insurance).
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“TimeTally has been excellent for our business. The app is simple to use, reliable, and makes managing holidays, absences, and staff records straightforward. The system has saved us a significant amount of administration time and gives both managers and employees clear visibility of leave balances and requests. Highly recommended for any business looking for an easy-to-use workforce management solution.”
Jordan Ingoe, CLI ManchesterEverything you need to know about SSP in the UK. For related topics, try our Bradford Factor calculator or holiday entitlement calculator.
From 6 April 2026, SSP is £123.25 a week or 80% of the employee's average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. For example, someone averaging £185 a week gets £123.25 (80% would be £148), while someone averaging £100 a week gets £80. You can pay more through a company sick pay scheme, but not less than SSP. The weekly rate is divided by the number of qualifying days in the week to give a daily rate.
Since 6 April 2026 there is no minimum. The Lower Earnings Limit test was removed, so SSP is available to all eligible employees regardless of their earnings. Earnings now decide the amount instead: SSP is the lower of £123.25 a week and 80% of average weekly earnings, usually worked out over the 8 weeks before the sickness started.
No. Before 6 April 2026 the first 3 qualifying days of sickness were unpaid waiting days. From 6 April 2026, SSP is payable from the first full day of sickness absence. Qualifying days are still the days the employee normally works, so someone who works Monday to Friday and is off sick from Monday is paid SSP from Monday.
SSP can be paid for up to 28 weeks in any period of illness. After 28 weeks, SSP stops and the employee may be able to claim Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) from the government. If you expect SSP to end before the sickness does, send them form SSP1 on or before the beginning of the 23rd week.
Not any more. From 6 April 2026 an employee qualifies once they have been sick for at least one full working day, which GOV.UK calls a period of incapacity for work. A day only counts if they did no work at all: if they work for a minute or more before going home sick, that day is not a sick day for SSP.
SSP is the legal minimum employers must pay when an employee qualifies. Company sick pay (also called contractual or occupational sick pay) is any amount above SSP that an employer chooses to offer. Many employers pay full or partial salary for a set number of sick days, then drop to SSP as the fallback. Company sick pay schemes must not pay less than SSP.
Employees can self-certify for the first 7 days in a row of absence, including non-working days. If they are off for more than 7 days in a row, you can ask for a fit note from a GP, hospital doctor, registered nurse, occupational therapist, pharmacist or physiotherapist. You cannot withhold SSP just because a fit note arrives late, but you do not have to pay SSP for days the employee was late telling you they were sick, unless there was a good reason for the delay.
Form SSP1 is a document employers must give to an employee when SSP ends or cannot be paid. This includes situations where the employee is not entitled to SSP, SSP is coming to an end after 28 weeks, or SSP cannot be paid for other reasons. It allows the employee to claim ESA from the government. Send it within 7 days of their first day off sick if they do not qualify, within 7 days of SSP ending if it ends unexpectedly, or by the beginning of the 23rd week if SSP is expected to run out.
HMRC's PAYE rules say to keep payroll records, including what you pay employees and their leave and sickness absences, for 3 years from the end of the tax year they relate to. There is no set format, but the records must be accurate and available if HMRC asks. Timesheet and attendance records from systems like TimeTally make this far easier to manage and produce on request.
Employers can only withhold SSP in specific lawful circumstances: the employee was late telling you they were sick without a good reason (for those late days only), the absence is not at least one full working day, the employee has already had 28 weeks of SSP, or another GOV.UK exclusion applies, such as receiving Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance. There is no longer an earnings threshold, and you cannot withhold SSP because a fit note is late. If an employee does not qualify, send them form SSP1 within 7 days of their first day off sick.
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