Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) UK Guide 2025: Rates, Rules and Eligibility

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is the minimum amount your employer must pay when you are too ill to work, provided you qualify. For 2025/26, SSP is £118.75 per week. It is a flat rate that does not vary with your salary. A warehouse operative and a senior manager receive the same weekly amount if they both meet the conditions. SSP can be paid for up to 28 weeks per period of incapacity for work.

This guide explains how SSP works, who qualifies, how waiting days affect your first payment, and how to estimate what you will receive. Use our statutory sick pay calculator to model payments for a given number of weeks off sick.

The SSP rate for 2025/26

SSP is set by the government and usually increases each April. For 2025/26, the weekly rate is £118.75. Payments are made for qualifying days in the week, which means part-time workers receive a proportionate amount based on the number of days they normally work. If you work five days a week, you receive the full £118.75. If you work three days a week, you receive three-fifths of the weekly rate, roughly £71.25 per week.

SSP is taxable as employment income. Your employer deducts Income Tax and National Insurance through PAYE. At £118.75 per week, most employees pay little or no tax on SSP because it falls within the personal allowance when annualised, but a higher-rate taxpayer on reduced hours may still see tax deducted in a particular pay period. If you receive SSP alongside partial salary during a phased return, check your tax code on the first payslip after you come back part time.

Who qualifies for SSP

You must be classed as an employee and have done some work under your contract. You must be sick for at least four or more consecutive days, including non-working days. This is called a period of incapacity for work (PIW). You must earn at least £123 per week on average before tax, which is the lower earnings limit for 2025/26. You must also follow your employer's rules for reporting sickness, such as notifying them within their deadline and providing a fit note after seven calendar days off.

Agency workers qualify if they have worked on an assignment for at least 12 weeks and meet the earnings test. Directors who pay themselves a low salary and take most income as dividends may fall below the £123 weekly threshold and fail to qualify for SSP, even though their total income is higher. If you are in that position, modelling your PAYE salary through a UK salary calculator shows whether your employed earnings clear the threshold.

Who does not qualify

Self-employed workers are not entitled to SSP. They may be able to claim Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) from the DWP instead. Workers who have already received 28 weeks of SSP for a linked period of sickness lose entitlement until the linking period ends. Employees who are off sick during a lawful strike are not entitled to SSP for those days. If your employer offers contractual sick pay that is equal to or higher than SSP, you receive the contractual amount instead, but the statutory rules still define the minimum.

Waiting days and qualifying days

SSP is not paid for the first three qualifying days in each period of sickness. Qualifying days are the days you would normally work. If you fall ill on a Monday and work Monday to Friday, the first three qualifying days are Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. SSP starts on Thursday. If you work Monday, Wednesday, and Friday only, the waiting days fall on those days in order.

The waiting days rule means a very short illness of three working days or fewer produces no SSP at all. A four-day illness produces one day of SSP in the first week. This catches people out when they expect payment from day one. Employers sometimes pay contractual sick pay from day one even when SSP does not start until day four.

How to calculate your SSP

The calculation is straightforward once you know how many weeks you will be off. Take the weekly rate of £118.75 and multiply by the number of weeks of SSP entitlement, adjusting for part-time work. Four full weeks of SSP at the full rate gives £475.00 before tax. Eight weeks gives £950.00. Twenty-eight weeks, the maximum, gives £3,325.00.

Remember that the first three qualifying days in each PIW are unpaid under SSP. For a full-time worker, that is roughly three-fifths of a week deducted from the first stretch of sickness. The SSP calculator gives a quick estimate based on your weekly earnings and the number of weeks you expect to be off. Use it alongside your payslip to see how SSP compares with your normal take-home pay.

Part-time example

A part-time employee works two days per week and earns £150 per week. She meets the earnings threshold. Her daily SSP rate is two-sevenths of £118.75, roughly £33.93 per qualifying day. After three waiting days, she receives SSP for remaining qualifying days in each week. Over four calendar weeks, her total SSP is lower than a full-time colleague because she has fewer qualifying days per week.

Fit notes and reporting sickness

You can self-certify for the first seven calendar days of sickness. After that, your employer can require a fit note (statement of fitness for work) from a GP or hospital doctor. The fit note may say you are not fit for work or may recommend amended duties. Your employer is not legally obliged to offer amended duties, but if they do not and you remain unfit for your normal role, SSP continues if other conditions are met.

Tell your employer as soon as you know you will be absent. Miss their deadline and they can refuse SSP for the days you reported late, even if you were genuinely ill. Check your contract and staff handbook for the specific reporting procedure. Most employers ask for a phone call on the first morning of absence.

Linked periods of sickness

If you return to work for four weeks or fewer and then fall sick again with a related condition, the two periods may link. Linked periods count towards the same 28-week SSP limit, and waiting days are not applied again if fewer than 56 weeks have passed since the first PIW. This prevents employees from resetting the clock by returning briefly between bouts of the same illness.

If you return for more than eight weeks, a new PIW generally starts fresh with new waiting days and a new 28-week entitlement. The rules on linking are detailed and depend on whether the absences are related. If you are approaching 28 weeks of SSP across linked periods, plan for what happens when statutory pay stops.

What happens when SSP ends

After 28 weeks of SSP, your employer stops paying statutory sick pay. You may be entitled to Employment and Support Allowance from the government if you are still unable to work. Your employer may dismiss you on capability grounds if you are no longer able to fulfil your role, but they must follow a fair procedure. Many employees move onto contractual sick pay arrangements, ill-health retirement, or reasonable adjustments before reaching that point.

If you are on a reduced income during a long illness, check whether you qualify for other support such as Universal Credit. SSP counts as income for means-tested benefits. The drop from a normal salary to £118.75 per week is substantial. Comparing your usual net pay with SSP using a salary calculator makes the gap clear and helps you plan household spending.

Employer reimbursement and record keeping

Employers with fewer than 250 employees can reclaim some SSP costs from HMRC under the SSP rebate scheme for certain absences. Larger employers bear the full cost themselves. Either way, SSP is administered through payroll. Your employer must issue payslips showing SSP payments and deductions. Keep your own records of sickness dates, fit notes, and correspondence in case of a dispute.

SSP vs contractual sick pay

Many UK employers pay full salary for a set number of sick days or weeks before SSP or a top-up policy applies. Contractual sick pay is a matter of contract, not statute. If your contract promises six months of full pay when sick, your employer must honour that regardless of the SSP rate. If your contract is silent, you receive SSP alone once waiting days have passed.

The gap between SSP and normal earnings is why sick pay insurance and employer schemes matter. At £118.75 per week, SSP replaces only a fraction of a typical UK salary. For directors and company owners, ensuring the business has adequate sick pay provisions for staff and a personal contingency plan for your own income is part of sound financial planning alongside tax-efficient remuneration structures covered in our dividend tax guide.