How to Calculate Statutory Sick Pay

Before any maths, confirm the employee is entitled. Under the rules on GOV.UK, an employee generally qualifies if they:

• are classed as an employee and have done some work under their contract
• have been sick for at least 4 days in a row, including non-working days
• follow your sickness reporting rules, as long as they are told to you within any deadline you set (or within 7 days if you have none)
• have not already used their full 28 weeks of SSP entitlement

Agency workers, part-timers and workers on zero-hours contracts can all qualify. If you are unsure, the eligibility checker on GOV.UK is the authoritative reference.

SSP is calculated around a period of incapacity for work (PIW): a run of 4 or more consecutive days of sickness, counting weekends, bank holidays and other non-working days. A 3-day absence does not create a PIW and no SSP is due.

Periods of sickness separated by 8 weeks or less link together and count as one PIW, which matters for the 28-week maximum. From 2026/27 there are no waiting days: once a PIW exists, SSP is payable from the first qualifying day of sickness rather than the fourth. If your payroll software still shows waiting days, check it is updated for the 2026/27 rules.

Average weekly earnings (AWE) are based on the employee's gross pay in a set look-back window — the relevant period. This is normally at least 8 weeks of earnings ending on the last normal payday before the first day of sickness.

To calculate AWE:

1. Add up all gross earnings in the relevant period — including overtime, commission and bonuses that attract Class 1 National Insurance.
2. Count the number of weeks (or part-weeks) the period covers.
3. Divide the total by that number of weeks.

For monthly-paid staff, GOV.UK guidance lets you convert by treating the relevant period in weeks — typically two months of pay divided by the matching number of weeks. AWE drives the 80% test in the next step, so keep the working on file.

For 2026/27 the SSP weekly rate is £123.25. However, if 80% of the employee's average weekly earnings is lower than £123.25, you pay that lower figure instead. This protects lower-paid and part-time staff from receiving more in sick pay than they would normally earn.

Example: an employee with AWE of £140 has 80% of £140 = £112, so their weekly SSP is £112, not £123.25.

SSP is only paid for qualifying days — the days of the week the employee normally works. For a standard Monday-to-Friday employee there are 5 qualifying days; a part-timer working Tuesday–Thursday has 3.

The daily SSP rate is the weekly rate divided by the number of qualifying days:

You then pay the daily rate for each qualifying day that falls within the sickness period. Days the employee would not have worked anyway are excluded from payment but still count towards the 4-day PIW test.

An employee earning average weekly pay of £350 works Monday to Friday and is off sick from Monday 8 June to Saturday 13 June 2026. Step by step:

1. PIW check: 6 consecutive days of sickness → 4-day test met.
2. Waiting days: none apply from 2026/27 → SSP runs from day one.
3. 80% of £350 = £280 → above £123.25 → weekly rate = £123.25.
4. Daily rate: £123.25 ÷ 5 qualifying days = £24.65.
5. Sick qualifying days: Monday–Friday = 5 days (Saturday not a qualifying day).
6. Total SSP due: 5 × £24.65 = £123.25.

If the same employee had AWE of £140, the weekly rate would be 80% of £140 = £112, the daily rate £22.40, and the payment 5 × £22.40 = £112.

An employee earning AWE of £140 works 3 qualifying days (Tue–Thu) and is off sick for 4 qualifying days.

1. 80% of AWE = 80% × £140 = £112/week (below £123.25).
2. Daily rate = £112 ÷ 3 = £37.33.
3. SSP due = 4 days × £37.33 = £149.32.

This shows why the 80% AWE cap matters: a lower earner on fewer qualifying days gets a higher daily rate but a lower weekly total.

SSP is paid through payroll on the employee's normal payday and is treated as earnings: deduct income tax and employee National Insurance, and add employer NI at 15% above the £5,000 secondary threshold in the usual way. Employees can self-certify for the first 7 calendar days; after that you can ask for a fit note.

HMRC expects you to keep records of each sickness absence, the PIW dates, qualifying days and every SSP payment, and to include SSP in your Full Payment Submission. Unlike Statutory Maternity Pay — where employers recover 92%, or 109% if total Class 1 NI is £45,000 or less — SSP cannot be recovered from HMRC. It is a straight employer cost, which is why accurate calculation matters.

The errors that most often trigger disputes or HMRC queries:

• Still deducting 3 waiting days — these were removed from the 2026/27 tax year.
• Paying the flat £123.25 to low earners without applying the 80% of AWE cap.
• Paying SSP for non-qualifying days, or ignoring linked sickness periods within 8 weeks.
• Paying beyond the 28-week maximum instead of issuing form SSP1 so the employee can claim other support (Universal Credit or ESA).
• Trying to reclaim SSP from HMRC — the recovery scheme that exists for maternity and other statutory payments does not cover SSP.

You can sanity-check any calculation against the SSP calculator on this site before running payroll.

The weekly SSP rate is the same for everyone, but the daily rate depends on how many days a week the employee is contracted to work. A part-time worker on three days a week receives more per day than a full-time worker on five days, because the same weekly SSP total is spread over fewer qualifying days.

Where 80% of average weekly earnings is lower than £123.25, the lower figure is used across the week. A low earner on £120 a week AWE, for example, would receive £96 a week in SSP — or £19.20 per day on a five-day pattern.

Start with worker status and earnings. If the person is an employee and average weekly earnings meet the Lower Earnings Limit, check whether there is a period of incapacity for work and identify qualifying days. Then check linked periods, maximum entitlement used, fit-note evidence and exclusions. Pregnancy-related sickness, new starters, TUPE transfers, hospitalisation and employees with more than one job can all need extra checks before payroll finalises SSP.

Employees must tell the employer they are sick within the employer’s notice rules, or within seven days if there is no rule. A fit note is usually needed after seven calendar days. Employers should keep absence dates, qualifying days, SSP paid, linked periods, reasons for non-payment, and copies of SSP1 where issued. Good records protect both payroll and HR if the employee challenges the calculation.

Where 80% of average weekly earnings is below the statutory weekly SSP rate, the lower 80% amount applies. For example, if average weekly earnings are £140, 80% is £112, so the weekly SSP payable is £112 rather than the headline statutory rate. This matters for part-time and low-paid workers and should be checked before using a standard daily SSP rate.