SSP calculator: check whether someone qualifies and work out what they are owed.

Sick pay changed on 6 April 2026. The three waiting days have gone, the lower earnings limit has gone and people who never qualified before now do. This walks you through eligibility one question at a time, then does the sum.

£123.25 a week, or 80% of average weekly earnings if lower No waiting days No lower earnings limit Checked against GOV.UK on 7 September 2026

Why the numbers moved

What changed on 6 April 2026, and what it means for your payroll.

Three changes landed together. Each one costs money if your payroll or your policy still runs the old way.

The three waiting days have gone. SSP is payable from the first qualifying day of sickness. If your absence policy still says the first three days are unpaid, it is wrong and it is telling your managers to underpay people.

The lower earnings limit has gone. Staff who earned too little to qualify before now qualify. For them SSP is 80% of average weekly earnings rather than the flat rate, which is what this calculator works out.

Enforcement is changing. The Fair Work Agency launched on 7 April 2026 as the single enforcement body for pay. Holiday pay enforcement starts in 2027, and SSP enforcement is due to move to it although the date is not confirmed. Statutory payment disputes still go through HMRC for now.

The rest of the Employment Rights Act 2025 lands in stages to 2027. The full list, with what to do about each one, is on our employment law updates hub.

If the answer raised another question

Sick pay is usually the first thing people check. It is rarely the only thing.

If this calculator told you something you did not expect, the next question is normally about the policy behind it, or about the person who is off.

Employee Relations Support Someone off long term with no return date, or an absence pattern you have been avoiding. Triage call, the process, the letters and someone in the meeting with you.

£750 + VAT per case

HR Foundations Build Your sickness absence policy almost certainly still mentions waiting days. Contracts, handbook and the policies that need rewriting for the April 2026 rules.

From £1,800 + VAT

Retained HR Partner Someone who tracks these changes for you and answers the question before you have to go looking. Starts with HR Buddy for teams under five.

From £150 a month + VAT

HR Health Check Not sure what else is out of date. A structured review of your contracts, policies, records and practice, with the fixes in priority order.

£395 + VAT, credited against what comes next

First Hire Ready About to take on your first employee and working out what you owe them from day one. The contract, the documents and the checks, done once.

£595 + VAT

Pay as you go One question, one answer, nothing signed. £125 an hour, or £1,000 for ten hours to use within three months.

£125 an hour + VAT

More free tools on the Help Yourself page: the job advert guide, an HR compliance diagnostic and the employment law updates hub. Or read the new holiday pay record keeping rules, which changed on the same day.

Send us the one you are stuck on.

This tool handles the straightforward cases. Linked periods, someone who went home mid-shift, a director, a zero-hours worker with no fixed pattern: those are the ones worth a two-minute conversation rather than an evening on GOV.UK.

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All prices + VAT. This tool is general guidance, not legal advice, and it does not cover every situation. Rates and rules checked against GOV.UK on 7 September 2026. What If HR Ltd, Caterham, Surrey.