Following the passing of the Employment Rights Bill and the Royal Ascent of the Employment Rights Act on Thursday 18th December 2025, one of the major changes are the new rights to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from Monday 6th April 2026 (Easter Monday).
The Statutory Sick Pay measures include:
Removing the Lower Earnings Limit to make Statutory Sick Pay available to all employees regardless of their weekly earnings.
The changes introduced by the Bill mean that the rate of Statutory Sick Pay will be 80% of an employee’s earnings or the uplifted flat rate of £123.25 whichever is lower.
Removing waiting days from the Statutory Sick Pay system and amending the Period of Incapacity for Work, so that eligible employees are entitled to Statutory Sick Pay from their first full day of sickness absence, rather than the fourth.
Inclusion of Statutory Sick Pay (including the current enforcement and disputes process) within a newly established single enforcement body – the Fair Work Agency.
Period of Incapacity for Work reduced to 1 day
From Monday 6th April 2026, eligible employees are entitled to SSP from their first full day of sickness absence, rather than the fourth. There are no waiting days and the PIW is no longer 4 days but 1 day..
Normal weekly earnings used for SSP determination?
An employee’s normal weekly earnings are usually based on the employee’s average earnings in the relevant period (earnings subject to Class 1 National Insurance).
The start of the relevant period is the last normal pay day to fall 8 weeks before the critical date. The critical date is the first day of the period of entitlement in relation to which a person’s normal weekly earnings fall to be determined. The end of the relevant period is the last normal payday to fall before the critical date.
Below LEL exclusion removed – SSP1 to be revised
Those off sick on 6th April 2026, or within a linked period thereafter, but who were not previously entitled to SSP due to earning below the £125 LEL, will be eligible for SSP from 6th April 2026 onwards even though the LEL has increased to £129.
As an example, an employee who currently earns below the LEL (e.g. £110pw) who is off sick on 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th April, would not be entitled to SSP prior to 6th April 2026, but will now be entitled to SSP on their qualifying days from Monday 6th April 2026 onwards. They would be due 2 days SSP under the new rules.
Any former form SSP1 exclusion for earnings below LEL is removed becoming null and void from 6th April 2026 even if this subsequent sickness links (the sickness is within 56 days of a prior PIW).
What average earnings for those who previously didn’t qualify?
The DWP policy teams indicate that they are currently working with lawyers to consider how average weekly earnings for those currently excluded earning below the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) and who are off sick in the relevant period become eligible for SSP from 6th April 2026 should be calculated. They indicate that they will update their guidance for software developers as soon as possible when these considerations have concluded.
The new 80% SSP rate
For those already in receipt of SSP before the 6th April 2026 who are in a continuous period of sickness, there are transitional protections in place which maintain the weekly SSP rate at the uplifted £125.25. Otherwise the following applies.
Under the new 80% average earnings calculation or £123.25, whichever is lower, those earning between £125 and £154.05 will now see a weekly rate which is lower than the maximum SSP rate of £123.25 for new periods of sickness from Monday 6th April 2026.
Those earning below the SSP weekly flat rate will be entitled to SSP at the rate of 80% of their AWE. Average weekly earnings, referred to as normal weekly earnings are defined in Regulation 19 of the Statutory Sick Pay (General) Regulations 1982.
What about fractions and rounding
When calculating SSP due, if the payment includes a fraction of a penny, the payment should be rounded up to the next whole number of pence.
For example:
Christopher works 5 days a week but his earnings vary depending on the hours he works.
He went off sick on 11th May 2026 for 4 days. His average weekly earnings in the relevant period and SSP rate is calculated as follows:
- Average weekly earnings in relevant period = £1,090.62 / 8 = £136.3275
- 80% of £136.3275 = £109.062
- Qualifying days per week = 5 days
- £109.062 / 5 = £21.8124
- Sickness days to be paid = 4o 4 x £21.8124 = £87.2496
- SSP payable rounded up = £87.25
As currently, the amount of SSP payable in respect of any day of sickness is the weekly rate divided by the number of days which are the employee’s qualifying days.
This means that if, for example, an employee’s SSP rate is £100.00 (based on 80% earnings) and they have 2 qualifying days per week they will be entitled to £50.00 if they are sick and unable to work on one of their qualifying days (and £100.00 if they are sick and unable to work on both their qualifying days) in that week.
Removal of Waiting Days
Under the old rules, the first 3 days of sickness would not qualify for SSP payment as they were waiting days.
An employee who has not completed their waiting days on 6th April 2026 will now be entitled to SSP on 6th April 2026 and onwards, where this is a qualifying day. If an employee, prior to the changes introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025 have been, on their 1st, 2nd or 3rd waiting day on 6th April 2026, they will be entitled to SSP from the 6th April 2026 and subsequently.
Employees who, prior to the amendments by the Employment Rights Act 2025, would have been serving waiting days on 6th April 2026
Samira earns £135 per week and goes off sick on 5th April 2026. 5th April 2026 is Day 1 of her SSP waiting days. She will be paid 80% of her average weekly earnings (because this is lower than the flat rate) from 6th April 2026 as waiting days no longer apply. SSP is therefore payable from Day 2 of her sickness absence until she returns to work, or her period of entitlement (e.g. 28 weeks) ends.
Samira will not be transitionally protected because she was not in receipt of SSP prior to 6th April because she was serving waiting days.
Samantha earns £200 per week and goes off sick on the 5th April 2026. 5th April 2026 is Day 1 of her SSP waiting days. She will receive the flat rate of SSP from 6th April 2026 (because this is lower than 80% of her average weekly earnings) as waiting days no longer apply. She will be paid SSP from Day 2 of sickness absence until she returns to work, or her period of entitlement (e.g. 28 weeks) ends.
What about sickness absence that links?
Sickness absence that does not have a gap of 56 days since a prior sickness links.
Where a Period of Incapacity for Work (PIW) is linked to prior PIW, the first Period of Incapacity for Work is used for the purposes of calculating average weekly earnings. Linked Periods of Incapacity for Work (i.e. within 8 weeks of the first) are treated as one.
Calculating 80% normal weekly earnings and application of linking periods
Amina earns £140 per week and goes off sick on 13th April 2026. Her AWE is £140pw in the 8-week relevant period and her SSP rate will be £112 per week (80% of her average weekly earnings). She returns to work on 4th May 2026 for two weeks then goes off sick again on 18th May 2026 for a further two weeks.
Because the gap between the two sickness periods is less than 56 days, the two spells of sickness link and are treated as one continuous PIW.
During her second spell of illness, rather than being paid 80% of her average earnings for the 8-week period before 18th May 2026, her entitlement remains the same as that calculated forher initial period of sickness (i.e. £112 per week). This is because where PIWs are linked, the first PIW should be used for the purposes of calculating average weekly earnings.
Ellis went off sick on 4th May 2026 for four days. His average weekly earnings over the 8‑week relevant period are £135pw, so his rate of SSP is £108 per week (80% of his average weekly earnings £135pw). Later that month Ellis receives a pay increase, raising his average weekly earnings to £165 per week. He then goes off sick again on 8th June 2026 for five days.
Because the gap between the two sickness periods is less than 56 days, the two spells of sickness link and are treated as one continuous PIW.
During his second spell of illness, rather than being paid 80% of his average earnings for the 8-week period before 8th June 2026, his entitlement remains the same as that calculated for his initial period of sickness (i.e. £108 per week), even though his earnings have since increased.
Ellis returns to work on 15th June 2026. On 20th November 2026 he goes off sick again. This time he has broken the 8 week linking period. As his average earnings in the relevant period prior to 20th November 2026 are £165 per week, his SSP rate during his November sickness absence is the SSP flat rate of £123.25. (This is because £123.25 is the lower of 80% of £165)
The following is the DWP guidance for Payroll and HR software developers.
DWP guidance
SSP Transitional Protections Guidance.pdfDownload
29/12/2025 PSP (with permission of PAYadvice Ltd)