From 6 April 2026, statutory sick pay (SSP) is changing.

Waiting days no longer apply, and employees earning below the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) receive the relevant SSP amount for their pay.

Find out more about each of these aspects below.

Waiting days

In the 2025/2026 tax year and before, the first three days of an employee's new period of sickness absence were unpaid waiting days.

To qualify for SSP, the absence had to be four days long. The first three days were then unpaid as the waiting days, and the fourth day onwards were payable.

Payment from the start of the absence

From 6 April 2026, waiting days no longer apply.

Employees taking sickness absence receive the relevant SSP rate from the first day of their absence.

SSP eligibility and payment rate

In the 2025/2026 tax year and before, employees qualified for SSP if their weekly earnings were at or above the LEL.

If eligible, the amount of SSP payable was the standard weekly rate.

New payment rates

From 6 April 2026, the requirement for earnings to be at the LEL or above no longer applies, and all employees are eligible for SSP.

However, the rate of SSP employees receive will be the lower of either:

• The statutory weekly sick pay rate of £123.25, or
• 80% of their average weekly earnings

If 80% of an employee's average weekly earnings is below £123.25, their weekly SSP rate is below the standard rate.

For help with calculating an employee's new daily SSP rate, visit the calculate the SSP daily payment rate from 6 April 2026 article.

What's next?

The Sage 50 Payroll year end update, v32, is available now and it includes this new legislation. 

We recommend you install the update at your first opportunity.