Solution Properties
Solution ID:
210326095059233
Last Modified Date:
Fri Apr 17 14:53:00 UTC 2026
Taxonomy Path:
Case category//How do I...//governmental/legislative compliance
Author:
[email protected]
When new statutory payment rates apply at year end from April 2026
Description

For the 2026/2027 tax year, the new rates for statutory payments are:

  • Statutory Sick Pay = £123.25 per week
  • Maternity/Paternity/Adoption/Shared Parental/Parental Bereavement/Neonatal Care = £194.32 per week

NOTE:

For Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), the new rate applies from 6 April each tax year. To find out more about when SSP reforms apply over year end, visit the SSP transitional guidance article.

Cause
Resolution

Changes from April 2026

In 2025 and before, new statutory payment rates took effect from the first Sunday in April. This year, that's Sunday 5 April.

However, the Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2026 means the new rates for most statutory parental payments now apply from 6 April instead.

To view the new legislation in full, go to legislation.Gov.UK.

Affected payments

This change affects all statutory parental payments, except maternity.

The list below confirms the affected payments:

  • Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP)
  • Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP)
  • Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP)
  • Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (SPBP)
  • Statutory Neonatal Care Pay (SNCP)

Confirmation after software release

The Department for Work and Pensions confirmed this change after we released Sage 50 Payroll v32.00.

This means that Sage 50 Payroll v32.00 applies the new rate of £194.32 per week a day early in some cases.

This only affects employees whose statutory parental pay began on a Sunday. If their parental pay began on any other day of the week, the new rate still applies from Monday 6 April, which v32.00 will calculate.

We're currently working on a software update to include this, so that your software can continue to calculate these payments for you.

To pay the correct amount, you can enter the required value using the manual entry steps below. If you'd like to view some examples, ▼ click here.

Incorrect rate calculates

You process an affected payment for an employee, in this example SPP, and their parental payment started on Sunday 29 March 2026.

Sage 50 Payroll v32.00 calculates the new weekly rate of £194.32 for their second week of SPP, from 5 April to 11 April.

Due to the new rules, this rate isn't correct for the week commencing 5 April anymore. The employee's correct SPP rate for 5 April to 11 April is the prior rate, £187.18.

Correct rate calculates

You process an affected payment for an employee, in this example SAP, and their parental payment started on Monday 30 March 2026.

Their second week of SAP begins on 6 April 2026, which is the date that the new rates now apply.

Your software correctly calculates the weekly rate of £194.32 for their second week of SAP, from 6 April to 12 April.

Similarly, if the employee's parental pay began on a Tuesday, your software correctly calculates the new rate for 7 April to 13 April. This pattern continues for the rest of the week.

As demonstrated between the examples above, Sunday is the only first day of leave that causes an incorrect calculation.

Manual entry

If you have any employees whose rate calculates incorrectly in your software due to the legislation change, you can process their payment manually.

For help with entering manual statutory payments, select the relevant link below:

After you process the parental payment for 5 April manually, you can ▼ switch back to automatic calculations if the employee is due further payments.

  1. Follow the relevant manual entry article above, but clear the 'manual entry' checkbox instead of selecting it.
  2. Double-click the relevant employee on your employee list.
  3. Go to the Employment tab, then the YTD Values button.
  4. Go to the Statutory Payments tab.
  5. Increase the Weeks Paid value for the relevant payment by the number of weeks you paid manually.
  6. Select OK.
  7. Select Save then Close.

Your software now continues to calculate the employee's statutory parental payment using the correct rate.

Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)

The date the new rate for SMP takes effect remains the same as in April 2025 and before. This means the rate changes from the first full statutory week of the employee's leave, after the first Sunday in April.

In 2026, the first Sunday in April is Sunday 5 April.

This means that the new statutory payment rates apply from the first full statutory week from 6 April 2026.

NOTE:

SMP is less than £194.32 per week if 90% of the employee's average weekly earnings is below £194.32. In this scenario the new SMP rate doesn't apply, and 90% of their gross weekly earnings continues to calculate.

What is a statutory week?

An employee's statutory week starts on the first day of their SMP, regardless of what day of the week that is. If different employees begin their SMP on different days, their statutory weeks begin on different days.

For example, if an employee begins SMP on a Friday, each statutory week begins on every subsequent Friday for them.

This means that the new rate of SMP applies to them from the first Friday after the first Sunday in April.

to view an example.

[BCB:451:Sales - new Sage HR:ECB]

 

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