Statutory Sick Pay changes 2026: preparing for “Day One” rights

If you are an employer, you’ll almost certainly have heard of the Statutory Sick Pay changes 2026 has in store. In short, the changes – introduced by The Employment Rights Act 2025 – tilt the regulations in favour of employees, and it’s important for employers to be prepared.

For decades, Statutory Sick Pay has come with two built-in limiters:

• A buffer – the first three qualifying days of sickness were usually unpaid (the “waiting days”)
• A floor – employees generally needed to earn above a minimum weekly amount (the Lower Earnings Limit) to qualify

After 6th April 2026, both of these conditions will have been removed. From then SSP becomes payable from day one. Eligibility also widens to cover many more low-paid and part-time workers.

If you have a small business and you run your own payroll or manage your own HR processes, you’re not just looking at a policy change. These Statutory Sick Pay changes affect your costs, calculations, contracts and absence reporting. If you don’t introduce them correctly, you risk underpayments, disputes and extra admin at the worst possible time.

This blog post explains how SSP works in principle, then sets out the new rules for April 2026 to help you update your processes with confidence.

The 3 major changes arriving in April 2026

1) Waiting days are abolished and SSP becomes a day-one right

Current rule (until 5th April 2026): SSP is usually paid from the fourth qualifying day of sickness. The first three qualifying days are waiting days and are unpaid.

New rule (from 6th April 2026): SSP will be payable from the first qualifying day of absence.

Why this matters to employers. Waiting days have acted as a disincentive for short absences. Once they’re removed, the business cost of “two-day colds” and other brief illnesses will rise. This will be particularly true for teams with high exposure to seasonal bugs, employees in customer-facing roles, or workplaces where illness spreads easily.

The day-one rule also means your absence processes need to be reviewed and tightened up. If sick pay is due from day one, you need to clarify what counts as a qualifying day, when your employees must report, as well as how evidence is handled.

2) More qualify as the Lower Earnings Limit is removed

Current rule (until 5th April 2026): employees generally need to earn at least the Lower Earnings Limit (around £123 – £125 per week, depending on the year) to qualify for SSP.

New rule (from 6th April 2026): the Lower Earnings Limit is scrapped for SSP eligibility.

Why this matters to employers. This change expands Statutory Sick Pay rights to many workers who were previously outside the system. These include:

• Part-time staff with low weekly earnings
• Casual workers
• Some zero-hours workers (although this depends on working patterns and entitlement rules)
• Employees who work limited hours for multiple employers

3) A new SSP calculation for low earners

SSP has traditionally been a flat weekly rate. This wouldn’t work for many low earners, otherwise their SSP would exceed their normal weekly earnings.

To address this issue, from April 2026:

• The standard SSP rate is expected to be £123.25 per week
• For employees whose earnings are below the flat rate, SSP will be 80% of their Average Weekly Earnings (AWE)

In other words, SSP becomes the lower of:

• £123.25 per week, and
• 80% of AWE

Simple examples:

• If an employee earns £100 per week, SSP would be £80 per week (80% of £100).
• If an employee earns £300 per week, SSP would be £123.25 per week (the flat rate cap).

This is the change that could easily catch employers out. This is because it introduces a new calculation path for low-paid staff. Even if your payroll software updates automatically, you still need to understand what it’s doing, and you need a process for checking that it’s right.

Employer actions checklist

You don’t need to panic about the Statutory Sick Pay changes, but you do need to prepare. Here’s what we recommend employers do ahead of April 2026.

Review employment contracts and policies.
Look for any wording that references “waiting days”, “three days unpaid”, or earnings thresholds for SSP. If your documents don’t conform with the new rules, you could potentially create confusion and disputes when absence occurs.

Check your payroll setup and software updates.
Make sure your payroll system is ready for:

• Day-one SSP for qualifying absences
• The 80% of AWE calculation for low earners
• Correct handling of qualifying days (which vary depending on working patterns)

Do not assume “the software will sort it”. Most errors we see come from misapplied settings, misclassified work patterns or inconsistent absence data.

Budget for higher SSP costs.
SSP is a direct cost to your business. Employers with high sickness rates, which offer physically demanding roles, or have a large part-time workforce could see a noticeable increase in SSP.

Tighten absence reporting rules.
With day-one payments, your reporting process becomes even more important. For example, you need to:

• Require employees to report sickness by a set time
• Specify who they must contact (and how) in the event of sickness
• Clearly document when either self-certification applies or when evidence is required
• Ensure managers log all absences consistently – otherwise your payroll will be fed inaccurate data

A good rule of thumb: if your current process relies on informal texts and after-the-fact updates, April 2026 is when that starts to hurt.

What isn’t changing

While SSP eligibility and timing change, several fundamentals remain the same.

1. Maximum duration. SSP is still paid for up to 28 weeks (assuming the employee remains eligible).
2. Fit notes. You can still require medical evidence (a fit note) for absences over 7 days.
3. Qualifying days. SSP is paid only for qualifying days, which are normally the days an employee works (or is required to be available for work) under their arrangement. It is not automatically paid for weekends or rest days unless those are qualifying days for that person.

Common questions employers are asking about Statutory Sick Pay changes in 2026

Is SSP really payable from the first day of sickness now?

From the 6th April 2026, SSP is due from the first qualifying day of sickness absence. That removes the previous three waiting days that often acted as a buffer for short absences.

What counts as a “qualifying day”?

A qualifying day is normally a day the employee is required to work (or is treated as a working day under their agreement). SSP is only payable for qualifying days, which is why working patterns and contract terms matter.

Do part-time and low-hours staff qualify even if they earn very little?

From April 2026 the Lower Earnings Limit is removed for SSP eligibility. That means many part-time and low-hours staff who previously fell below the earnings threshold can become eligible.

What about zero-hours workers?

The reforms widen eligibility, but SSP still depends on entitlement rules and qualifying days. Zero-hours arrangements can be more complex because work patterns vary, so it’s important that your payroll and HR process can correctly identify when SSP is due.

If someone earns less than the SSP rate, do we still pay the full amount?

No. From April 2026, if someone’s earnings are below the flat SSP rate, SSP is calculated as 80% of Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) instead. You pay the lower of the flat rate and 80% of AWE.

Can we require a fit note from day one?

In most cases, fit notes still apply after seven days of sickness absence. You can, however, require employees to follow your absence reporting procedure from day one (for example, calling in by a certain time) and to self-certify where appropriate.

Is SSP refundable by the government?

No. SSP is a cost to you as an employer. It is not recoverable. This is why budgeting and careful management of absences will matter more from the moment that day-one payments apply.

What should we do now to avoid problems in April 2026?

For now, you should review your contract and policy wording, check your payroll settings and software updates, and tighten absence reporting so that your payroll receives clean, consistent data. If you want to reduce risk and admin, outsourcing your payroll can help significantly.

Statutory Sick Pay changes – what next?

From April 2026, the SSP safety net widens and the administrative burden on employers grows. More employees qualify, short absences start costing money immediately, and low-earner calculations become more common.

If you’re unsure whether your payroll is ready for April 2026, THP’s outsourced payroll service can handle the calculations for you. We’ll help you get the settings, process, and compliance right so underpayments don’t catch you out. Get in touch with our friendly team today.