Statutory sick pay calculator, 2026/27
For employers handling staff absence, this calculator works out Statutory Sick Pay for 2026/27 based on the number of qualifying sick days, reflecting the removal of the lower earnings limit condition and waiting days.
The statutory sick pay calculator runs on the rates and thresholds HMRC has published for the 2026/27 tax year, so the figures you see reflect the position your company is actually filing on rather than a historic set of bands. Change any input and the result recalculates immediately, with no sign-up and nothing sent anywhere.
If you are a director of a UK limited company, use it as a first look before a decision rather than as the decision itself. SSP is payable from day one of sickness for 2026/27, with the lower earnings limit condition removed, following recent statutory sick pay reforms. Real company positions bring in other income, reliefs, group structures and prior year adjustments that a single page of inputs cannot see, which is why the workings are written out below under payroll, paye & employment. Read those, then check the numbers against your own accounts, and speak to us if anything looks materially different from what you expected.
Last reviewed 12 September 2026 for the 2026/27 tax year. Reviewed by Waqas Sagar, Member of ICAEW, Fellow of ACCA, Fellow of AAT.
Regulated by
Regulated & AML supervisor
AAT fellow member
Xero Gold PartnerCertified advisor
QuickBooks PartnerCertified ProAdvisor100+ yearsCombined team experienceFully insuredUp to £2m indemnityStatutory sick pay calculator
Result, 2026/27
Total SSP due
Daily SSP rate
Weekly SSP rate
Equivalent weeks off sick
SSP is payable for up to 28 weeksIllustration only, figures are based on the rates you have selected and the information entered. Please check your own position with us before acting.
Estimates for the 2026/27 tax year using published GOV.UK rates. Switch between 2026/27 and 2025/26 above.
How this is calculated
Statutory Sick Pay is calculated by dividing the weekly SSP rate for 2026/27 by the number of qualifying days the employee normally works in a week, giving a daily rate, then multiplying that by the actual number of qualifying sick days taken. Recent reforms removed both the three-day waiting period and the lower earnings limit condition, meaning SSP is now payable from the very first qualifying day of sickness for eligible employees, regardless of how little they earn, subject to the percentage of earnings rule for lower earners under current legislation.
SSP is capped at a maximum of 28 weeks for any single period of incapacity for work, and separate periods of sickness within a set number of days of each other can be linked together and treated as one period for this 28-week limit.
Qualifying days and linked periods
Only 'qualifying days', the days an employee normally works, count towards SSP, so someone working a three-day week only accrues and is paid SSP for those three days, not for the days they would not normally have worked anyway. Employers must agree qualifying days with employees, usually matching their normal contracted working pattern, and set this out clearly in the sickness policy.
If an employee has multiple short periods of sickness within a defined period of each other, these are linked together for SSP purposes, which affects both the calculation of average weekly earnings and the point at which the 28-week maximum is reached.
Employer responsibilities
Employers must keep records of SSP paid and the reasons for it, and cannot generally recover SSP costs from HMRC except in limited historic circumstances, meaning it is a genuine cost to the business rather than a recoverable statutory payment like SMP. Many employers choose to offer enhanced contractual sick pay above the statutory minimum as part of their overall staff benefits package.
What this means for your company
Treat the result as a planning figure for the 2026/27 tax year. If it changes what you were about to do, take a director's salary, a dividend, a large asset purchase or a filing decision, check it against your own accounts first. We can review the position with you and confirm the tax treatment before you commit.
Frequently asked questions
Is SSP payable from the first day of sickness?
Yes, under current reforms SSP is payable from day one of a qualifying sickness absence for 2026/27, removing the previous three-day waiting period that used to apply.
Do employees need to earn a minimum amount to qualify for SSP?
The lower earnings limit condition has been removed, widening SSP eligibility, though a percentage-based calculation may apply for the lowest earners under current legislation, so it is worth checking individual circumstances carefully.
How long can an employee receive SSP for?
SSP is payable for a maximum of 28 weeks within any single, or linked, period of incapacity for work, after which the employee may need to claim Employment and Support Allowance if still unable to work.
Can employers recover the cost of SSP from HMRC?
Generally no. Standard SSP is a cost borne by the employer and is not routinely recoverable from HMRC, unlike statutory maternity, paternity or adoption pay, which usually can be recovered in large part.
Keep going
Related calculators
Same rates, different question.
Statutory maternity pay calculator
Estimate Statutory Maternity Pay for 2026/27, covering the 90% first six weeks and the standard weekly rate for the following 33 weeks.
CalculatorStatutory paternity pay calculator
Estimate Statutory Paternity Pay for 2026/27 over one or two weeks, using average weekly earnings and the standard statutory weekly rate.
CalculatorRedundancy pay calculator
Calculate statutory redundancy pay for 2026/27 based on age, length of service and weekly pay, including the tax-free treatment up to £30,000.
CalculatorZero hours pay calculator
Estimate monthly and annual pay for a zero hours contract in 2026/27 based on average weekly hours, plus rolled-up holiday pay entitlement.