Free tool
UK statutory sick pay and parental pay calculator
Work out exactly what you owe an employee who is off sick, or on maternity, paternity, adoption or shared parental leave. 2026/27 rates, no sign-up, answer on the page.
Sick pay changed this year. Most calculators have not caught up.
SSP is no longer one flat rate. It is now £123.25 a week or 80% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. The three waiting days have gone, so it is payable from the first qualifying day, and the Lower Earnings Limit no longer gates it, so low earners now qualify where they did not before. If a page still quotes a flat rate and three waiting days, it is showing you last year.
You owe
£221.85
- Weekly rate
- £123.25
- Daily rate
- £24.65
- Weeks paid
- 1.8
This employee earns enough that the £123.25 weekly cap applies rather than the 80% of earnings figure.
The daily rate is the weekly rate divided across the days this employee normally works, so someone on three days a week has a higher daily rate than someone on five.
You cannot recover any of this from HMRC. Employer recovery of SSP was abolished in 2014.
2026/27 rates, checked against GOV.UK on 18 September 2026. This is a calculator, not advice on a specific case. Earnings periods, overlapping absences and contractual schemes can all change the answer.
How statutory pay works, briefly
Statutory pay is the floor, not the ceiling. Every UK employer has to pay at least these amounts to an eligible employee. You can pay more, and many employers do through a contractual sick pay or enhanced maternity scheme, but you cannot pay less and you cannot contract out of it.
Sick pay
For 2026/27, Statutory Sick Pay is £123.25 a week or 80% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. It runs for up to 28 weeks in a single period of sickness, and it is paid for the days the employee would normally have worked rather than for calendar days. That is why the daily rate depends on the shift pattern.
Two older rules have gone and are worth unlearning. There are no longer three unpaid waiting days at the start of an absence, and there is no longer a minimum earnings threshold to qualify. An employee who was too low paid for SSP last year may well be entitled to it now.
Maternity, paternity and the rest
The parental payments share one weekly cap of £194.32, always compared against 90% of the employee's earnings with the lower figure winning. Maternity and adoption pay open with six weeks at a straight 90% with no cap at all, which is the part employers most often forget to budget for. A senior employee's first six weeks can cost several times the remaining thirty-three.
Unlike sick pay, most of this comes back. An employer with a Class 1 National Insurance bill of £45,000 or less reclaims 109% of what they pay out, and a larger one reclaims 92%. The cliff edge to watch is the Lower Earnings Limit of £129 a week: below it, no statutory parental pay is due at all, and the employee goes to the DWP for Maternity Allowance instead.
Common questions
How much is Statutory Sick Pay in 2026?
For 2026/27, SSP is £123.25 a week or 80% of the employee's average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. It is no longer a flat rate for everybody, so a part-time employee will usually receive less than the headline figure.
Are there still three waiting days before SSP is paid?
No. The waiting-day rule has gone. SSP is now payable from the first qualifying day of sickness, and the eligibility test is simply that the employee has been ill for at least one full working day.
Does an employee have to earn a minimum amount to get SSP?
No. The Lower Earnings Limit no longer gates SSP, which is why low earners now qualify where they previously did not. The £129 a week Lower Earnings Limit still applies to the parental payments such as maternity and paternity pay.
Can an employer claim Statutory Sick Pay back from HMRC?
No. Employer recovery of SSP was abolished in 2014 and has not returned. SSP is a cost the employer carries in full. Small Employers' Relief applies to the parental payments only.
How much maternity pay does an employer actually get back?
Most of it. An employer whose Class 1 National Insurance bill for the last complete tax year was £45,000 or less can recover 109% of statutory parental payments under Small Employers' Relief. A larger employer recovers 92%.
How long is Statutory Maternity Pay paid for?
39 weeks, out of 52 weeks of leave. The first 6 weeks are paid at 90% of average weekly earnings with no cap, and the remaining 33 weeks at the statutory rate or 90% of earnings, whichever is lower. The final 13 weeks of leave are unpaid.
Or stop working it out by hand
HR Origin holds the absence, the earnings and the leave dates already, so the figure on this page is one the platform produces on its own, keeps current when the rates change each April, and evidences if anyone ever asks you to prove it.
See the platformStatutory pay calculator · tool 1.0 · rates 2026/27, verified 18 September 2026