Statutory Sick Pay Calculator (2026/27)

Use the SSP calculator above

Pop in your normal working pattern and the days you have been off sick, and the tool estimates your Statutory Sick Pay for you. It is a sick pay calculator built for UK employees, so it handles waiting days and qualifying days automatically rather than leaving you to do the arithmetic by hand. Treat the figure as a guide and always check your own payslip and contract against it.

How Statutory Sick Pay works

SSP is paid by your employer through normal payroll, not by HMRC or the DWP. To qualify you generally need to be classed as an employee, be off sick for at least four days in a row (including non-working days), earn on average at least the Lower Earnings Limit, and tell your employer within their deadline. The weekly SSP rate and the Lower Earnings Limit are both set by the government each April, so check the current 2026/27 figures on gov.uk or read the result straight from the calculator above rather than relying on an old number.

A stretch of sickness of four or more days in a row is called a Period of Incapacity for Work. The catch most people miss is waiting days: the first three qualifying days you would normally have worked are unpaid for SSP purposes. You only start receiving SSP from the fourth qualifying day onwards. If two periods of sickness are eight weeks or less apart, they are usually linked, and you will not have to serve fresh waiting days the second time.

The daily amount is worked out from your weekly pattern. In plain words:

Daily SSP = weekly SSP rate ÷ number of qualifying days in your week.

Your qualifying days are the days you would normally have worked. So someone who works five days a week divides the weekly rate by five; someone who works three days divides by three, giving a higher daily figure but fewer paid days. Your weekly SSP then equals the daily amount multiplied by the qualifying days you were sick beyond the three waiting days. SSP can run for up to a maximum of 28 weeks in a single period of sickness.

Worked example: a five-day week

Imagine Priya, a warehouse supervisor who works Monday to Friday. Call the weekly SSP rate W (the figure set for 2026/27, which the calculator fills in for you). Her daily rate is W ÷ 5.

• She is signed off for two full working weeks, so 10 qualifying days.
• The first three qualifying days are waiting days and are unpaid.
• That leaves 7 paid qualifying days: 7 × (W ÷ 5) = 1.4 × W.
• So she receives the equivalent of about one and a half weeks of SSP across her two weeks off.

Now picture Tom, who only works Monday, Wednesday and Friday. His daily rate is W ÷ 3, which is higher per day. If he is off sick for two weeks (6 qualifying days), the first three are waiting days, leaving 3 paid days: 3 × (W ÷ 3) = exactly one week's SSP. The headline weekly rate is the same for both of them; the pattern just changes how it is split.

Tax and National Insurance on your sick pay

SSP counts as earnings, so it goes through PAYE like normal wages. If your total income for the year stays within your tax-free Personal Allowance of £12,570, no income tax is due on it. Above that, the basic rate of 20% applies in the usual way, and Class 1 National Insurance of 8% kicks in on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270. Because SSP is usually a lot lower than your normal salary, a spell on sick pay often pushes your monthly pay below the thresholds, so less tax and NI come off than in a full-pay month. You can sanity-check the take-home effect with our National Insurance calculator.

2026/27 figures that affect your SSP

SSP itself is a flat statutory rate set each tax year. The numbers below are the tax-treatment thresholds that decide how much, if any, is taken off it. The weekly SSP rate and Lower Earnings Limit change every April, so confirm them on gov.uk before relying on them.

Source: gov.uk Statutory Sick Pay, checked for the 2026/27 tax year. Unlike income tax, SSP does not change in Scotland — it is a single UK-wide statutory minimum, so the same rules apply whether you work in Glasgow, Cardiff, Belfast or London.

Who can and cannot claim SSP

You usually qualify if you are an employee who has done some work under your contract, has been sick for four or more days in a row, and earns at least the Lower Earnings Limit on average. You can claim even on a zero-hours or short contract as long as you meet the earnings test. You normally cannot get SSP if you are genuinely self-employed, if your average weekly earnings are below the Lower Earnings Limit, or if you are already getting certain other benefits such as Statutory Maternity Pay for the same period. If you are off to have a baby rather than because you are ill, check our maternity pay calculator instead, as different rules and a different rate apply.

What to do if you do not qualify

If you fall short of the Lower Earnings Limit or you are self-employed, SSP will not be available, but you are not necessarily left with nothing. You may be able to claim Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance instead, depending on your circumstances and savings. Your employer might also offer contractual (occupational) sick pay that is more generous than SSP — check your contract or staff handbook first, because where it exists it usually replaces or tops up the statutory amount. MoneyHelper has a useful plain-English overview at MoneyHelper sick pay guide.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Forgetting the three waiting days. A short illness of three days or fewer normally gets no SSP at all, which surprises people on their first short absence.
• Dividing by seven instead of your qualifying days. SSP is split across the days you actually work, not every day of the week, so part-timers should use their own working pattern.
• Assuming sick days are holiday. Annual leave keeps building up while you are off sick; you do not lose it. See our holiday entitlement calculator if you are planning a return.
• Thinking SSP is tax-free. It is taxable earnings, even though low-paid spells often mean little or no deduction in practice.
• Missing your employer's reporting deadline. Tell them within their stated time limit, or they can dock a day's SSP for late notice.

These figures are estimates for guidance only and are not personal tax or financial advice. Always confirm your entitlement with your employer's payroll team and the official gov.uk guidance.

Who should use this calculator

Statutory Sick Pay is the legal minimum an employer must pay when you are off sick. It is worth knowing exactly how modest it is: SSP is a flat weekly amount, unrelated to your normal earnings, and it is not paid for the first three qualifying days — the waiting days.

That combination means a week off sick on SSP alone typically pays very little. Many employers operate a contractual sick pay scheme that is far more generous, so the first thing to check is your contract or staff handbook rather than the statutory floor.

What this calculator assumes

• SSP is paid for qualifying days — the days you normally work — and the weekly rate is divided across them.
• The first 3 qualifying days are unpaid waiting days; SSP starts from the fourth.
• You must earn at least the lower earnings limit on average to qualify.
• SSP is payable for up to 28 weeks for any period of sickness.
• It is treated as earnings, so tax and National Insurance apply.

Limitations — what it does not cover

• Contractual sick pay, which many employers provide and which usually far exceeds SSP.
• Linked periods of sickness, where absences within 8 weeks join up and waiting days are not repeated.
• Fit notes, required after 7 calendar days of absence.
• Employment and Support Allowance, for those who do not qualify or whose SSP runs out.
• The self-employed, who get no SSP at all.
• Agency and zero-hours workers, where qualifying days depend on the working pattern.

Related calculators

Once you know your sick pay position, it often helps to see the bigger picture. Work out your normal monthly figure with our take-home pay calculator, plan ahead for a baby with the maternity pay calculator, or check what you would be owed if your job ends with the redundancy pay calculator.