Statutory Sick Pay Calculation Uk

Estimate SSP entitlement using current UK rules, waiting days, qualifying days, and weekly earnings checks.

Qualifying work days (normal work pattern)

Complete Guide to Statutory Sick Pay Calculation in the UK

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is one of the most important payroll protections in the UK. If you are an employee and become too unwell to work, SSP is the legal minimum your employer may need to pay, as long as eligibility rules are met. For employers, getting the SSP calculation right is a compliance requirement. For workers, understanding the numbers helps you plan household finances during sickness absence and challenge errors quickly if a payslip looks wrong.

This guide explains exactly how SSP works, how to calculate it step by step, and what can change the amount you receive. The calculator above gives a practical estimate, while this article gives the legal context you need to understand each figure.

What is SSP and who pays it?

SSP is paid by your employer through payroll, usually on the same schedule as normal wages. It is not normally paid by HMRC directly. SSP is taxable income and subject to National Insurance in the usual way. Employers can pay more than SSP under a company sick pay policy, but they cannot pay less than the legal minimum when eligibility is satisfied.

Core eligibility rules

• You must be classed as an employee and have done some work for your employer.
• Your average weekly earnings must be at least the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) for National Insurance.
• You must be off sick for at least 4 days in a row, including non-working days.
• You must tell your employer within any notification deadline in your contract or policy.
• You can receive SSP for up to 28 weeks in one period of incapacity for work.

If your earnings are below the LEL, SSP is usually not payable. In that case, employees may need form SSP1 from their employer and may be able to claim other support such as Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), depending on circumstances.

How SSP calculation works in practice

There are five moving parts in most SSP calculations:

1. Weekly SSP rate for the tax year.
2. Average weekly earnings compared with the LEL.
3. Qualifying days, the days you normally work.
4. Waiting days, usually the first 3 qualifying days of sickness, unpaid.
5. Total qualifying sick days in the absence period, capped by the 28-week limit.

The payroll formula is generally:

Daily SSP rate = Weekly SSP rate ÷ qualifying days per week
Payable SSP days = qualifying sick days minus waiting days
Total SSP = daily SSP rate × payable SSP days

For many workers, qualifying days are Monday to Friday, giving 5 qualifying days per week. If weekly SSP is £116.75, daily SSP is £23.35. If someone has 15 qualifying sick days and 3 are waiting days, 12 are payable. Total SSP would be £280.20.

Recent SSP rates and reference earnings threshold

Rates change over time, so payroll period matters. Below is a recent summary of SSP weekly rates and the LEL used for eligibility checks.

Tax Year	Weekly SSP Rate	Lower Earnings Limit (LEL)	Notes
2022/23	£99.35	£123	Standard SSP increase from prior year
2023/24	£109.40	£123	Significant uplift to weekly SSP
2024/25	£116.75	£123	Current widely used payroll benchmark

Always check current official rates because they can be revised each tax year. For official guidance and updates, use UK Government pages such as GOV.UK Statutory Sick Pay and HMRC employer guidance.

Waiting days explained clearly

The first 3 qualifying days in a period of sickness are usually waiting days, meaning no SSP for those days. A common misunderstanding is that these are always calendar days. They are not. They are qualifying days, so your work pattern drives the count.

Example: if you normally work Monday to Friday and are sick from Monday to next Tuesday, your qualifying sick days are 7 (Mon-Fri + Mon-Tue). First 3 qualifying days are waiting days. SSP is paid for 4 qualifying days.

Linked periods can remove waiting days. If another sickness period starts within the linking window and legal conditions are met, waiting days may already be treated as served.

Real-world absence context: UK sickness statistics

Understanding broader absence trends helps employers budget and helps workers compare their own experience with national patterns. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows sickness absence levels changed materially around and after the pandemic period.

Year	Estimated UK sickness absence rate	Commentary
2019	2.0%	Pre-pandemic baseline level
2020	1.8%	Lower measured rate influenced by labor-market effects
2022	2.6%	Highest UK rate seen for many years
2023	2.0%	Return close to pre-pandemic baseline

These data points are useful for HR planning, but each employee case should still be calculated individually under SSP rules. Source data can be reviewed in ONS labor market publications: ons.gov.uk.

Step-by-step method you can audit

1. Confirm tax year and weekly SSP rate.
2. Check average weekly earnings against the LEL.
3. Define qualifying work days (for example Mon-Fri).
4. Count qualifying sick days between start and end dates.
5. Apply waiting days unless linked period rules remove them.
6. Calculate daily SSP using weekly rate divided by qualifying days per week.
7. Multiply payable days by daily rate and apply 28-week cap if relevant.
8. Record result and keep payroll evidence.

Common mistakes in SSP payroll

• Using calendar days instead of qualifying days for waiting day logic.
• Forgetting to reassess linked periods and duplicate waiting days.
• Failing to update annual SSP rates in payroll settings.
• Ignoring the earnings eligibility check before paying SSP.
• Applying one daily rate to staff with different qualifying day patterns.

Employee rights, documents, and dispute prevention

If SSP is refused, employers should normally explain why and provide the right paperwork (for example SSP1 where applicable). Employees should keep copies of fit notes, communication timestamps, and payslips showing sickness periods. Most disputes are resolved quickly when both sides use the same calculation framework and dates.

For authoritative policy detail, consult:

• GOV.UK: Statutory Sick Pay (employee and employer guidance)
• GOV.UK: Employers and sick pay
• ACAS: Checking sick pay rights

How this calculator helps

The calculator on this page gives a practical estimate by combining tax-year SSP rates, earnings eligibility, qualifying day patterns, waiting day logic, and date-based day counting. It is ideal for:

• Employees checking if their payslip looks reasonable.
• Small employers doing a quick draft calculation before payroll finalization.
• HR teams who want a transparent pre-check before running full software payroll.

Important limitations

No online tool can replace professional payroll advice in complex cases. Edge cases include irregular work patterns, linked absences across multiple periods, overlapping contractual sick pay schemes, and statutory changes after budget announcements. Use this output as an estimate, then verify with current government guidance and your payroll professional.

Final takeaway

UK SSP calculation is straightforward once you isolate the right variables: weekly rate, earnings threshold, qualifying days, waiting days, and total eligible period. Most errors happen when one of those variables is skipped. If you keep those five checkpoints in order, your SSP estimate will usually be close to payroll reality and much easier to validate.