SSP cost calculator for employers (2026 rules)
Since 6 April 2026, Statutory Sick Pay starts on day one for every employee. Enter someone's average weekly earnings and the length of the absence to see what it costs you.
The absence
2026-27 rules: SSP is payable from the first day of sickness, there is no earnings threshold, and the weekly rate is the lower of £123.25 or 80% of average weekly earnings. Payable for up to 28 weeks; employers cannot reclaim SSP from HMRC. Figures are gross.
From 6 April 2026, SSP is payable from day one of sickness at the lower of £123.25 a week or 80% of the employee's average weekly earnings. The old three “waiting days” and the earnings threshold are gone - every employee qualifies, and every short absence now has a direct payroll cost.
How is SSP calculated in 2026?
- Find the weekly rate: the lower of £123.25 or 80% of the employee's average weekly earnings. Someone averaging £450/week gets £123.25 (80% would be £360, so the cap applies). Someone averaging £120/week gets £96 (80% of £120).
- Convert to a daily rate: divide the weekly rate by the number of days the person normally works each week.
- Multiply by the sick days taken - from the very first day, up to 28 weeks.
The full detail of the April 2026 reforms - what changed, who's affected and what to update - is in our plain-English guide to the SSP changes.
What does day-one SSP mean for a small business?
Before April 2026, a Monday-and-Friday pattern of odd sick days often cost nothing in SSP because of waiting days. Now every single day costs the daily rate. For a five-day worker on average earnings that's £24.65 per sick day, unreclaimable. Ten scattered single days across a team of twenty is real money - which is why patterns matter more than totals. That's exactly what the Bradford Factor was designed to surface, and why fair self-certification rules and consistent return-to-work conversations are worth having in place.
Can employers reclaim SSP?
No. The old Percentage Threshold Scheme is long gone and the 2026 reforms did not bring reclaim back - SSP is an employer cost. Company sick pay schemes can be more generous than SSP, never less.
Who qualifies for SSP now?
Every employee, from their first day of sickness, regardless of earnings - the Lower Earnings Limit test was abolished in April 2026 (business.gov.uk). Agency and part-time employees qualify on the same basis. The 80% formula exists so that very low earners receive a proportionate amount rather than nothing, as before.
This calculator applies the statutory rules as published and shows its working, but it cannot know your contracts, your policies or anything unusual about the case. Treat the figure as a starting point, and take advice on anything contested or expensive.
Know what absence is costing you
CoDash logs sickness in one tap, emails the manager, stores fit notes against the record and scores patterns with the Bradford Factor automatically - so day-one SSP never catches you by surprise.