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What The Sick Pay Calculator Works Out
- Daily SSP rate: the weekly Statutory Sick Pay figure of GBP 123.25 (from April 2026) divided by the days you normally work, so GBP 24.65 a day on a five-day week and GBP 41.08 on a three-day week. SSP is only paid for days you would have worked.
- Total SSP: the daily rate multiplied by the working days off, up to the 28-week maximum. Since April 2026 SSP is due from the very first day off sick; the three unpaid "waiting days" were abolished.
- Weekly rate: GBP 123.25 a week for up to 28 weeks in any one spell of sickness, paid by your employer through payroll with tax and National Insurance deducted like normal pay. You do not need a fit note for the first 7 calendar days.
- Your normal pay (advanced): used for the comparison cards and for the April 2026 low-earner rule. Workers earning under about GBP 154 a week now qualify for SSP at 80% of their average weekly earnings instead of nothing, so the daily and weekly rates fall for them.
- Company sick pay (advanced): many employers pay occupational sick pay under contract, typically full pay for a number of weeks and then half pay, which replaces SSP on the days it covers. Check your contract or staff handbook; the "total pay while off sick" card takes the higher of the two for each day.
- Weeks of SSP already used (advanced): spells of sickness separated by 8 weeks or less link together and share one 28-week limit, so the card shows how many weeks remain. When SSP runs out your employer must give you form SSP1 and Universal Credit or New Style ESA take over.
- Lost pay (advanced): what you would normally have earned over the days off minus what you actually receive. SSP is a legal minimum: on GBP 500 a week it replaces under a quarter of pay.
- SSP as a share of normal pay and per hour (advanced): the flat weekly rate expressed against your own wage and your weekly hours, which shows why the same GBP 123.25 is a modest cut for a part-timer and a severe one for a full-time earner.
Source and further reading: GOV.UK: Statutory Sick Pay.