Understanding statutory sick pay

If your employee satisfies the qualifying conditions for statutory sick pay (SSP), you should work out how much SSP is due. You should then pay it on the same day that you would normally pay them their wages for the same period.

For the qualifying conditions, see what is statutory sick pay and who gets it?

SSP is paid at a daily rate. Only qualifying days (QDs) count for paying SSP. For more information on QDs, see when to start and stop statutory sick pay. Remember that you do not pay SSP for the first three QDs - the waiting days.

SSP calculator

You can work out the daily rate for your employee by dividing the weekly rate by the number of QDs in that week. For SSP purposes, the week always begins on a Sunday. In 2024-25, the weekly rate is £116.75 and applies from 6 April 2024 to 5 April 2025.

Calculate your employee's statutory sick pay.

It is worth noting that although the weekly rate is always the same, the fewer days your employee normally works, the higher the rate of SSP that is payable per QD, ie the daily rate for an employee working a three-day week will be higher than that of an employee working a five-day week.

Maximum SSP

The maximum entitlement is 28 weeks in each period - or series of linked periods - of incapacity to work.

You can calculate when you have paid 28 weeks' worth of SSP by keeping a running total of all SSP paid in a period or linked periods of sickness. You can use the SSP2 form to record periods of sickness and payment of SSP.