Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)

The April 2026 reforms

The Employment Rights Act 2025 rewrote SSP's two most criticised features on 6 April 2026. The three unpaid waiting days are gone, so SSP now runs from the first qualifying day of absence, and the lower earnings limit is gone too, so low-paid and part-time workers qualify for the first time. The rate became the lower of £123.25 a week or 80% of average weekly earnings, which keeps payments proportionate for the lowest earners the reform brought into scope.

What employers should expect it to change

First-day payment removes the accidental incentive to soldier in for short illnesses, which is good news for infection control and bad news for anyone whose absence budget assumed three free days. UK absence data is likely to show more recorded short absences (previously invisible unpaid days) without the underlying behaviour necessarily worsening, so trend comparisons that span April 2026 need a footnote. Absence-scoring tools such as the Bradford factor also inherit the shift: more recorded spells means recalibrating trigger points rather than assuming staff suddenly got sicker.

SSP against its neighbours

Australia and New Zealand build sick pay into leave entitlements (10 days a year in both, accruing as paid personal or sick leave), where the UK runs a state-mandated minimum employer payment that most professional employers top up with occupational sick pay. The UK structure makes the gap between statutory minimum and actual practice unusually wide, which is why "what sick pay do you offer" remains a live differentiator in UK hiring where it is a non-question in Australia.