izharshah.com/tools/statutory-sick-pay-calculator · The Parallel Operator · Statutory sick pay calculator · Rules and rate from 6 April 2026, checked against GOV.UK 20 September 2026
Statutory sick pay: what you are actually owed
Two rules that stopped almost everyone getting sick pay were scrapped on 6 April 2026. There are no waiting days, so you are paid from the first qualifying day, and there is no minimum you must earn to qualify. Enter your absence to see what you are owed under the rules as they are now.
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How this calculator works
Two rules ended on 6 April 2026, and most of the internet has not caught up. There are no waiting days any more: sick pay starts on the first qualifying day you are off, not the fourth. And the Lower Earnings Limit was removed, so there is no longer any minimum you must earn before you qualify. If you have read anywhere that you must wait three days or earn at least £125 a week, that was the old regime. This calculator applies the rules as they are now, and refuses to answer for an absence that began before 6 April 2026, because a sickness that spans that date is handled by its own GOV.UK guidance.
The rate is whichever is lower: £123.25 a week, or 80% of your average weekly earnings. That second half is new, and it cuts both ways. If you earn above about £154 a week you get the flat £123.25, exactly as before. Below that, you get 80% of what you earn, which is less than the flat rate but more than the nothing you would have received before the earnings test was removed. The switchover sits at £123.25 divided by 0.8, which is £154.06 a week.
Only the days you normally work count. These are your qualifying days, and the way employers work the figure out is to divide the weekly rate by them and round to the penny, which is exactly what this page does. The weekly rate is divided by how many you have, so someone working two days a week has a much larger daily rate than someone working five, and a week off sick pays the same weekly total either way. A sickness that falls entirely on days you do not work pays nothing, even though the absence is real. Bank holidays you would normally have worked still count.
Twenty-eight weeks is the limit, and it carries across linked absences. Two periods of sickness separated by eight weeks or less count as one, so the clock does not reset. A gap of 57 days or more breaks the link and starts a fresh 28 weeks. At the flat rate, 28 weeks comes to £3,451, though that total is simply 28 times the weekly rate rather than a figure GOV.UK publishes.
Who gets it, and what is not covered here. Agency workers may be entitled to statutory sick pay, which is worth saying because it is widely assumed they are not. You cannot get it while you are getting Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance, nor for a pregnancy-related illness in the four weeks before your baby is due, nor if you have had Employment and Support Allowance in the 12 weeks before starting the job. This page does not cover contractual sick pay above the statutory minimum, which many employers offer; it does not work out the tax and National Insurance that come off; and where your absence links to an earlier one your average weekly earnings are fixed by that first absence, which this tool cannot know. It is guidance, not advice.
Questions people ask about statutory sick pay
How much is statutory sick pay a week in 2026?
£123.25 a week, or 80% of your average weekly earnings if that comes to less. The 80% rule only bites below about £154.06 a week, so most people get the flat £123.25. It is paid by your employer for up to 28 weeks, like normal wages, with tax and National Insurance taken off.
Do you still have to wait 3 days to get sick pay?
No. Waiting days were abolished on 6 April 2026. Statutory sick pay is now paid from the first qualifying day you are off sick. Guidance and calculators still saying you are unpaid for the first three days are describing the rules as they were before that date.
Can I get sick pay if I earn less than £125 a week?
Yes. The Lower Earnings Limit was removed for sick pay on 6 April 2026, so there is no minimum you have to earn. You get 80% of your average weekly earnings. On £100 a week that is £80 a week, where before the change you would have received nothing at all.
How long can you be off sick and still get statutory sick pay?
Up to 28 weeks. Absences separated by eight weeks or less are linked and count together towards that 28, so a run of short absences can use it up. A gap of 57 days or more starts a fresh 28 weeks. When it runs out your employer must give you form SSP1.
How is statutory sick pay worked out if you work part time?
The weekly rate is divided by the number of days you normally work, so a three-day week gives a daily rate of a third of the weekly rate rather than a fifth. A full week off pays the same as it would for a full-time worker. Only the days you would have worked are paid.
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Guidance only, not legal or employment advice. Your employer works the figure out from the pay actually on your payslips, so it can differ from an estimate made from your usual salary. If your employer says you are not entitled they must give you form SSP1 so you can claim Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance instead.
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