Employment Law Guide 2026: Statutory sick pay

The cost of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will increase for employers from April 2026 as more employees will qualify for payments following changes made by the ERA 2025. The ERA 2025 removes the current three-day waiting period, so employees will qualify for SSP from their first day of sickness absence. The lower earnings limit will also be removed so that employees qualify for SSP irrespective of how much they earn. For employees earning below the lower earnings limit, the rate of SSP will be set at 80% of the employee’s earnings up to the SSP flat weekly statutory rate.

The Government has also confirmed that the weekly rate of SSP will increase to £123.25 (up from £118.75) in April 2026.

Implications/Action points

• This change will significantly increase sickness absence costs for employers
• Employers will need to focus more rigorously on absence management processes
• Review sickness policies and revisit company sick pay schemes.