What changed on 6 April 2026: day-one SSP
On 6 April 2026, Statutory Sick Pay changed more fundamentally than in any April uprating in living memory. Three old rules ended on the same day, under the Employment Rights Act 2025: the three unpaid waiting days, the four-day qualifying period, and the minimum earnings threshold. This page sets out the old rules, the new rules, and the practical consequences, because most confusion about SSP today comes from mixing the two systems.
Before and after, at a glance
Before 6 April 2026: sick 4 consecutive days including non-working days, first 3 qualifying days unpaid, average earnings at least the Lower Earnings Limit, flat weekly rate only. From 6 April 2026: sick at least one full working day, paid from the first qualifying day, no earnings threshold, weekly rate is the lower of £123.25 and 80% of average weekly earnings. The 28-week maximum and the fit-note rules did not change.
Change 1: waiting days abolished
Under the old system, the first 3 qualifying days of a sickness period were waiting days and were unpaid, so SSP started on the 4th qualifying day. A five-day worker off for a full week therefore lost three days' pay before SSP began. From 6 April 2026 there are no waiting days: SSP is payable from the first qualifying day of sickness, provided you meet the eligibility test and gave notice on time. Short absences that previously paid nothing — two or three days off — can now pay SSP.
Change 2: the four-day rule replaced by one full working day
Under the old system, sickness had to last 4 consecutive days, including weekends and other non-working days, to form a period of incapacity for work at all. A two-day illness, however genuine, did not qualify. From 6 April 2026 the threshold is at least one full working day. Note the word full: a day on which you worked for a minute or more before going home sick does not count, and a shift that ends the day after it started does not attract SSP for that shift if you became sick during it.
Change 3: the Lower Earnings Limit abolished, and the 80% rule
Under the old system, you had to earn at least the Lower Earnings Limit on average to qualify at all, which excluded many low-paid, part-time, and irregular-hours workers entirely. That threshold is abolished: earnings no longer decide whether you qualify. Instead, earnings now decide how much you get, through the 80% rule. If your average weekly earnings are low, you get 80% of them rather than the flat rate. The crossover sits at about £154.06 a week: at or above it, the flat £123.25 applies; below it, 80% of your earnings applies. Someone averaging £60 a week, previously excluded, now gets £48 a week.
What did not change
The 28-week maximum per period of sickness is unchanged. The fit-note position is unchanged: self-certification for the first 7 days, a fit note if you are off for more than 7 days in a row including non-working days. Linked periods still link when they are 8 weeks or less apart, and a continuous linked series lasting more than 3 years still ends eligibility. SSP is still paid by your employer through payroll, still taxed, and still requires form SSP1 when you do not qualify or when SSP ends.
Absences that straddle 6 April 2026
Transitional rules apply to sickness that began before 6 April 2026 and continued past it, and GOV.UK publishes specific guidance for absences starting before and ending on or after that date. The short version is that you should not assume the new rules automatically rewrite an absence that began under the old rules — ask your employer or payroll to check the transitional position for your dates, and keep your fit notes and notice records from before the change. If your employer applies the old waiting days to a fresh absence that began on or after 6 April 2026, that is an error to raise, first with the employer and then with HMRC if needed.