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Statutory sick pay, or SSP, is the minimum you must legally be paid if you're off sick from work.
SSP is paid to employees of companies in the UK, who are off sick for at least four days in a row. Some employers offer more generous sick pay policies, often known as company sick pay. But even if they don't offer a company sick pay policy, they must pay you statutory sick pay.
While you're on sick leave, the standard weekly rate for SSP from April 2025 is £118.75 a week, payable for up to 28 weeks. Sick pay is usually paid on your normal monthly or weekly payday.
As statutory sick pay is likely to be far lower than your usual salary, if your employer doesn't offer a generous company scheme you may want to consider an income protection insurance policy to cover your salary if you're unable to work because of illness or accident.
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If you're an employee of a company, you're usually entitled to statutory sick pay (SSP) in the following circumstances:
SSP is not means tested, so your savings and other income won't be taken into account when calculating the sick pay you'll receive.
You have to be off work for at least four days before receiving SSP. Statutory sick pay isn't usually paid for the first three days you're off, unless you've already received SSP in the last eight weeks and are now eligible for it again.
Yes. And many employers pay out more than the statutory minimum. Some company sick pay policies also pay out for longer than 28 weeks. You'll find details of your company sick pay entitlement in your written statement of employment, which you should receive within two months of starting work. Agency workers qualify for SSP.
You're not eligible for SSP if you're receiving statutory maternity, paternity, adoption or additional paternity pay.
Your employer pays you sick pay. If you do not qualify for SSP your employer must send you form SSP1 within seven days of you going off sick.
Usually yes. Statutory sick pay is treated as earned income, so you'll have to pay both income tax and Class 1 National Insurance contributions on it in the same way you would on your salary.
As statutory sick pay will probably be lower than your usual salary, though, you may find that most of your income is covered by the annual tax-free allowance (which is £12,570 in the 2025-26 tax year). So, in practice, you won't have as much – if any – tax to pay.
Statutory sick pay can be paid for up to 28 weeks. It's usually paid by your employer. If your employer goes bust, HMRC will pay your SSP instead.
If your SSP has ended, or you don't qualify for it, your employer must fill in and give you form SSP1. This form explains why SSP has not been paid or why it is ending, as well as the last date of payment.
Once SSP runs out, if you're still unable to work due to a long-term condition, you may be able to claim for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Universal Credit. You can apply for new style ESA up to three months before your SSP ends.
You should tell your employer as soon as you become unwell and unable to work. Some employers set a deadline by which you need to inform them; otherwise, you must tell them within seven days. If you don't tell your employer in time, you could lose some of your SSP.
For the first seven days of sickness, you will usually be asked by your employer to fill in a 'self-certificate'. You shouldn't be asked to provide medical evidence for these seven days .
If you're ill for more than a week, your employer can ask you to provide medical evidence from your doctor. If, for example, a doctor's 'fit note', which replaced the 'sick note' in April 2010, says you're not fit for work, this will usually be accepted as evidence that you are sick.
If your employer refuses to pay you SSP, ask it to explain why. If you can't reach an agreement, you can call HMRC's statutory payment dispute team on 0300 200 3500 for further advice.
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Unfortunately not. Statutory sick pay is only payable to those employed by a company. People who work for themselves aren't able to claim it.
Instead, you could claim Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), a state benefit that was introduced in 2008. It is payable to people who have an illness or disability and are unable to work as a result.
New Employment and Support Allowance claimants will have to apply for new style ESA. To qualify for this, you'll need to have previously been self-employed (or worked as an employee), and have paid enough National Insurance contributions, usually in the last two to three years.
You'll need to go through a work assessment, after which you'll be placed into one of two groups – a work-related activity group, for those who may be able to work in the future, and a support group, for those whose illness will stop them from working.
In 2025-26, during your assessment period you'll get a weekly ESA payment of:
After the assessment period ends, you'll get a weekly ESA payment of:
Existing ESA claimants may be on a previous form of the benefit, known as income-related ESA. You can find out more about ESA on gov.uk.
If you have to claim ESA when you're self-employed, you might face a significant reduction in income. If you're self-employed, you should strongly consider taking out insurance to protect your income should you get ill. Find out more about how income protection and and critical illness insurance work.
Yes, if you work part-time, you're still entitled to SSP. Provided you meet the criteria of earning at least £125 a week, you should get the full amount of SSP, not a pro-rata amount based on your part-time work.
This also applies to casual staff, agency workers, temps and people on a fixed-term contract.
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