SSP for Part-Time Workers 2026 — New Rules Explained

Before April 2026, Statutory Sick Pay had a lower earnings limit of £123 per week. Employees earning below that threshold — including many part-time workers on low wages — had no entitlement to SSP at all. A care worker doing two shifts a week for £90 got nothing when sick. A school dinner assistant on £80 a week got nothing.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 abolished that threshold entirely. From 6 April 2026, all employees qualify for SSP regardless of their earnings. There is no minimum hours requirement and no minimum pay threshold. If someone is an employee (not a worker or self-employed), they are entitled to SSP when they are sick.

The SSP weekly rate for 2026/27 is £123.25 per week. But this rate is based on a 5-day working week. Part-time workers qualify for a pro-rated daily amount based on their own working pattern, not the full weekly rate.

SSP is paid for qualifying days — the days an employee is contracted to work. The daily rate is simply the weekly SSP rate divided by the number of qualifying days per week.

The formula is:

You then multiply the daily rate by the number of qualifying days the employee was absent to calculate the total SSP owed. Under the new rules, there are no waiting days — you count from day 1 of the absence.

One important rule: SSP is capped at the equivalent of 28 weeks in any period of incapacity for work. This cap applies proportionally — a 2-day-a-week worker who is off for their 2 qualifying days every week for 28 weeks reaches the cap just as a full-time worker would.

Despite the April 2026 reforms, several SSP rules remain the same:

• Employees must still notify you they are sick — you can require notification before the start of their shift or within a reasonable time. Your contract or policy can specify the process.
• Self-certification (no sick note needed) still applies for absences up to 7 calendar days. For absences longer than 7 days, a GP fit note is still required.
• SSP is still paid by the employer through payroll, not directly by HMRC. Employers cannot reclaim SSP from HMRC.
• The maximum SSP entitlement remains 28 weeks in a period of incapacity for work. After that, you issue form SSP1 and the employee may be able to claim Employment and Support Allowance.
• Linked periods of incapacity (absences within 8 weeks of each other) are still treated as one period for the purpose of the 28-week limit.

1. Check your payroll software has updated. Most major providers updated their SSP calculations for April 2026, but verify that the lower earnings limit check has been removed and that the system handles part-time qualifying day ratios correctly.
2. Update your sick pay policy. Remove any reference to the earnings threshold. Make clear that all employees qualify regardless of hours or pay.
3. Identify qualifying days in contracts. If part-time employees don't have their working days clearly specified in their contract, now is a good time to clarify this — it directly affects SSP calculations.
4. Brief line managers. Managers handling absence returns should know that part-time workers are now fully covered from day 1. There is no earnings check to do.