🚨 Major SSP Changes Are Coming — What Employers Need to Know (and Why It Will Cost More)

📊 The UK’s Statutory Sick Pay system is about to change - and the impact on businesses will be significant.

Reforms landing in April 2026 as part of the Employment Rights Bill will reshape SSP by broadening eligibility, which will ultimately increase short-term absence costs for most organisations. Employers will need to overhaul their absence policies and reporting frameworks.

If you run a business or work in HR, this affects you.

🌟 What’s Changing?

1️⃣ SSP will be paid from Day One

No more “waiting days.”

Employees will receive SSP from their first day of sickness absence, rather than their fourth day of absence.

2️⃣ All employees will qualify for SSP

The Lower Earnings Limit is being removed, bringing approx. 1.3 million more workers into SSP entitlement who wouldn’t have been eligible previously.

3️⃣ SSP will be calculated differently

SSP is currently a flat weekly rate of £118.75 per week (increasing to £123.25 from April), but will become:

👉 80% of average weekly earnings or the statutory flat rate (whichever is the lower)

This brings complexity to payroll and budgeting.

📉 What Does This Mean for Businesses?

💥 Costs for short-term absences will rise

Until now, absences under 4 days often cost the business nothing in SSP.

From April 2026, every sick day becomes a paid day, even if the absence only lasts 1–3 days.

This matters because whilst the aim of the change is to strengthen employee rights, make sick pay fairer, and offer support to those that are felt to most need it, short term absences are already very costly for organisations, and this will inevitably result in higher costs.

📊 Data Call-Out: The Reality of Short-Term Sickness in the UK

🔹 4.4 Average sick days per employee per year in 2024 (ONS), although CIPD’s employer survey put this figure at 9.4 days

🔹 30% of all UK sickness absence is due to minor illnesses like colds, flu and stomach bugs, most lasting 1–3 days (Personnel Today)

🔹 Public vs. Private Sector

Public sector workers continue to experience higher levels of sickness absence than private sector employees (ONS & Civil Service reports)

What this means:

👉 A large proportion of absences that were previously unpaid will now attract SSP.

👉 Businesses employing large numbers of public-facing, lower-paid or shift-based staff will feel the biggest financial uplift.

👉 Workforce planning and budgeting need to adjust now.

🛠 What Employers Need to Do Now

✔ Review and update absence policies

Remove references to waiting days and earnings thresholds, they will no longer apply.

✔ Review and update employment contracts

Ensure SSP wording is correct and reflects the new changes.

✔ Update payroll systems

Ensure they can handle:

• Day One SSP

• 80% earnings calculations

• SSP eligibility for all staff (incl. zero-hours)

✔ Strengthen absence reporting

You’ll need visibility over:

• Short-term absences

• SSP vs. enhanced sick pay

• Cost drivers and patterns

• Team or role-specific hotspots

✔ Up skill line managers

Return-to-work conversations and consistent recording will be crucial.

✔ Revisit your wellbeing strategy

Higher absence reporting doesn’t always mean higher absence, sometimes it reveals unmet employee wellbeing needs.

💡 People Pillar’s Take

These reforms aren’t just legislative updates, they will reshape how absence is viewed, managed and costed.

Businesses that prepare early will benefit from:

• Fewer disputes

• More consistent application

• Stronger wellbeing outcomes

• More accurate absence data

• Better financial planning

At People Pillar, we help organisations translate legislative change into practical, people-centred policy and action.

📣 Want help updating your absence policy, modelling the cost impact, or preparing your managers?

We can support you with:

✨ Policy rewrites

✨ Cost modelling templates

✨ Manager training

✨ Absence reporting frameworks

✨ Communication plans for employees

Need some help?

Drop a comment or message, or contact us at People Pillar.