Statutory sick pay from day one: what changed
Statutory Sick Pay in the UK has historically come with a waiting period. Under the rules that applied until ERA 2025, an employee had to be sick for four qualifying days before SSP kicked in — the first three days were "waiting days" for which no SSP was payable. That waiting period is now abolished.
From the relevant commencement date under the Employment Rights Act 2025, SSP is payable from the first qualifying day of sickness absence. The change sounds simple but the implications are significant, particularly for employers in sectors where short-term absence is frequent or where workers are on lower incomes and were effectively bearing the cost of the first three days themselves.
The current weekly rate of SSP is £116.75 (2025/26). Employers cannot pay less than this. Many employers pay enhanced sick pay above the statutory minimum — this remains lawful, and those contractual arrangements are not affected by ERA 2025 unless specifically changed. The eligibility threshold — the lower earnings limit — still applies: an employee must be earning above the lower earnings limit to qualify for SSP.
For employers who were relying on the three-day waiting period as a deterrent to short-term absence, that mechanism is now gone. This does not mean your absence management approach needs to be dismantled — it means the focus has to shift from financial deterrence to genuine engagement with attendance. Return-to-work interviews, clear absence policies, and early occupational health referrals are more important than ever. See our guide on return to work interviews: best practice for how to do them well.
SSP administration also changes slightly. The absence notification process — the requirement to notify within a reasonable time and provide fit notes — continues as before. What changes is the point at which the employer's liability to pay SSP begins. Your payroll process needs to reflect this: any system that was calculating SSP from day four needs updating.
Small employers who qualify for SSP recovery may also need to review their position. The SSP recovery scheme for small businesses covers employers whose SSP payments in any tax year exceed a threshold percentage of their NI liability. With SSP now payable from day one, the SSP costs for businesses with a history of short absences will increase.
The interaction with contractual sick pay is worth noting. If your contracts include an enhanced sick pay scheme — for example, full pay for the first four weeks of absence — the ERA 2025 change does not automatically extend that scheme to cover day one payments. The contractual entitlement and the statutory entitlement run in parallel. SSP is the floor; your contractual scheme, if more generous, takes precedence.
For a complete view of SSP as it operates today, read our statutory sick pay employer guide, which covers eligibility, rates, qualifying conditions, and the administration process from first day of absence through recovery.
See also our ERA 2025 compliance checklist for the full set of changes your HR processes may need to reflect.
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