There have been several changes to the Employments Rights Act 2025 recently, one of which was an amendment to the way Statutory Sick Pay will work for UK employers.
One of the changes is the removal of the lower earnings limit when working out whether an employee is entitled to SSP in the first place. From 6 April 2026 all employees, as long as they are eligible, will be entitled to SSP regardless of their income. The SSP will be paid at either 80% of normal weekly earnings or the flat rate of £123.25 a week, whichever is lower.
The second major change is the removal of the waiting period, at present any employee needs to wait until day four before they are eligible to claim SSP. The changes mean that any eligible employee can claim SSP from day 1 of the absence, the only caveat being that they need to be full sick days.
These changes will make SSP more accessible to employees and remove any barriers for employees on lower salaries. However, the changes will only be in effect for any absences from 6 April 2026 with any before will be dealt with under the old rules. You will need to be careful on when the absence has occurred and make sure you apply the correct rules.
While the changes will not have a direct effect on your wages costs each month, as the SSP is reclaimable, it will change how you process sick days. To make sure you are ready for the changes you may need to update current processes, and possible payroll software, to make sure SSP is being claimed at the correct time.
If you have any questions or need some guidance on how to get set up for the changes, please get in touch with us.
