Statutory Sick Pay rates will increase in 2025, in line with the Government's announcement on benefits in the autumn budget. New figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will see payments rising in line with inflation.

This will result in a 1.7 per cent automatic increase in payments from April.

The benefit is paid by employers to people who are too ill to work for up to 28 weeks.

The weekly rate for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is currently £116.75. This will increase to £118.75 in April 2025.

It is paid for the days an employee normally works - called ‘qualifying days’ - in the same way as wages, for example on the normal payday, deducting tax and National insurance.

Employers cannot choose to pay less than the statutory amount, but many workers  get more if their company has a sick pay scheme (or ‘occupational scheme’).

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Statutory Sick Pay is paid when the employee is sick for more than three days in a row (including non-working days).

There's guidance from the DWP on how Statutory Sick Pay works.

As a rule, it doesn't count as a sick day if an employee has worked for a minute or more before they go home sick.

Holiday or annual leave is accrued while the employee is off work sick (no matter how long they’re off) and can be taken during sick leave.

Employers can only ask for a fit note if their employee is off work for more than seven days in a row (including non-working days).

They cannot withhold SSP if the employee is late sending a fit note.

There are different sick pay rules for agricultural workers. Some employment types like agency workers, directors and educational workers also have different rules for entitlement.