What if someone who works 3 days a week is off sick?
How to calculate SSP for part-time, zero-hours, agency and term-time staff, with worked examples. Plus how holiday builds up and is paid while they're off.
In short
- SSP is £123.25 a week (2026/27) or 80% of average weekly earnings if that's lower. Divide it by the number of days they'd normally work that week, multiply by the days they're off sick and round up to the next penny.
- A part-timer earning enough for the flat rate gets the same weekly SSP as a full-timer, spread over fewer days. On 3 days a week, one sick day is £41.09.
- For zero-hours and agency staff, the days that count are the shifts or bookings they'd agreed to work. Where there's no contract between assignments, agency SSP stops when the assignment ends. If another assignment was already agreed to start within 8 weeks, SSP starts again on its first day.
- Holiday keeps building while they're off sick. Irregular-hours staff build it on their average hours. If you pay rolled-up holiday pay, you keep paying an average amount for each pay period they're off.
On this page 13 sections
- What are the SSP rules for every employee?
- What goes wrong most often?
- How do I calculate SSP?
- How much SSP for someone who works 3 days a week?
- How does SSP work for zero-hours and casual staff?
- Agency workers and supply teachers: who pays and for how long?
- What about term-time staff and people with two jobs?
- What if they're off sick again within 8 weeks?
- Does holiday keep building while someone's off sick?
- Do I pay rolled-up holiday pay while someone's off sick?
- Which average do I use for what?
- Quick answers
- Sick pay sums you'd rather not do alone?
Most sickness policies are written for someone who works Monday to Friday. Then the person off sick works three days a week. Or they take shifts when they're offered. Or they're booked through an agency into a school until Christmas. That's when the sums stop being obvious.
The short answer: work out their average weekly earnings over the 8 weeks before they went off sick. Their Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is £123.25 a week (2026/27) or 80% of that average, whichever is lower. Divide that by the number of days they'd normally work that week, multiply by the days they're off and round up to the next penny. For someone on 3 days a week earning £315, two sick days come to £82.17. Most of the work is deciding which days count and, for casual and agency staff, when SSP stops. Holiday keeps building the whole time they're off.
This guide starts with the rules that apply to every employee and the mistakes we see most often. Then it sets out the sum step by step, with a worked example for each kind of staff. It finishes with how holiday and holiday pay carry on while someone's off sick.
Want the sum done for you?
Our free SSP calculator checks they qualify, then shows every step of the sum. For the cases it doesn't cover, such as linked absences or a zero-hours worker with no pattern, book a free 20-minute call.
What are the SSP rules for every employee?
The rules are the same for everyone you employ. What changes from one person to the next is their pay, the days they work and how long their contract runs.
Who gets SSP?
Anyone who is an employee for SSP purposes. In practice that's anyone you pay through PAYE, zero-hours and casual staff included. They need to have done some work for you under their contract and to have been off sick for at least one full working day. If they did any work at all that day, even a minute, that day doesn't count. Since 6 April 2026 there are no waiting days and no lower earnings limit, so SSP is paid from the first working day they're off sick and low earners qualify too. Our post on SSP from the first day covers the exceptions and the rules on telling you they're sick.
Who pays it?
The employer who pays them through PAYE. For an agency worker that's the agency. If an umbrella company employs them, the umbrella company pays. The school or business they're placed with doesn't pay it. Self-employed workers can't get SSP. You can't claim any of it back from HMRC.
How much is it?
£123.25 a week in 2026/27 or 80% of their average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. The 80% applies to anyone averaging less than £154.07 a week. The weekly amount is shared across the days they'd normally work that week. A part-timer on the flat rate gets the same each week as a full-timer, so each of their days is worth more.
Pay it on their normal payday, with tax and National Insurance taken off as usual. Company sick pay counts towards SSP for the same day, unless your contract says it's paid on top. If you pay full pay while someone's off, the SSP is already part of it, as long as you pay at least the SSP due.
Which days does it cover?
SSP is only paid for qualifying days. An SSP week runs from Sunday to Saturday and every week has at least one qualifying day. GOV.UK sets out the order to decide them:
- the days you've agreed. Normally the days they're contracted to work. You can agree a different set, for example when the pattern changes every week
- Wednesday, if you both agree there are no working days in a week
- every day of the week, if you can't agree, apart from days you both agree nobody would be required to work
One limit applies to all three: an agreement that picks qualifying days by reference to someone's sickness doesn't count.
How long does it last?
Up to 28 weeks. That covers one period of sickness or several linked ones, where someone is off sick again within 8 weeks. The limit is 28 times their weekly rate, so a week with no SSP doesn't use any of it.
SSP stops sooner if:
- their contract ends. For casual, zero-hours and agency staff, the rules on when that happens are further down
- a run of linked spells has lasted more than 3 years
- another reason on form SSP1 applies
If SSP ends unexpectedly while they're still sick, give them form SSP1 within 7 days of it ending so they can claim benefits instead. If it will run out at 28 weeks before they're better, give it to them by the start of the 23rd week. If they don't qualify for SSP at all, give them the form within 7 days of their first day off sick. And ending a contract to avoid paying SSP doesn't end what you owe.
Does holiday stop while they're off?
No. Holiday keeps building for everyone while they're off sick. If you pay rolled-up holiday pay, you keep paying an average amount. Both are covered towards the end.
What goes wrong most often?
These are the mistakes we see most in sickness policies and payrolls, along with a few the April 2026 changes make easy. Each one links to the part of this guide that puts it right.
- Dividing by 5 for someone who works 3 days a week. Divide by the days they'd normally work that week. Payroll software usually starts from Monday to Friday, so set each person's qualifying days on their record. See the 3-day example
- Paying for days they weren't due to work or missing days they were. Only qualifying days count. For zero-hours and agency staff, check them for every week they're off. Which days count
- Paying nothing for a week with no shifts booked. A zero-hours worker who's ill all week gets the full weekly rate for that week while their entitlement runs. See the zero-hours example
- Stopping SSP when a zero-hours worker's shifts run out. First check whether they've worked for you for 3 months in a row. When SSP stops for casual staff
- Getting school holidays wrong for supply staff. It depends on whether their contract carries on between assignments. Agency workers and supply teachers
- Using a new, higher rate of pay for a linked spell. Their average weekly earnings stay the ones from the first spell. Linked spells
- Paying SSP on top of company sick pay for the same day. Company sick pay counts towards the SSP due. How much SSP is
- Paying rolled-up holiday pay only on days worked. Nothing would be paid while they're off sick. Keep paying an average. Rolled-up holiday pay during sickness
- Adding the 12.07% uplift to SSP. Rolled-up holiday pay is 12.07% of pay for work done. SSP isn't pay for work, so pay the average instead. Rolled-up holiday pay during sickness
- Missing the form SSP1 deadline. It's 7 days after SSP ends unexpectedly or the start of the 23rd week if it will run out. If someone doesn't qualify at all, it's 7 days from their first day off sick. How long SSP lasts
- A policy that still says SSP starts on the fourth day or that low earners don't qualify. Both changed on 6 April 2026. Who gets SSP
How do I calculate SSP?
The same five steps work for every kind of employee. Only the inputs change.
- Check they qualify. See who gets SSP above.
- Work out their average weekly earnings. Add up all the gross pay you paid them in the 8 weeks up to the last normal payday before their first full day off sick, even if it was too low for any National Insurance to be due. That includes overtime, bonuses, commission and holiday pay (rolled-up holiday pay too) plus any SSP or maternity pay paid in that time. Use pay after any salary sacrifice. Leave out expenses and benefits in kind. Weeks you paid nothing still count in the average. For weekly pay, divide by 8. For monthly pay, add up everything paid in the period, which normally covers two monthly paydays. Divide by the number of months, multiply by 12 and divide by 52. Don't round at any stage. If you haven't paid them for 8 weeks yet, our post on SSP from the first day shows the sum for someone paid once or for less than 8 weeks.
- Find the weekly rate. It's £123.25 or 80% of their average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.
- Find the daily rate. Divide the weekly rate by the number of qualifying days in that week.
- Multiply and round. Multiply the daily rate by the qualifying days they were off sick that week and round up to the next penny.
HMRC's rates table and the SSP regulations both round up at the end. One example on GOV.UK rounds the daily rate first and comes out a penny lower, so a 1p difference from your payroll bureau usually comes from that.
At the flat rate, HMRC's table for 2026/27 gives these amounts:
| Days a week | 1 sick day | 2 sick days | Full week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | £24.65 | £49.30 | £123.25 |
| 4 | £30.82 | £61.63 | £123.25 |
| 3 | £41.09 | £82.17 | £123.25 |
| 2 | £61.63 | £123.25 | £123.25 |
| 1 | £123.25 | – | £123.25 |
How much SSP for someone who works 3 days a week?
A part-timer's SSP is worked out in exactly the same way. If they earn enough for the flat rate, their weekly SSP is the same as a full-timer's and it's spread over fewer days, so each day is worth more.
Take someone who works Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 7.5 hours a day at £14 an hour. They're off sick on the Wednesday and Thursday.
| Step | Figure |
|---|---|
| Average weekly earnings (22.5 hours at £14) | £315 |
| 80% of average weekly earnings | £252 |
| Weekly rate (the lower of £123.25 and £252) | £123.25 |
| Daily rate (divided by 3 working days) | £41.0833 |
| SSP for 2 sick days, rounded up | £82.17 |
| SSP for a full week off | £123.25 |
Dividing by 5, as the payroll does for everyone else, would give £49.30 for the two days. That's £32.87 short.
On low hours the 80% rate takes over. Someone on two 5-hour days a week at the April 2026 National Living Wage (age 21 and over) of £12.71 an hour averages £127.10 a week. Their weekly rate is 80% of that, £101.68. One sick day is £50.84. Our post on SSP from the first day works through a 12-hour week in the same way.
How does SSP work for zero-hours and casual staff?
For a zero-hours or casual worker, the simplest rule is that the shifts they'd accepted for that week are their qualifying days. Put that in the contract or the sickness policy so it's settled before anyone is ill. The law needs at least one qualifying day in every week, so also say which day counts in a week with no shifts, for example Wednesday. Keep a record of the shifts each person accepted.
Here's how that plays out for someone on a zero-hours contract, paid weekly, who has been with you for 6 months. You paid them £1,120 over the last 8 weekly paydays.
| Step | Figure |
|---|---|
| Average weekly earnings (£1,120 divided by 8) | £140 |
| Weekly rate (80% of £140, lower than £123.25) | £112 |
| Week 1: shifts accepted for Monday, Thursday and Saturday. They work Monday and are off sick Thursday and Saturday | £112 ÷ 3 × 2 = £74.67 |
| Week 2: still ill, so no shifts are booked. Every week has at least one qualifying day, so a whole week off sick gets the full weekly rate | £112 |
Week 2 surprises most employers. Not booking shifts because someone is ill doesn't change the rule that every week has a qualifying day, so while their entitlement is running the whole weekly rate is due. If they come back part way through a week like this, check which day counts that week. If you both agree they'd have had no shifts that week anyway, Wednesday is the qualifying day. If you can't agree, every day counts and the daily rate is the weekly rate divided by 7. Whether their entitlement is still running depends on how long they've worked for you.
When does SSP stop for zero-hours and casual staff?
It depends on whether they've worked for you for 3 months in a row.
- 3 months or more: the contract is treated as running indefinitely unless it says otherwise. SSP carries on for the whole time they're off sick, up to 28 weeks, unless the contract ends or another reason on form SSP1 applies. Sickness, holiday and weeks when you had no work for them don't break the 3 months. Only a trade dispute or written notice ending the contract does
- less than 3 months: SSP runs to the end of the work they'd agreed to do, such as the shifts they'd accepted or the end of a short contract. If they'd agreed further work with you, it runs to the end of that
Whenever SSP stops while they're still sick, give them form SSP1 within the deadlines above.
Agency workers and supply teachers: who pays and for how long?
The agency pays, if it pays them through PAYE. The school or business they're placed with doesn't. If they're employed by an umbrella company, the umbrella company pays. Self-employed agency workers can't get SSP.
This year we worked with a Surrey supply agency as the new rules came in. Their teachers were paid by the day and their teaching assistants by the hour, with no contract between bookings and a long gap every school holiday. These are the answers we worked through with them, checked against GOV.UK's guidance on employment types:
- from the first day, once they've done some work under their contract. Someone who has signed up but not yet worked a booking doesn't qualify
- the days they're booked are the qualifying days. A long-term booking for Monday and Tuesday means 2 qualifying days a week. Their contract can say so: "Your qualifying days for SSP are the days you're booked to work in each assignment, as set out in your booking confirmation."
- with no contract between assignments, SSP runs until the assignment ends. If they'd already agreed another assignment starting no more than 8 weeks after this one ends, SSP starts again on that assignment's first day, even though they haven't worked it yet
- with a contract that carries on between assignments, SSP runs until that contract ends
- school holidays: with no contract between assignments, SSP stops when the assignment ends because their contract has ended. It doesn't run through the holiday. With a contract that carries on between assignments, SSP carries on through the holiday while they're still sick. A week with no SSP doesn't use any of the 28 weeks. The limit is 28 times the weekly rate, within the 3-year limit for linked spells
- the 12-week rule for agency workers (equal pay and conditions with the school's own staff) makes no difference to SSP
Take a teaching assistant booked every Monday and Tuesday for the autumn term, paid monthly. Their last two monthly payslips came to £1,050.40 and £1,120.80, rolled-up holiday pay included.
| Step | Figure |
|---|---|
| Average weekly earnings (£2,171.20 ÷ 2 × 12 ÷ 52) | £250.52 |
| Weekly rate (the lower of £123.25 and 80%, £200.42) | £123.25 |
| Daily rate (divided by 2 booked days) | £61.625 |
| Off sick one Monday | £61.63 |
| Off sick a whole week, Monday and Tuesday | £123.25 |
Now say they're still ill when the booking ends for Christmas. SSP stops on the last day of the assignment. Give them form SSP1 within 7 days. If they'd already accepted a booking starting on the first day of the spring term, less than 8 weeks later, SSP starts again that day, as part of the same period of sickness and on the same average weekly earnings. If that booking starts after 5 April, check the flat rate, because it changes each April.
What about term-time staff and people with two jobs?
Term-time staff
Term-time staff you employ directly, such as teaching assistants or kitchen staff, follow the same rule as everyone else: SSP lasts as long as their contract does. If their contract runs all year, even though they only work in term time, SSP carries on through the holidays while they're still sick. If their contract itself ends at the end of each term, SSP stops when it ends and nothing is due for the holiday. If their next contract with you starts within 8 weeks, the two contracts count as one. SSP starts again on the first day of the new contract, even before they've worked under it.
Two jobs with you
It depends on how you pay them. If the earnings from both jobs are added together for National Insurance, they get one SSP payment and must be too ill to do either job. If the jobs are paid separately, you work out average weekly earnings for each. They can get SSP from one while still working the other. A job with another employer is that employer's to work out.
What if they're off sick again within 8 weeks?
Two spells of sickness 8 weeks (56 days) or less apart are linked and treated as one. That matters for the sums in two ways:
- their average weekly earnings stay the ones from the first spell. If someone averaged £140 a week before their first absence, their weekly SSP is £112. Give them a pay rise to £150 and they're off again 5 weeks later: it's still £112. The £123.25 flat rate changes each April, so check it for any spell that runs past 5 April
- the weeks add up towards the 28. After a run of linked spells lasting more than 3 years, SSP stops for that run of spells
Does holiday keep building while someone's off sick?
Yes, for everyone. The holiday rules in this section and the next are for employers in Great Britain. Northern Ireland has its own working time rules. Statutory holiday builds up during sick leave as it would at work. Staff can ask to take holiday while they're off sick. You can't make them. For any day taken as holiday you pay holiday pay. SSP isn't paid on top for the same day.
If they can't take their holiday because they're off sick, up to 4 weeks of it carries over and must be used within 18 months of the end of the holiday year it came from. If they leave, you pay for any holiday built up and not taken.
How much holiday do irregular-hours staff build up while they're off sick?
Irregular-hours and part-year workers build up holiday at 12.07% of the hours they work in each pay period. Off sick they work no hours, so the Working Time Regulations use their average instead:
- take the 52 weeks before their sick leave started
- leave out any weeks they were off sick or on statutory leave such as maternity leave. Keep in the weeks when you simply had no work for them. Go back up to 104 weeks if you need to
- work out their average hours a week and take 12.07% of it. That's the holiday they build up for each week off sick
So someone who averaged 18 hours a week builds up 2.17 hours of holiday for each week they're off. Three weeks off sick adds about 6.5 hours to their holiday. If sickness stops them taking it, up to 5.6 weeks carries over, to be used within 18 months of the end of the holiday year it came from.
Do I pay rolled-up holiday pay while someone's off sick?
Yes. If you pay irregular-hours or part-year staff rolled-up holiday pay (an extra 12.07% on each payslip), 12.07% of nothing would leave them with no holiday pay while they're off. Regulation 16A of the Working Time Regulations fills the gap: for each pay period they're off sick, pay them the average holiday pay they received per pay period over the 52 weeks before their sick leave started. If you've paid rolled-up holiday pay for less than 52 weeks, use the weeks you have. It's paid as well as SSP and shown separately on the payslip. Don't add 12.07% to the SSP itself. Enter the holiday pay you pay during sickness as holiday pay, taxed and with National Insurance as usual. It also counts as earnings if you ever work out SSP for them again.
For a weekly-paid worker who received £1,560 of rolled-up holiday pay in those 52 weeks, that's £30 for each week they're off sick. Acas's guide to rolled-up holiday pay has a similar example.
What if they're paid monthly and miss a day or two?
The regulations don't say what to pay for a pay period that is only partly sick leave. One reading is that any sick leave in a monthly pay period means a whole month's average on top of the pay for the days they worked. That's the safest option and the most expensive. Another reading links the payment to the holiday they build up while off sick, which builds up in proportion to the time they're off. GOV.UK's own worked example on building up holiday treats 3 days off sick as three-fifths of a week. The supply agency we worked with asked how to handle this. The three advisers we checked with gave three different answers.
For part of a pay period, the approach we think is fairest is to work it out by the day:
- add up the rolled-up holiday pay they received in the 52 weeks before the sickness
- divide it by the days they worked in those weeks, to get an average per working day
- pay that for each day they were booked or due to work and were off sick
For example, someone who received £1,920 of rolled-up holiday pay over 166 working days averages £11.5663 a day, so two days off sick add £23.13 (£1,920 ÷ 166 × 2). Paid the first way, that month would carry £160 (£1,920 ÷ 12 monthly pay periods).
Only use a day rate for a pay period that is partly sick leave. If they're off sick for a whole pay period, pay the full average for that period, even if nothing was booked.
There's no published guidance on the payment itself yet. Whatever you choose, write the method into your payroll policy, apply it to everyone the same way and agree it with your payroll provider. Check now and then that your monthly figures match a week-by-week calculation over the same 52 weeks. A day rate carries some risk, because a worker could argue for the whole month's average.
Two habits make it much easier. Show rolled-up holiday pay as its own line on every payslip, which the law requires anyway, so you can report on it alone. And keep a simple record of the days or hours each person worked each week, so the 52-week average is a report rather than a project. Many payroll systems won't do the sum for you: work it out alongside and enter it as a manual payment.
Which average do I use for what?
Sick pay and holiday each have their own reference period, which is where most of the confusion starts.
| What you're working out | The period to average |
|---|---|
| The SSP weekly rate | Pay received in the 8 weeks up to the last normal payday before they went off sick |
| Holiday pay when a worker on variable pay takes holiday | Their average weekly pay over the last 52 weeks they were paid, leaving out weeks with any sick or statutory leave. Go back no more than 104 weeks |
| Holiday an irregular-hours worker builds up while off sick | Their average hours over the 52 weeks before the sick leave, leaving out weeks of sickness or statutory leave |
| Rolled-up holiday pay while off sick | Their average rolled-up holiday pay per pay period over the 52 weeks before the sick leave |
Quick answers
How do I calculate SSP for someone who works 3 days a week?
Take the lower of £123.25 and 80% of their average weekly earnings over the last 8 weeks. Divide it by 3, multiply by the days they're off sick that week and round up to the next penny. At the flat rate, one day is £41.09 and two days are £82.17.
Do part-time workers get less SSP?
Not if they average £154.07 a week or more. Then they get the same £123.25 a week as a full-timer, divided across the days they work. Below that, they get 80% of their average weekly earnings.
Do zero-hours workers get SSP?
Yes, if you pay them through PAYE and they've done some work for you. The shifts they'd agreed to work are their qualifying days. Every week has at least one, so a whole week off sick with no shifts booked still gets the weekly rate. If they've worked for you for 3 months or more, it continues while they're off sick. If not, it runs to the end of the work they'd agreed.
Who pays SSP for an agency worker?
The agency that pays them through PAYE. If they're employed by an umbrella company, the umbrella company pays. The business they're placed with doesn't pay it. Self-employed agency workers can't get SSP.
Do supply teachers get SSP in the school holidays?
Not if there's no contract between assignments. Their contract ends with the assignment, so SSP stops. If they'd already agreed an assignment starting within 8 weeks, SSP starts again on its first day. If their contract carries on between assignments, SSP carries on through the holiday while they're sick. A week without SSP doesn't use up any of the 28 weeks.
Is SSP paid on top of company sick pay?
Not unless your contract or policy promises it on top. Company sick pay you pay for a day counts towards the SSP due for that day. If your company sick pay for a day is less than the SSP due, pay at least the SSP.
Does holiday build up while someone's off sick?
Yes. Statutory holiday keeps building during sick leave. Irregular-hours and part-year workers build it at 12.07% of their average weekly hours over the 52 weeks before the sickness.
Can someone take holiday while they're off sick?
Yes, if they ask to. You can't make them. You pay holiday pay for those days instead of SSP. Holiday they can't take because of sickness carries over. That's up to 4 weeks for most staff and up to 5.6 weeks for irregular-hours and part-year workers. It must be used within 18 months of the end of the holiday year it came from.
Do I pay rolled-up holiday pay when someone's off sick?
Yes, as well as SSP. For each pay period they're off, pay the average rolled-up holiday pay they received per pay period over the 52 weeks before the sick leave started.
Is SSP rounded up or down?
Up, to the next penny, once you've multiplied the daily rate by the number of days. Don't round the average weekly earnings or the daily rate along the way.
What if they're off sick before their first payday?
They still get SSP if they've done some work for you. Use the weekly pay in their contract instead of an average. Our post on SSP from the first day shows the sum for someone paid once or for less than 8 weeks.
Sick pay sums you'd rather not do alone?
For a single absence, the SSP calculator does the sum and shows every step. If your staff work in patterns the calculator doesn't cover or you pay rolled-up holiday pay and need a method you can defend, we can work it out with you and your payroll provider, then put it in your sickness policy in plain English. Pay As You Go HR is £135 an hour + VAT with no retainer. An HR Health Check reviews your contracts, policies and how absence is really handled.
If you run an agency, see our HR support for recruitment agencies. Every other service and price is on one page: HR support for small businesses.
Send us your what-ifs.
This is general information for employers in Great Britain. The SSP rules also apply in Northern Ireland, where the holiday rules are different. It isn't legal or payroll advice: agree any holiday pay method with your payroll provider. If you're dealing with a specific situation, speak to an employment solicitor. Checked against GOV.UK, HMRC, Acas and legislation.gov.uk on 14 November 2026.
