What if someone rings in sick for one day?

Someone texts before their shift to say they're ill and won't be in today. Do you have to pay them sick pay for one day?

Since April 2026, usually yes. Before then, Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) started on the fourth day off, and people earning under a weekly threshold got none. Many sickness policies still say that, so it's worth checking yours.

The short answer: yes, if they're eligible. Since 6 April 2026, SSP is payable from the first full day off sick, as long as it's a day they'd normally work, they didn't do any work that day and they told you within your rules. There are no waiting days and no lower earnings limit. The 2026/27 rate is £123.25 a week or 80% of their average weekly earnings, whichever is lower, divided across the days they normally work. For someone on 12 hours a week over 3 days at the minimum wage, one sick day is £40.68.

The quick version:

• pay SSP from the first full day off sick, on a day they'd normally work
• divide the weekly rate by the number of days they normally work to get the daily rate
• ask for a fit note only after 7 calendar days off
• keep your reporting rule, but don't hold back SSP because someone missed your call-in time
• update any policy that still mentions waiting days or a minimum earnings level

What changed on 6 April 2026?

Three things, all in the Employment Rights Act 2025:

• no waiting days. SSP used to start on the fourth day of sickness. Now it starts on the first
• no minimum absence. A period of sickness used to need at least four days in a row before SSP was due at all. Now one full day is enough
• no lower earnings limit. People earning under the old threshold used to get nothing. Now everyone eligible gets SSP, and low earners get 80% of what they normally earn

The change applies across the UK, Northern Ireland included. GOV.UK's guide for employers has the full rules.

Do employers have to pay SSP for one sick day?

Yes, if the day counts. It counts when:

• they're an employee for SSP purposes. In practice, that means anyone you pay through PAYE: employees, including those on zero-hours and casual contracts. Agency temps get any SSP from the agency that pays them, not from you, and the self-employed aren't eligible
• they've started work for you. Someone who is ill before their first day doesn't qualify
• it's a full day. If they work for a minute or more and then go home ill, GOV.UK says that day isn't a sick day for SSP. SSP can start from the next full day off
• it's a day they'd normally work. SSP is only paid for their working days, called qualifying days. For someone without a regular pattern, agree which days count
• they told you in time, within your reporting rule, or within 7 days if you don't have one

There are a few exceptions, such as someone getting Statutory Maternity Pay. If someone doesn't qualify, give them form SSP1 within 7 days of their first day off, so they know why.

Also, spells of sickness 8 weeks or less apart are linked and treated as one, and a single day now counts as a spell. So someone off for a day in November and two days in December, less than 8 weeks apart, has one linked period, worked out on their earnings from the first.

How much is it for a part-timer on low hours?

Less than a day's pay, but no longer nothing. Take someone aged 21 or over on 12 hours a week at the April 2026 minimum wage of £12.71 an hour, working four hours on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. They ring in sick on a Wednesday.

A few rules sit behind those figures:

• average weekly earnings are their gross pay over the 8 weeks up to the last normal payday before they fell ill, including overtime and bonuses. For someone who started more recently than that, average what you paid them before they went off sick over the period that pay covers. If there hasn't been a payday yet, use the weekly pay in their contract
• 80% applies to anyone averaging under about £154.06 a week. Above that, they get the flat £123.25
• SSP is rounded up to the next penny, never down, and paid on the normal payday with tax and National Insurance deducted as usual
• it runs for up to 28 weeks, and you can't claim any of it back from HMRC

You don't have to do this by hand. We've had a lot of questions about how to calculate SSP, so we created a free Statutory Sick Pay calculator to make it as simple as possible. It takes you through eligibility first, then the sum, and it covers zero-hours and casual staff too.

When can I ask for a fit note?

After 7 days. For the first 7 calendar days of a spell of sickness, weekends and days they don't work included, people self-certify. You can ask them to confirm it in writing when they're back, on HMRC's form SC2 or your own form. You can't make a fit note a condition of SSP for those first 7 days.

From day 8 you can ask for a fit note. A GP, hospital doctor, registered nurse, occupational therapist, pharmacist or physiotherapist can issue one, on paper or digitally. If it arrives late, you still can't hold back SSP for that reason.

If your own policy asks for medical evidence sooner, for a company sick pay scheme for example, DWP's guidance says any fee for it should be covered by you, and Acas says people off for 7 days or less don't need to give medical evidence. In a small team, a short self-certification form and a return-to-work chat usually tell you more.

Can I set a reporting rule, such as calling in by a set time?

Yes, but for SSP there are limits. You can decide how and when people tell you they're ill, as long as you've told them what the rule is. Without a rule of your own the default is 7 days. But for SSP purposes, the Statutory Sick Pay regulations say you can't require someone to tell you:

• before their first working day of the absence, or by a set time on that day. You can ask them to tell you during it
• in person
• with medical evidence
• on a document you supply or on a printed form
• more than once every 7 days

If they tell you late, you can hold back SSP only for the days they were late, and not at all if there was a good reason.

So "call your manager before your shift starts" can stay in your policy as the way you'd like it done, and you can ask about it if it doesn't happen. It can also be a condition of company sick pay above SSP. What it can't do is cost someone their SSP when they told you during the day.

Does contractual sick pay change?

You must pay at least SSP. If you pay company sick pay as well, the two aren't added together: whatever you pay for a sick day counts towards the SSP due for it. And no contract or policy can reduce or remove SSP.

So check your contracts and handbook for three things:

• a line saying sick pay starts on the fourth day, or that there are three waiting days. For SSP that's now wrong, and it has to be paid from the first full day
• any mention of a minimum earnings level for sick pay
• whether your company sick pay is contractual or discretionary, and whether the contract says which. Acas says a discretionary scheme still mustn't discriminate and has to treat part-timers the same as equivalent full-timers

Your company scheme can still have its own rules for the extra it pays on top, such as a length of service before it starts, as long as SSP itself is paid from the first full day. If you're not sure your wording does that, it's worth getting it checked.

What records do I need?

Keep a record of sickness absence as part of your payroll records, for three years from the end of the tax year it relates to. HMRC can ask to see what you've paid, and the records that show it, if there's ever a dispute.

What helps most in practice, for each absence:

• the dates, and how and when they told you
• self-certification forms and fit notes
• the days you paid SSP, any days you didn't and why

Acas suggests recording the number of absences, how long each one lasted and the reason. Health information is sensitive personal data, so keep it apart from the main file and share it only with people who need it. Recording absence related to pregnancy or a disability separately also helps you avoid counting it against someone unfairly.

Who enforces it?

HMRC, for now. If an employee thinks they've been paid the wrong amount, they ask you for your reasons first. If that doesn't settle it, they can ask HMRC's Statutory Payment Disputes Team for a formal decision, and you have to pay what HMRC decides unless you appeal. HMRC can also fine an employer up to £3,000 for refusing, or repeatedly failing, to pay SSP.

The Fair Work Agency, set up on 7 April 2026, will take on sick pay enforcement in time. Those powers are in the Act but haven't been switched on yet, and the government expects the Agency to start enforcing holiday pay in 2027. No date has been given for sick pay.

How do we keep absence fair in a small team?

The money for one day is small. Problems usually start when two managers handle the same kind of absence differently: one just asks how they are, the other asks for a doctor's note and brings it up at their review. That's when people feel treated unfairly, and complaints follow.

What helps:

• one written way to report sickness, so everyone knows who to tell and how
• a short return-to-work chat after every absence. It isn't a legal requirement, but Acas calls it a good chance to check they're ready to be back and whether they need any support
• review points written into the policy, if you use them, and never an automatic step to a warning. Acas suggests adjusting them, or leaving out absences linked to a disability. Sickness linked to pregnancy shouldn't count at all, because using it against someone is pregnancy discrimination
• the same approach from every manager, which usually means a one-page guide and half an hour going through it together

Quick answers

Is your sickness policy still from before April?

Plenty are. If yours still mentions waiting days or a minimum earnings level, or your managers each handle sickness their own way, an HR Health Check picks that up. We review your contracts, policies and how absence is really handled, then give you the fixes in order, starting with the ones that matter most. Or start with the sums: the SSP calculator is free.

Send us your what-ifs.

This is general information for UK employers, not legal advice. If you're dealing with a specific situation, speak to an employment solicitor. Checked against GOV.UK, HMRC, DWP, Acas and legislation.gov.uk on 23 October 2026.