UK statutory · sick & maternity FY 2026/27 REFORM-ACTIVE
Three modes in one calculator. Model Statutory Sick Pay under the reformed day-one framework, the full 39-week Statutory Maternity Pay timeline, or — for the most common real-world question — flip into Pay period mix and price out a single payslip composed of days at 90%, 50%, SSP, Statutory Parental Pay and unpaid leave. PAYE / NI estimate applied against the locked HMRC 2026/27 ruleset.
Engine note · SSP day-rate + SMP 39-week timeline in integer pence — no rounding error on the statutory weekly caps, no telemetry.
Compute Statutory Sick Pay against the reformed day-one framework, or model the 39-week Statutory Maternity Pay timeline. Both engines run client-side against the locked HMRC 2026/27 ruleset.
Reform note: the historic Lower Earnings Limit no longer gates sick-pay eligibility — every worker qualifies.
Used to derive the unrounded daily rate.
Zero waiting days — counted from day 1.
Capped by Flat Rate Maximum
Your calculated 80% AWE threshold exceeds the national statutory cap. Your weekly sick pay is locked at £123.25.
Statutory employee allowances in the UK operate under independent regulatory frameworks that establish minimum baseline protections for working professionals. Whether you are recovering from an extended illness or preparing for the arrival of a child, understanding how your Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) interact with national caps, qualifying days, and legislative eligibility thresholds is essential to auditing your monthly company payslips.
The landscape for sick leave has undergone its most comprehensive structural overhaul in a generation. Previously, employees faced a strict three-day unpaid waiting buffer and a minimum earnings barrier that entirely excluded part-time and lower-income workers from support.
Under the active framework, Statutory Sick Pay is an absolute day-one right, completely eliminating unpaid waiting days. Furthermore, the historic Lower Earnings Limit has been permanently decoupled from sick leave, opening up eligibility to all workers. The weekly entitlement is calculated dynamically as the lower of 80% of your average weekly earnings or the national flat cap of £123.25. This ensures a significantly fairer distribution of core income protection for variable-hour and part-time staff across the country.
While sick pay provides immediate short-term coverage, Statutory Maternity Pay provides a structured 39-week financial bridge. Unlike sick leave, SMP is not a day-one right and maintains strict qualifying criteria. To receive payments, an employee must satisfy continuous employment rules (26 weeks of service with the same employer tracking back to the 15th week before the expected due date) and clear the Lower Earnings Limit threshold of £129.00 per week.
The financial execution of SMP is divided into three distinct phases:
Most UK employees who take any kind of statutory or contractual leave do not spend an entire pay period on one tier of pay. A typical month on company sick leave might consist of a handful of days at the contractual 90% top-up, a slide into the occupational 50% half-pay phase, and then a final stretch on the statutory SSP floor. A new parent splitting Shared Parental Leave with their partner might have some weeks on full Statutory Parental Pay and others unpaid. The Pay Period Mix mode prices any of these combinations out to the penny.
You supply your normal annual gross salary, your scheduled working days per week, and the number of days this pay period at each of five leave tiers:
£194.32 ÷ 90% point) where you receive a contractual top-up above the statutory minimum.
The summary card prices each bucket against the right rate (occupational tiers use your normal daily rate; SSP and SPP use the statutory weekly maxima divided by your scheduled working days) and produces a single gross-for-this-period figure with PAYE / NI smoothed across the full year. The URL parameters update as you type so the scenario is shareable — send the link to your HR partner and they will see the same breakdown.
A common misconception is that statutory sick and maternity payments are tax-free state benefits. In the eyes of HMRC, both SSP and SMP are treated identically to standard earned income.
All cash disbursements are routed straight through your company's standard PAYE system. This means your allowances will be subjected to standard Income Tax deductions (20%, 40%, or 45%) and Class 1 employee National Insurance contributions (8%) if your combined earnings cross your active personal threshold allocations. If your company provides an enhanced occupational package (contractual top-ups above the legal minimums), these additions combine with the state baseline into a single taxable gross income line item — model the combined figure through the Advanced Salary Calculator.
Statutory thresholds the engine reads from when computing SSP / SMP allowances under the 2026/27 framework.
A comprehensive analysis of the landmark SSP overhauls. How the removal of the three-day waiting period and the Lower Earnings Limit gate impacts your payslip, plus the new 80% AWE / £123.25 weekly cap math.
Demystifying the strict eligibility rules, the 8-week relevant calculation period, and the 39-week SMP payment timeline. Plus the difference between Statutory Maternity Leave (day-one) and Statutory Maternity Pay (conditional).
Reverse-engineer the gross annual salary you need to support a £3,500-per-month lifestyle under the 2026/27 ruleset — including how the 42% Higher Rate cliff and student-loan deductions inflate the headline figure.
Every £1 between £100k and £125,140 costs 62p in tax + NI because Personal Allowance tapers away. The escape is salary sacrifice — and the math is generous.