Statutory Leave and Pay.

Some key changes will take effect on 6 April 2026 relating to a range of statutory leave and pay entitlements.

Statutory sick pay (SSP)

From 6 April 2026, SSP will be:

• Payable from day one of sickness absence and
• The lower of £123.25 per week and 80% of the employee's normal weekly earnings (unless the relevant worker’s sickness absence commenced before 6 April 2026 and continues beyond this date and they were already in receipt of SSP before 6 April, in which case it will be £123.25 per week for the remainder of the sickness absence or, if sooner, until SSP entitlement is exhausted, even if this is higher than 80% of their normal weekly earnings).

In the case of absences commencing on or after 6 April, where a worker’s pay varies from week to week and is less than £123.25 in any of the 8 weeks before the commencement of sickness absence, for the purpose of determining the value of SSP, their weekly pay will be averaged over that 8-week period and rounded up to the nearest penny.

Currently, SSP is payable at a rate of £118.75 per week and only to employees who:

• earn above the lower earnings limit for National Insurance payments and
• have already had three qualifying days of absence.

Family-related leave and pay

Currently, statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave and pay are subject to a qualifying period of 26 weeks’ service. However, this qualifying period is to be removed in the case of:

• Children born on or after 6 April 2026.
• Children whose expected week of childbirth (EWC) is on or after that date but are born early.
• Adoption placements on or after that date (or children entering Great Britain on or after that date in an overseas adoption case).
• Children whose "primary carer" (the mother or adopter) dies on or after that date (regardless of the date of birth, EWC or placement).

Also in the case of such children, the current prohibition on taking statutory paternity leave after having taken shared parental leave will be removed.

Currently, parental leave (which is unpaid leave of up to 18 weeks that is available to employees who are birth or adoptive parents or otherwise have, or expect to have, responsibility for a child, up to the child’s 18th birthday) is subject to a 12-month period of qualifying service, and that is also to be abolished for any leave commencing from 6 April 2026.

The maximum weekly rate of maternity allowance, statutory adoption, paternity, shared parental, neonatal care and parental bereavement pay and, after the first 6 weeks, statutory maternity pay increases to £187.18 from 6 April 2026 (up from £184.30).

The lower earnings limit (the weekly earnings threshold for qualifying for the above payments, except maternity allowance) will be £125.00 from 6 April 2026 (up from £123). For maternity allowance the threshold will remain at £30 a week.

Employers who reflect any details relating to any of the above statutory rights in their policies and procedures should ensure that they are updated as appropriate.

For detailed advice relating to the above entitlements, contact a member of our Employment team.