Statutory sick pay calculator for the UK, Ireland and 40 more countries in Europe

Full calculation (4 countries). The United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and Poland. You get a total in money with every step shown, so you can check it against your payslip.

Estimate (27 countries). France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, Sweden, Liechtenstein, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Croatia, Romania, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Moldova, Ukraine, Andorra, Monaco and San Marino.

For these, we know the percentage and when each phase starts, but not every cap or earnings rule. So the tool shows the percentage of pay for each phase, plus an optional money range labelled as an estimate.

Rules only (11 countries). Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Slovenia, Estonia, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus and Malta.

Here the official rules do not give a clear rate for every phase. The tool shows the rules we hold and tells you who to ask. It never guesses a number.

The flat rate went up from £118.75 a week in the 2025 to 2026 tax year. The bigger change is the new earnings link. If 80% of your usual weekly pay is less than £123.25, you get that lower figure instead.

SSP is a weekly amount, but it is paid for the days you would normally have worked. These are called qualifying days. Your employer divides the weekly rate by the number of qualifying days you have in a week.

The table below shows the daily amounts at the full rate of £123.25. They come from the UK government rates page for employers.

Your employer pays SSP through payroll on your usual payday, with tax and National Insurance taken off as normal.

Before April 2026, the first 3 qualifying days of sickness were unpaid. These were known as waiting days. SSP started on the fourth day. Short illnesses of 1 to 3 days often gave no SSP at all.

There was also a lower earnings limit of £125 a week in the 2025 to 2026 tax year. If you earned less, you got no SSP. From 6 April 2026, both barriers are gone, and the 80% rule stops low earners getting more in sick pay than at work.

There is a protection for some people who were already off sick before the change. Acas explains that workers already getting SSP before 6 April 2026 who earn between £125 and £154.05 a week keep the flat £123.25 rate. That lasts until they return to work, reach 28 weeks of SSP, leave the job, or start maternity pay or Maternity Allowance.

This calculator handles sickness that starts on or after 6 April 2026. For earlier spells, use the official UK government calculator.

UK government guidance lists these conditions for employees:

Acas adds that you must be classed as employed for tax purposes, such as a PAYE employee or an agency worker paid through PAYE. If you pay your own tax through Self Assessment as self employed, you cannot get SSP. You should tell your employer within 7 days, or sooner if your employer has set an earlier deadline.

People getting Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance cannot get SSP at the same time.

How long SSP lasts. SSP is paid for up to 28 weeks. After that, your employer stops paying it. New Style Employment and Support Allowance can start when SSP ends, if you paid enough National Insurance.

Linked periods of sickness. Spells 8 weeks or less apart link and share the same 28 weeks. Earnings from the first spell are used for later linked spells, and a linked series cannot go beyond 3 years.

Proof of illness. For the first 7 days in a row, you can usually self certify. Your employer may ask you to confirm your absence on a form or by email. If you are off sick for more than 7 days in a row, you need a fit note. Weekends and bank holidays count toward those 7 days. GPs, hospital doctors, registered nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists and physiotherapists can all issue one.

Example 1: Priya, full time, Monday to Friday

Priya earns an average of £500 a week. She works Monday to Friday. She is off sick on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in October 2026, then goes back on Thursday.

Priya's employer owes her £73.95 in SSP for this spell. Under the old rules, the first 3 days were waiting days, so she would have got nothing.

Example 2: Tom, part time, three days a week

Tom earns an average of £140 a week. He works Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He is off sick from Monday to Wednesday and goes back on Friday.

Tom's employer owes him £74.67. Under the old rules, his first 3 qualifying days would have been waiting days, so he would have got nothing for this spell.

The calculator shows each of these lines, so you can check them against your payslip.

Citizens Information sets out these rules:

In April 2025, the Department of Enterprise confirmed that the entitlement would stay at 5 days per calendar year. A planned move to more days did not go ahead at that point.

What counts as normal pay. Your normal daily pay includes any regular bonus or allowance that does not change from week to week. It leaves out overtime and commission. If your pay varies, the figure is based on your average pay over the 13 weeks before your sick leave.

Part time workers. If you work set hours at a fixed rate, you get the lower of €110 or 70% of your normal daily pay. If your hours vary, it is the lower of €110 or 70% of what you would have earned on the sick day. Other patterns use your average hourly rate.

How the days are used. You can take your 5 days together or split them across different spells in the same year. Unused days do not carry into the next year. A single spell also cannot carry statutory sick pay across from one calendar year into the next.

Example 1: Seán, full time, earning above the cap

Seán earns €900 a week. He works Monday to Friday. He has worked for his employer for 2 years. He is off sick Tuesday to Thursday and has a medical certificate from day 1. He has not used any sick days this year.

Seán gets €330 in statutory sick pay. He has 2 statutory days left for the rest of the calendar year.

Example 2: Aoife, earning below the cap

Aoife earns €600 a week over 5 days. She has worked for her employer for 6 months. She is off sick for 2 days with a medical certificate.

Aoife gets €168. She keeps 3 statutory days for later in the year.

The tool estimates normal daily pay by dividing weekly pay by working days. If your employer works it out another way, their figure counts.

Illness Benefit normally has 3 unpaid waiting days, not counting Sundays. Statutory sick pay covers the first days, so the two payments fit together.

To get Illness Benefit, you need enough PRSI contributions. Citizens Information says you need at least 104 weeks of PRSI paid since you started work, plus enough contributions in the relevant tax year. You must be certified unfit for work by a doctor and apply within 6 weeks of becoming ill. You can apply on MyWelfare or by post using form IB1.

The highest personal weekly rate in 2026 is €254.00, for people with average weekly earnings of €300 or more. It can last up to 2 years with 260 or more weeks of PRSI paid, or 1 year with 104 to 259 weeks. The calculator does not work out your Illness Benefit amount. It tells you from which day it may start, so you know when to apply.

Germany. Krankengeld is 70% of your regular gross pay, but never more than 90% of your last net pay. Gross pay counts only up to €5,812.50 a month in 2026. Employer pay and Krankengeld together can last up to 78 weeks within 3 years for the same illness.

Here is a made up example. Lena earns €3,000 gross and €2,000 net a month, and is off sick for 10 weeks.

If you have private health insurance, ask your insurer what applies.

Poland. You qualify after 30 days of uninterrupted sickness insurance. Your employer pays sick pay for up to 33 days of illness in a calendar year, or 14 days if you are aged 50 or over (from the year after you turn 50). ZUS pays sickness allowance after that. The rate is usually 80% of your average pay over the previous 12 months. It is 100% in some cases, such as illness during pregnancy or an accident on the way to or from work.

Here is a made up example. Marek, aged 35, earned an average of 6,000 zloty a month over the last 12 months. He is off sick for 40 days and has used no sick days this year.

Benefit lasts up to 182 days, or 270 days for tuberculosis or illness during pregnancy, counting the employer days. For both countries, the tool turns monthly pay into a daily estimate, and your insurer may count days differently.

"Waiting days" are unpaid days at the start. "State benefit" is what the social insurer pays. Where a cell says "Ask your employer" or "Check with your insurer", we could not confirm that rule. Collective agreements and contracts often pay more than these minimums.

In Bulgaria, two official sources differ on the employer period: one says the first 3 working days at 70%, another the first 2 working days at up to 70%. In Croatia, the monthly cap differs between two official sources too. For full detail, see the sick leave rules page for your country.

You went home sick partway through a day. In the UK, SSP covers full days off sick that you would normally have worked. A day where you worked some hours is not a full day of sickness, so the tool leaves it out. For other countries, no official rule on part days is held, so the tool leaves it out and asks you to check with your employer.

You work irregular days. Tick the days you usually work. If your pattern changes every week, ask your employer which days they count.

Your spell crosses into a new year.In the UK, rates change on 6 April each year, so the tool splits the spell at that date. In Ireland, the sick pay year is the calendar year, and a spell cannot carry statutory pay across 31 December. In Poland, the employer's day count starts again on 1 January.

You were off sick a few weeks ago. In the UK, tell the tool when the last spell ended and how many SSP days you were paid. If the gap is 8 weeks or less, the spells link and count toward the same 28 weeks. In Germany, tell the tool how many weeks you were already off with the same illness.

You get company sick pay. Many employers pay more than the legal minimum through a contract scheme or collective agreement. This tool shows only the statutory floor.

See a doctor soon if your symptoms get worse, last longer than expected, or stop you eating, drinking or sleeping. Never go back to work early just to protect your pay if you still feel unwell.

The price is EUR 34.99 per certificate, with no added fees at checkout. If the doctor cannot issue it, you get a full refund. Approved certificates arrive as a signed PDF, usually within about 30 minutes of approval. Each one has a reference code anyone can check.

Certificates are issued in English, across 42 countries in Europe. Always ask your employer which evidence they accept before you apply.