If you haven’t reviewed your sickness absence process since April, your business may already be paying more than it needs to.
On 6 April 2026, the rules around Statutory Sick Pay changed.
Two updates came into force at the same time and together they shift how absence hits your bottom line.
SSP is now payable from the first day of illness. The old waiting days have gone. And the lower earnings limit has been removed, which means more of your workers now qualify.
For most small businesses, this means more people can claim sick pay and they can claim it sooner. That is a real change to your cost exposure, especially if short-term absence is already something you deal with regularly.
What this means financially
Under the previous rules, you had a buffer. Employees had to be off for 4 days before SSP kicked in and some lower-paid workers did not qualify at all.
That buffer has gone.
Now, every eligible worker who calls in sick on a Monday morning triggers a cost from day one. If you employ people on variable or lower-paid contracts, you may now be paying SSP to staff who were previously outside the threshold.
None of this is unmanageable, but it does change the numbers. And if you have not adjusted your processes, those costs add up quietly.
The operational side
You may start to see more 1 or 2-day absences showing up in your records. In a small team, even a slight increase puts strain on the people who are in work and on the managers who have to cover gaps at short notice.
Managers also need to feel confident having early conversations about attendance.
Not heavy-handed ones, just calm, consistent check-ins to show that you are paying attention.
Most small businesses do not have that built into how they operate and it shows when patterns start to develop.
What you should be reviewing now
If your processes were set up under the old rules, they need updating. Start with the areas that will have the most immediate impact.
- Payroll
Make sure that your payroll system reflects the removal of waiting days and the lower earnings limit. If this has not been updated, you could be underpaying and creating compliance risk or overpaying without realising it.
- Your sickness absence policy
Check that your policy reflects the current rules. If it still references waiting days or a minimum earnings threshold, it is out of date. Employees and managers need to be working from the same, current version.
- Return-to-work processes
A consistent return-to-work conversation after every absence is one of the simplest and most effective tools you have. It does not need to be formal. It just needs to happen every time.
- Attendance tracking
You can’t manage what you do not measure. If you are not recording absence consistently, you will not spot patterns until they become problems.
- Manager capability
Your managers are the first people to notice when absence increases. Make sure that they know how to handle those early conversations without avoiding them or escalating too quickly.
Where an HR consultant can support you
An experienced HR consultant can review your sickness absence policy, tighten up your attendance management processes and make sure that your managers are confident handling absence conversations early.
We help you to stay compliant and reduce the cost risk that comes with getting this wrong.
If you haven’t looked at your absence processes since April, now’s the time.
Get in touch for a confidential chat and we will talk you through how we can help.