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Employer Guide: Calculating Sickness Absence and Statutory Sick Pay
Employer Guide: Calculating Sickness Absence and Statutory Sick Pay
Rebecca Russell avatar
Written by Rebecca Russell
Updated over a week ago


Statutory Sick Pay and sickness deductions can be complicated to calculate due to the various factors that need to be thought about, including:

  • The days your employee works

  • The length of their absence

  • Any linked periods of absence they may have

This article provides worked examples of Statutory Sick Pay and sickness deductions to help you understand how the Payfit app calculates absence for your employees.

A helpful glossary of Statutory Sickness Terms can be found here.

Employee A - Works Monday to Friday

Statutory Sick Pay

An employee is absent from work for 2 weeks:

There are 3 Waiting Days where Statutory Sick Pay is not payable

There are 7 Qualifying Days where Statutory Sick Pay is payable

The employee works 5 days per week, so the daily rate of Statutory Sick Pay is £94.25 divided by 5 days = £18.85 per day

£18.85 daily Statutory Sick Pay multiplied by 7 Qualifying Days = £131.95 Statutory Sick Pay due

Sickness Deduction

The employee is absent for 10 working days

In the month they are off, there are 22 working days available.

The employee's monthly salary is £1,800.00

£1,800.00 divided by 22 working days = £81.82 per day

The employee has been at work for 12 working days, so the base pay due is £81.82 multiplied 12 = £981.84

Total Absence Calculation:

Statutory Sick Pay Due: £131.95

Base Pay Due: £981.84

Employee B - Works Monday, Wednesday and Friday

Statutory Sick Pay

An employee is absent from work for 2 weeks:

There are 3 Waiting Days where Statutory Sick Pay is not payable

There are 4 Qualifying Days where Statutory Sick Pay is payable

The employee works 3 days per week, so the daily rate of Statutory Sick Pay is £94.25 divided by 3 days = £31.4166 (daily rate is not rounded)

£31.4166 daily Statutory Sick Pay multiplied by 4 Qualifying Days = £125.67 (rounded) Statutory Sick Pay due

Sickness Deduction

The employee is absent for 6 working days

In the month they are off, there are 13 working days available (based on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays only)

The employee's monthly salary is £950.00

£950.00 divided by 13 working days = £73.08 per day

The employee has been at work for 7 working days, so the base pay due is £73.08 multiplied 7 = £511.54

Total Absence Calculation:

Statutory Sick Pay Due: £125.67

Base Pay Due: £511.54

Employee C - Works Monday to Friday with a Linked Absence

Statutory Sick Pay

An employee is absent from work for 2 weeks and within the last 56 days the employee has also been off for an additional week in which they qualified for Statutory Sick Pay:

There are no Waiting Days as the employee's absence is linked

There are 10 Qualifying Days where Statutory Sick Pay is payable

The employee works 5 days per week, so the daily rate of Statutory Sick Pay is £94.25 divided by 5 days = £18.85 per day

£18.85 daily Statutory Sick Pay multiplied by 10 Qualifying Days = £188.50 Statutory Sick Pay due

Sickness Deduction

The employee is absent for 10 working days

In the month they are off, there are 22 working days available.

The employee's monthly salary is £1,800.00

£1,800.00 divided by 22 working days = £81.82 per day

The employee has been at work for 12 working days, so the base pay due is £81.82 multiplied 12 = £981.84

Total Absence Calculation:

Statutory Sick Pay Due: £188.50

Base Pay Due: £981.84

Adding Sickness in Payfit

At Payfit we aim to make payroll processing as simple as possible for our employers, so the intuitive app will calculate your employee's Statutory Sick Pay and Sickness deductions automatically when you enter sick leave.

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