Statutory payments calendar 2026/27: SSP, SMP, SPP rates and reclaims


Statutory payments are the part of payroll where employers act as the government's paying agent: you pay the employee, then reclaim or offset according to the rules. Get the rates or the admin wrong and you either underpay staff or overpay HMRC. Here is the 2026/27 picture.


Statutory Sick Pay


SSP is paid from the fourth qualifying day of absence, at the flat weekly rate set each April. Employers cannot reclaim SSP; it is a cost of employment. The admin that matters: accurate absence records, because SSP calculations live or die on the dates, and keeping the fit-note evidence on file.


Statutory Maternity Pay


SMP runs for up to 39 weeks: 90 percent of average weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks, then the flat statutory rate (or 90 percent of earnings if lower) for 33 weeks. Employers reclaim 92 percent of SMP paid (103 percent for small employers eligible for Small Employers Relief). The reclaim goes through the Employer Payment Summary, reducing your PAYE bill. Get the EPS right or the reclaim does not happen.


Statutory Paternity and other parental pay


Statutory Paternity Pay follows the same pattern as the flat-rate weeks of SMP: up to two weeks at the statutory rate, reclaimed the same way. Shared Parental Pay and Statutory Adoption Pay use the same machinery. The rates move each April; using last year's rate is one of the most common payroll errors there is.


What to calendar now


April: check the new rates the day they are announced and update the payroll software before the first April run. Monthly: reconcile statutory payments paid against amounts reclaimed on the EPS; the two should track. Annually: review your absence and parental leave policies so the payroll rules and the HR rules agree with each other.


Statutory pay is fiddly, deadline-driven and unforgiving of guesswork, which is exactly why it sits well inside an outsourced payroll routine. Providers like Finex Outsourcing run the rates, the reclaims and the records as part of the monthly payroll, so nothing slips.

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