Key takeaways

• Since 6 April 2026, SSP is payable from day one of sickness absence with no earnings threshold, meaning more retail workers now qualify

• SSP is £123.25/week or 80% of average weekly earnings (whichever is lower), paid for up to 28 weeks

• Retail managers need clear systems to track qualifying days, linked absences, and SSP calculations for variable-hours staff

• Centralised absence tracking helps reduce manual errors and supports SSP record-keeping requirements

If you manage a retail team in the UK, you've likely already felt the impact of the Employment Rights Act 2025 changes that took effect on 6 April 2026. These reforms reshaped how Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) works, and retail employers need to pay close attention.

The biggest change: waiting days are gone. Previously, employees didn't receive SSP until their fourth qualifying day of absence. Now, SSP is payable from the first day an employee is off sick. For retail teams with frequent short-term absences (think a team member calling in sick for a single Saturday shift), this means more claims hitting your payroll than before.

The lower earnings limit has also been removed. Before April 2026, workers needed to earn at least £125 per week to qualify for SSP. That threshold no longer exists. Any employee on your PAYE is now eligible, regardless of how few hours they work or how little they earn each week.

The new SSP rate

The weekly SSP rate is £123.25, or 80% of an employee's average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. This 80% cap is particularly relevant for retail. According to Deputy's UK Big Shift Report 2026 (downloadable report), UK retail hourly wages rose from around £10-11 in 2022 to approximately £12-13 by 2025.

For a retail worker earning £11.50 per hour across 20 hours per week, their average weekly earnings are £230. Eighty per cent of that is £184, which exceeds the £123.25 cap. They'd receive the flat £123.25. But a worker on 12 hours per week at £12 per hour earns £144 weekly. Eighty per cent of that is £115.20, which falls below the cap, so they'd receive only £115.20.

Linked periods of sickness

One rule retail managers should understand: linked periods of sickness apply when absences are 8 weeks apart or less. If an employee has two separate absences within 8 weeks of each other, those absences count toward the same 28-week SSP entitlement.

In retail, where short, recurring absences are common, this linking rule can push workers toward the 28-week maximum faster than you'd expect. A team member who's off for five days in January and then three days in February would have those absences linked into one period of incapacity for work. All eight days count toward their 28-week cap.

The practical effect for retail managers: you now need to track not just individual absences, but the gaps between them. If those gaps are 8 weeks or fewer, the clock keeps running on the same SSP entitlement. Effective leave management systems help you stay on top of these linked periods without relying on memory alone.

Who qualifies for SSP in your retail team

Understanding who qualifies has become simpler since April 2026, but certain employment arrangements in retail still cause confusion. Here's how eligibility works across the most common staff types.

Full-time and part-time employees

Any employee on your PAYE now qualifies for SSP. There's no minimum earnings threshold and no minimum hours requirement. If someone has started work (even a single shift counts), they're eligible.

Your part-time staff receive SSP only for their qualifying days, which are the days they'd normally work according to their rota. A team member who works Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays would have three qualifying days per week.

Employees must notify you of their absence within your workplace deadline. If you haven't set one, the statutory default is seven days. You can't require notification before the absence starts, but you can ask for it as soon as reasonably practical.

For the first seven days of absence, your employees can self-certify. After seven calendar days, they'll need a fit note from a GP or other healthcare professional. Keep both self-certification records and fit notes on file, as you'll need them for your SSP records.

Zero-hours and casual retail workers

This is where SSP gets tricky for retail managers. Zero-hours workers can absolutely qualify for SSP. The test isn't how many hours they work. It's whether they're employed for tax purposes, meaning they're paid through PAYE.

If a zero-hours team member has been working regular shifts (say, two to three per week on a flexible pattern), they're almost certainly eligible. The challenge is working out their qualifying days when there's no fixed rota pattern.

Where shift patterns are irregular, you and the worker should agree on qualifying days. If you don't reach an agreement, the statutory fallback treats all seven days as qualifying days. That's expensive, so it's in your interest to document agreed qualifying days upfront. Having a clear paid time off policy that covers absence procedures for all contract types helps set these expectations early.

Agency workers and seasonal staff

Agency workers often qualify for SSP, but responsibility for payment usually falls on whoever operates PAYE for that worker. In most retail arrangements, that's the agency, not you. Check your agreement with the agency to confirm who handles SSP.

Seasonal staff on fixed-term contracts are eligible from their first day of work, just like any other employee. The key question is whether they're employed via PAYE. If someone is genuinely self-employed (a rare arrangement in retail floor work), they don't qualify.

For Christmas temps, Easter casuals, and summer holiday cover, the same rules apply. If they're on your payroll, they're entitled to SSP from day one of any sickness absence during their contract.

One thing to watch: if a seasonal worker's contract ends during a period of sickness, your SSP obligation ends on the last day of their contract. You don't need to continue paying SSP after their employment has finished, but you should issue an SSP1 form so they can explore other benefits.

How to calculate SSP for variable-hours retail workers

Calculating SSP for staff with consistent hours is straightforward. But retail is built on variable shifts, flexible patterns, and fluctuating demand. Here's how to handle SSP calculations when hours change week to week.

Identifying qualifying days for shift workers

Qualifying days are the days your employee would have worked if they hadn't been sick. For workers on a regular pattern, you simply look at their rota. Someone who always works Monday, Wednesday, and Friday has three qualifying days each week.

For irregular workers, the published rotas become your best reference point. If you've already published the rota for the week an employee calls in sick, those scheduled shifts are their qualifying days for that period.

When no rota exists yet (perhaps the employee called in sick before you published next week's shifts), refer to their typical working pattern over recent weeks. Look at the past four to eight weeks and identify which days they regularly worked. Document this clearly in writing.

If you and the worker can't agree on qualifying days, the statutory fallback treats every day of the week as a qualifying day. This means you'd pay SSP for all seven days per week of absence, making it far more costly than agreeing on a realistic pattern. For a three-day absence, you'd owe three days of SSP. Under the seven-day fallback, you'd owe the same three days, but if the absence continues into the next week, you're covering every day rather than just their usual shifts.

Calculating the daily SSP rate

Here's the step-by-step calculation for a variable-hours retail worker:

1. Identify the eight-week reference period immediately before the absence started

2. Calculate their average weekly earnings across those eight weeks (total gross pay divided by eight)

3. Work out 80% of that average weekly figure

4. Compare to the flat rate of £123.25, then use whichever is lower

5. Divide the weekly SSP rate by the number of qualifying days to get a daily rate

6. Multiply the daily rate by the number of sick qualifying days in each pay period

Worked example: A retail team member earns £11.50 per hour. Over the past eight weeks, they averaged 20 hours per week. Their average weekly earnings are £230. Eighty per cent is £184, which exceeds £123.25. So their weekly SSP rate is £123.25. If they have three qualifying days per week, their daily rate is £41.08 (£123.25 divided by three).

Having accurate time and attendance records makes this calculation much simpler. If you're using Deputy, your timesheet data gives you the actual hours worked across the reference period, so you're not estimating average earnings from memory or incomplete records. You can pull the eight-week earnings history directly from approved timesheets rather than cross-referencing multiple spreadsheets or payroll reports.

Tracking linked periods of sickness

The 56-day linking rule catches many retail managers off guard. If an employee is off sick for three days, returns to work, then goes off sick again within 8 weeks, those two absences count as one period of incapacity for work.

This matters because SSP has a 28-week maximum. Linked absences accumulate toward that cap. In retail, where short absences of one to three days are common, a team member could approach their 28-week limit through multiple brief absences over several months.

You need to track cumulative SSP days across all linked absences for each employee. This isn't just an administrative headache. If you don't track linked periods correctly, you could overpay SSP beyond the 28-week maximum, or fail to issue the SSP1 form at the right time.

Manual tracking makes this error-prone, especially across a large team with multiple short absences happening simultaneously. Deputy's absence management tools help you track linked periods, flagging when an employee is approaching their entitlement limit so you can plan ahead and issue the necessary paperwork on time.

Tracking SSP across multiple retail locations

If you operate more than one store, consistent SSP tracking becomes significantly harder. Each location may handle absences differently, and without a centralised system, things fall through the cracks.

Why spreadsheets create SSP risk for retail chains

When each store manager records absences in their own spreadsheet, you lose visibility across the business. This creates several problems.

A worker who covers shifts at multiple locations may have linked absences that no single manager can see. Their cumulative SSP days could be approaching 28 weeks, but if the records live in separate spreadsheets at different stores, nobody spots the issue until it's too late.

SSP1 forms must be issued within seven days if SSP isn't payable, or by week 23 if the 28-week limit is approaching. When individual store managers handle these, delays happen. Late SSP1 forms can leave employees without access to benefits they're entitled to.

You're also required to keep SSP records in case HMRC queries your payments. These records must show the dates of absence, the SSP paid, and any periods where SSP wasn't payable (along with the reason). Scattered spreadsheets across multiple locations make audits difficult and create gaps in your documented workforce records.

What an absence tracking system should do

A system that properly supports SSP administration for retail should handle several things. It should calculate qualifying days from your published rotas. It should track cumulative SSP days across linked absences for each employee, even when they work across locations.

The system should flag when an employee is approaching their 28-week limit so you can issue SSP1 forms on time. It should store fit notes and absence records in one central place, accessible to area managers and payroll teams without needing to contact individual stores.

Look for a system that also provides clear audit trails. If HMRC queries your SSP payments, you need to demonstrate you calculated correctly and kept proper records. A centralised system with time-stamped entries is far more defensible than a folder of spreadsheets on a store manager's laptop.

Deputy's centralised rota and absence tracking gives you this visibility across all your locations. When an employee's shift history, earnings data, and absence records live in one system, SSP calculations become more accurate and audit trails stay intact. Your payroll team can pull the data they need without chasing individual store managers for spreadsheets.

Common SSP mistakes retail managers make

Getting SSP wrong exposes your business to complaints, back-pay claims, and potential tribunal action. Here are the errors that trip up retail teams most often.

Assuming zero-hours staff don't qualify. With the earnings threshold removed, almost every worker on your PAYE is now eligible. Don't assume that low hours or irregular patterns mean no SSP entitlement.

Forgetting to pay from day one. The three-day waiting period is gone. If your payroll processes still have a built-in three-day gap before SSP kicks in, you're underpaying your team. Update your processes immediately.

Using a flat rate for everyone. The 80% cap means lower-paid retail workers may receive less than the headline £123.25 rate. You need to calculate individually, not apply a blanket figure.

Not tracking linked absences. Short, frequent absences are common in retail. Without tracking the 56-day linking rule, you won't know when someone's cumulative SSP days are approaching 28 weeks. This leads to overpayments or missed SSP1 deadlines.

Issuing SSP1 forms late. You must issue an SSP1 within seven days if SSP isn't payable, or by the start of week 23 if an employee is approaching the 28-week limit. Late forms leave employees unable to claim alternative benefits on time, and can result in complaints to HMRC.

Confusing contractual sick pay with SSP. If you offer an enhanced sick pay scheme, SSP should normally be included within your contractual payment, not paid on top. Get this wrong and you'll overspend on sick pay without realising it.

Deputy helps you avoid these pitfalls by centralising absence data, tracking linked periods, and surfacing approaching limits for manager review. When your rota, timesheet, and absence records sit in one platform, you reduce the manual processes where mistakes happen.

FAQs

How does Deputy help track statutory sick pay for retail teams?

Deputy's absence tracking and rota management tools give you centralised records of qualifying days, shift patterns, and earnings data across locations, which supports accurate SSP calculations and record-keeping.

Can retail workers on zero-hours contracts receive statutory sick pay?

Yes. Since April 2026, any worker employed via PAYE qualifies regardless of earnings or contracted hours, provided they've started work and notified their employer of the absence.

What happens when statutory sick pay runs out for a retail employee?

After 28 weeks, SSP ends and you must issue an SSP1 form so the employee can apply for New Style Employment and Support Allowance. Issue this form by the start of week 23 to give them time to prepare.

How do the April 2026 SSP changes affect retail businesses specifically?

Retail teams with large numbers of part-time and variable-hours staff will see more SSP claims. The earnings threshold removal and day-one entitlement mean that short absences which previously attracted no SSP now require payment.

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