> How Statutory Sick Pay and the six statutory family payments are worked out for 2026/27, including SSP from the first day off sick, with worked examples from the API.

Web version: https://checktakehomepay.co.uk/guides/statutory-pay · Last updated: 2026-10-09

# Statutory sick, maternity and family pay in 2026/27

Statutory Sick Pay changed on 6 April 2026. Here is how it and the six statutory family payments are worked out for 2026/27.

## Statutory Sick Pay

From 6 April 2026 Statutory Sick Pay is paid from the first day off sick, whatever someone earns, at the lower of £123.25 a week and 80% of their average weekly earnings, for up to 28 weeks. A day is the weekly rate divided by the days they usually work in that week.

So someone on £600 a week who usually works 5 days a week gets £123.25 for 5 days off.

-   Statutory Sick Pay from 6 April 2026: from the first day off sick, at any earnings, at the lower of £123.25 a week and 80% of average weekly earnings.
-   A day is the weekly rate divided by the qualifying days in the week, and each payment rounds up to the penny, so send one request per pay period.
-   The caller checks entitlement (an employee, sick for at least one full working day: from 6 April 2026 there is no 4-day rule) and works out the qualifying days and linked periods of sickness.

## The six family payments

Maternity and adoption pay start at 90% of average weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks; each week after that, and every week of the other four payments, is the lower of £194.32 and 90%. Each is payable when average weekly earnings reach the lower earnings limit. For someone earning £400 a week:

| Payment | The rule | On £400 a week |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Maternity | 90% of average weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks, then the lower of £194.32 and 90% for up to 33 more. | £8,572.56 |
| Adoption | 90% of average weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks, then the lower of £194.32 and 90% for up to 33 more. | £8,572.56 |
| Paternity | The lower of £194.32 and 90% of average weekly earnings for each week, up to 2. | £388.64 |
| Shared parental | The lower of £194.32 and 90% of average weekly earnings for each week, up to 37. | £7,189.84 |
| Parental bereavement | The lower of £194.32 and 90% of average weekly earnings for each week, up to 2. | £388.64 |
| Neonatal care | The lower of £194.32 and 90% of average weekly earnings for each week, up to 12. | £2,331.84 |

## Statutory Maternity Pay on £400 a week

| Weeks | A week |
| --- | --- |
| 1 to 6 | £360 |
| 7 to 39 | £194.32 |

**£8,572.56** over the 39 weeks.

## Working it out with the API

Each payment is one call, from average weekly earnings: [sick pay](https://checktakehomepay.co.uk/docs/api/statutory-sick-pay), [maternity pay](https://checktakehomepay.co.uk/docs/api/statutory-maternity-pay) and the rest are in the [reference](https://checktakehomepay.co.uk/docs).

`POST /v1/statutory/maternity-pay`

cURL

```
curl https://api.checktakehomepay.co.uk/v1/statutory/maternity-pay \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CHECKTAKEHOMEPAY_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
  "average_weekly_earnings": {
    "amount": 400
  }
}'
```

Node.js

```
const response = await fetch('https://api.checktakehomepay.co.uk/v1/statutory/maternity-pay', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.CHECKTAKEHOMEPAY_API_KEY}`,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "average_weekly_earnings": {
      "amount": 400
    }
  }),
});
const result = await response.json();
```

Python

```
import os
import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.checktakehomepay.co.uk/v1/statutory/maternity-pay",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['CHECKTAKEHOMEPAY_API_KEY']}"},
    json={"average_weekly_earnings": {"amount": 400}},
)
result = response.json()
```

## Get an API key

Free for 100 calculations a month, with every endpoint.

[Get an API key](https://checktakehomepay.co.uk/login)[Read the quickstart](https://checktakehomepay.co.uk/docs/quickstart)