Statutory Payment Rates
The Government has published the statutory payment rates for maternity pay, paternity pay, shared parental pay, adoption pay and sick pay from April 2024.
| SSP | The rate of statutory sick pay increases annually on the first Sunday in April. SSP is paid by an employer to a sick employee for up to 28 weeks. |
| SMP | The standard weekly rate of Statutory Maternity Pay also applies where an employee qualifies for statutory adoption, paternity, shared parental, neonatal care and parental bereavement pay. The number of weeks of pay vary between each entitlement, check Having a Baby or Adopting a Child for more information about the different entitlements. |
| LEL | The Lower Earnings Limit is the minimum earnings an employee must earn to qualify for SSP or SMP. |
| Guaranteed Pay | An employee is entitled to a guaranteed payment for any day for which they are required to work but for which no work is provided. The employee is entitled to a maximum of five such payments in any three-month period. The daily rate is now index-linked. |
NeoNatal Care Leave
NeoNatal Care was introduced in April 2025 as an additional period of leave for parents whose baby requires neo-natal care during the first few weeks of life. Please refer to NeoNatal Care Leave and Pay for more detailed information about this relatively new right.
| SSP | SMP | LEL | Guaranteed Pay | |
| April 2024 | £116.75 | £184.03 | £123.00 | £38.00 |
| April 2023 | £109.40 | £172.48 | £123.00 | £35.00 |
| April 2022 | £99.35 | £156.66 | £123.00 | £31.00 |
| April 2021 | £96.35 | £151.97 | £123.00 | £30.00 |
| April 2020 | £95.85 | £151.20 | £120.00 | £30.00 |
| April 2019 | £94.25 | £148.68 | £118.00 | £29.00 |
| April 2018 | £92.05 | £145.18 | £116.00 | £28.00 |
| April 2017 | £89.35 | £140.98 | £113.00 | £27.00 |
| April 2016 | £88.45 | £139.58 | £112.00 | £26.00 |
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