We Switch Payroll
Most of it comes back — but not all of it

Statutory pay, and what you reclaim

Sick, maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental, bereavement and the new neonatal care pay — at 2026/27 rates. Then the part that decides what it actually costs you: how much HMRC gives back.

The absence

£
Over the 8 weeks before the qualifying week.
Capped at the statutory maximum.
£
£45,000 or less unlocks small employers' relief at 109%.
Scales the totals so you can see the annual exposure.

One free calculation per company. Company number and a work email, and you get what is payable, what comes back from HMRC, and what it actually costs you.

The working LIVE

Every statutory payment at these earnings

PaymentWeeklyMax weeksRecoverable

Recovery is claimed through the payroll, or not at all.

Statutory parental pay is reclaimed on the EPS you send HMRC each month. Miss the EPS and the money simply stays with HMRC — there is no annual true-up that catches it for you. That is a filing habit, not a calculation.

Run it yourself → We Switch Payroll Have someone run it → We Switch Payroll

Free either way: the calculators stay free and stay in your browser.

The other calculators

Take-home payTax, NI and student loan on a wage Employer costWhat a hire really costs you Holiday pay12.07%, 5.6 weeks, or the 52-week average Auto-enrolmentWho must be enrolled, and for how much Minimum wageAre you actually compliant? CIS deductions20%, 30% or gross
£123.25
SSP per week
£194.32
Standard parental rate
109%
Small employers' recovery
£129
Weekly earnings to qualify

The two things employers get wrong. First, SSP is not recoverable — the percentage recovery applies to parental payments only, so sickness is a real cost you absorb in full. Second, small employers' relief pays back 109%, not 100%: if your Class 1 NI bill last year was £45,000 or less you get the payment back plus 3% towards the NI you paid on it, and thousands of small employers simply never claim it. Waiting days for SSP were abolished by ERA 2025 — it is payable from day one. This tool computes; it does not advise, and the qualifying rules for each payment (notice periods, continuous service, the qualifying week) are conditions in their own right.