Do you get full pay when injured at work?
No. There is no statutory right to receive your normal full pay when you are off work injured at work. The legal minimum your employer must pay is Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). For 2026/27 it is £123.25 per week, or 80% of your normal weekly earnings if that is lower.
Some employers choose to pay more. A contract of employment or staff handbook may include a clause providing occupational sick pay at your full or partial salary for a defined period, for example six weeks at full pay followed by six weeks at half pay. If your employer offers this, they must apply it to all qualifying employees including those absent due to a workplace injury.
If your contract says nothing about sick pay beyond the statutory minimum, you are entitled to SSP and no more from your employer during your absence. However, any shortfall between your SSP and your normal earnings during the period you are off work is a quantifiable financial loss. If your employer's negligence caused the injury, that lost income is recoverable as a special damages head in a compensation claim.
Statutory Sick Pay eligibility and rate
Statutory Sick Pay is a government-mandated payment that employers must make to qualifying employees who are unable to work due to illness or injury. To qualify, you must:
- Be classed as an employee (not genuinely self-employed)
- Have done some work for your employer
- Have been ill for at least one full working day
Since April 2026 there is no minimum earnings requirement, so low-paid, part-time and zero-hours employees qualify on the same basis as everyone else. Agency workers may also be entitled to SSP.
SSP is paid at £123.25 per week, or 80% of your normal weekly earnings if that is lower, for up to 28 weeks. Your employer works out your normal weekly earnings from your average pay over the eight weeks before you went off sick, and you still qualify if you have not yet been paid for eight weeks. SSP is paid by your employer, not the government, and it is taxable and subject to National Insurance in the same way as normal wages.
When does SSP start?
From your first full day off sick. Since April 2026, SSP is paid for every full day you are off sick that you would normally have worked. The old rules, under which the first three days of absence were unpaid waiting days and SSP only started on the fourth day, no longer apply.
If your absence began before April 2026, the old rules may still affect what you were paid at the start. Any SSP you were not paid because of them is part of the earnings you lost, so it can be included in a compensation claim.
Your employment contract may give you more than SSP. Check your contract or staff handbook, or ask HR, for any occupational sick pay scheme.
What occupational sick pay might you receive if injured at work?
Your employer may offer occupational sick pay above the statutory rate if your contract provides for it. Common arrangements include:
- Full pay for the first four to six weeks of absence, then SSP
- Full pay for the first 13 weeks, half pay for the next 13, then SSP
- Full pay for up to one year (common in public sector contracts)
If your contract includes an occupational sick pay scheme, the employer must apply it equally to workers absent due to workplace injuries. Refusing to pay contractual sick pay to an injured worker who would otherwise qualify is a breach of contract.
Even if you receive full occupational sick pay for the first few weeks or months, you may still have a claim for lost earnings if your absence extends beyond the contractual sick pay period, or if you suffer a permanent reduction in your earnings capacity as a result of the injury. Future lost earnings are a separate head of special damages with no upper cap.
What happens when Statutory Sick Pay ends?
SSP ends after 28 weeks. At that point, your employer must provide form SSP1, which you will need to claim state benefits if you remain unable to work. The main benefits available are Universal Credit (which replaced Employment and Support Allowance for new claimants) and, in some circumstances, Personal Independence Payment if the injury has caused a lasting disability.
Claiming benefits does not stop you claiming compensation, but the two do interact. Under the government's Compensation Recovery scheme, the insurer that pays your compensation must repay certain benefits you received because of the injury, such as Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance or Personal Independence Payment, and it can deduct them from the matching parts of your award, such as lost earnings or care. Compensation for the injury itself (general damages) is never reduced in this way.
SSP running out does not in itself give your employer a reason to dismiss you. An employer can sometimes dismiss for long-term sickness absence on capability grounds, but only after a fair process, and if your injury is a disability it must consider reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010. Dismissal for raising a health and safety concern is automatically unfair under section 100 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, regardless of how long you have worked for the employer. For a full guide to this protection, see our dismissal protection guide.
Lost wages as special damages in a compensation claim
If your employer's negligence caused your injury, the difference between what you received while off work (SSP or occupational sick pay) and what you would have earned is recoverable in a civil compensation claim as past lost earnings. You do not have to choose between claiming sick pay and pursuing compensation: both run independently.
Special damages also cover future lost earnings where the injury has a lasting effect on your ability to work. A back injury that prevents you from returning to manual work, or hearing loss that affects your ability to do your job, both create future earnings losses that are assessed using actuarial evidence and a formal schedule of loss.
The success fee under a Conditional Fee Agreement is capped at 25% of your general damages and past financial losses only. Any award for future lost earnings and future care is never subject to the success fee. For a guide to how no-win-no-fee funding works in practice, see our no-win-no-fee guide.
How does sick pay affect your compensation?
Your lost-earnings claim is for the money you actually lost. So the sick pay you received, whether SSP or contractual sick pay, is taken into account when working out the shortfall: you claim the difference between what you were paid and what you would have earned. Sick pay never reduces the compensation for the injury itself.
Some employers' sick pay schemes say that sick pay must be repaid out of any compensation you later recover. If yours does, the full amount of the sick pay can be claimed back from the insurer, so you are not left out of pocket. Your solicitor will check this when preparing your schedule of losses.
Some insurers attempt to make early settlement offers that bundle sick pay payments into the figure. You should not accept any settlement offer without first taking legal advice. A settlement signed without advice may undervalue your claim and, once executed, is very difficult to reopen.
For a step-by-step guide to the civil claims process and when to expect any offer to be made, see our claims process guide.
This guide is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Every situation turns on its own facts. For advice about your specific case, speak to a regulated solicitor. You can find one through the Find a Solicitor service (Law Society) or through APIL.
Frequently asked questions
Can my employer reduce my pay while I am off sick after a workplace accident?
Your employer can pay only Statutory Sick Pay (up to £123.25 per week) once any contractual sick pay entitlement is exhausted, even if the accident was entirely the employer's fault. However, a successful compensation claim will recover all lost earnings — including the gap between SSP and your normal wage — as special damages.
Does my employer have to keep my job open while I recover?
There is no absolute requirement to hold a role open indefinitely. However, dismissing you because of injury-related absence must follow a fair capability process, and may be disability discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 if your condition amounts to a disability. Dismissal is automatically unfair under section 100 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 if the real reason is that you raised a health and safety concern.
What if I am self-employed and lose income after a workplace accident?
Self-employed workers injured on someone else's premises or in someone else's business can still claim for lost earnings as special damages. Lost profits are calculated from accounts and tax returns. A forensic accountant may be instructed in complex cases.
Is SSP paid in addition to any compensation I receive?
You keep the SSP you were paid, and your claim recovers the rest of your lost earnings. Lost earnings are calculated net of tax and National Insurance, and the SSP you received is taken into account in working out the shortfall. Compensation for the injury itself is not affected by SSP.
If you are on a zero-hours contract, see how zero-hours workers injured at work can claim lost earnings.
Browse every plain-English guide in the work accident guides hub, or read the main guide to how a claim works.
This guide is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Every claim turns on its own facts. For advice about your specific situation, speak to a regulated solicitor.