Businesses in the hospitality sector have been experiencing continued cost pressures. Some have continued to struggle since Covid. Soaring food inflation, continued rising energy bills and operating costs continue to put a strain on this sector. Employing people can be one of the highest costs associated in running a business and with increased employers national insurance contributions, rises to the National Living Wage, and now the day one right for SSP, that came into force in April this year, the businesses operating in this sector face an additional increase in costs associated with sick pay.
SSP entitlement
As a recap, in April 2026 employers are now legally required to pay SSP from the first day of an employee’s sickness absence. The three day waiting period to receive SSP was removed.
There are no waiting days as outlined in the previous legislation where SSP was paid following the three day waiting period.
In addition, the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) has been removed. SSP is now calculated on the statutory weekly rate or 80% of the average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.
The changes in sick pay legislation were predominantly designed to support employee wellbeing and to enable people to take paid time off when they are unwell. This is a great support where employees were previously not taking time off due to financial pressures, however there is a concern that paid time off will encourage non-genuine sickness absence.
How to tackle increasing sickness absence numbers
Employers can control how they manage sickness absence to prevent the new legislation of SSP being misused, and this means putting in place robust absence management processes.
A policy outlining the company sickness absence procedures and what to expect if absence is triggered is a key communication tool.
Sickness absence triggers are used by employers to identify high absence levels or frequency e.g. number of short term absences, patterns in absence: preceding bank holidays or sporting events, or Bradford factor (a scoring tool used that converts to points). These triggers can be used to automatically initiate a more formal and documented discussion between the employee and line manager.
Training line managers on how to communicate with employees when employees notify the company of their absence, and then following up on these conversations, is a vital process. This includes what the company expects regarding continued short term absence reporting, and the support available when the employee needs it.
Return to work interviews are an effective tool to formally record the reasons for absence, communicate reoccurring absences, communicate expectations to reduce absences, and to provide support where it is needed e.g. medical condition. The interview ensures that employees are genuinely fit to return to work and can recognise when the employee needs support and potentially a medial referral, or further time off without worry.
Having a robust process in place provides clear communication, ensures fairness and consistency, and ensures that all absences are logged. This logged evidence may be needed if there is a dispute in the future where the employee exceeds the sickness absence triggers.
Tightening up the sickness absence process is essential, to ensure that genuine absence is supported, and where absence is becoming an issue then this can be picked up formally. This approach will help the hospitality sector tackle sickness absence so that the recent SSP entitlement does not have a long term impact on costs.
For more information, reach out to our team of HR Consultations.