6 | YOUR CIPP
progress Policy
Welcome to the latest update on what the CIPP’s Policy and Research Team has been involved in, on behalf of you, our members, and the wider pay professions, over the past couple of months your organisation to remain compliant and included some examples of what a transitional protection period could look like. The Department for Work and Pensions and Department of Health and Social Care Joint Work and Health Directorate has now released SSP transitional protections guidance confirming employee entitlements to SSP at the point of transition to the new SSP system on 6 April 2026: l employees earning below the lower earnings limit who are off sick on or after 6 April 2026 will be eligible for SSP l those serving waiting days on 6 April 2026 will receive SSP from that date onwards l employees already receiving SSP before 6 April who earn between £125 and £154.05 per week will receive the flat rate of £123.25 during their continuous sickness absence until they return to work, exhaust their entitlement or their contract ends l employees earning below the lower earnings limit who were off sick before 6 April without entitlement to SSP, will now receive SSP at a rate of 80% of their average weekly earnings (AWE). Calculating AWE and SSP payments: l SSP for those earning below the flat rate will be based on 80% of their AWE, calculated over a relevant 8-week period l payments will be rounded up to the nearest whole penny l for linked periods of incapacity (within 56 days), the initial period’s AWE will be used for subsequent calculations. What’s next? At the time of writing, we’re looking forward to what the new year will bring. We’ll soon be preparing for the BeConnected series in London on 25 February 2026 and online on 26 February. Shortly after, we’ll be welcoming delegates from the pay profession to PayLive 26 in Manchester. We hope to see as many of you as possible there.
Budget You may remember that the last printed issue of Professional went to print before the Budget and we wanted to provide an update here. The online version of the December / January magazine also features more comprehensive coverage, which can be found here: https://ow.ly/Hc1A50XN9s3. The key headlines include: l the tax threshold freeze is to be extended by three years l the state pension is set to rise by 4.8% l the employee earnings threshold for student loan plan 2 for 2026/27 will increase to £29,385 and remain frozen until 2029/30 l tax relief on homeworking expenses abolished unless reimbursed by the employer from 6 April 2026 l self-assessment income to be coded into pay as you earn l from April 2029, the Government will cap National Insurance contributions (NICs) relief on salary sacrifice pension contributions at £2,000 per employee annually l plug-in hybrid electric vehicles – benefits in kind easement l tax and NI exemption expanded to cover reimbursements for eye tests and flu jabs etc. You can also watch and listen to the key announcements from the Budget in our webcast, which can be found here: https://ow.ly/NV8350XN999. On the day of the Budget, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) also published draft guidance on the mandatory payrolling of benefits in kind and expenses, which is available at: https://ow.ly/PTv150XN9ay. Changes to statutory sick pay (SSP) update The last BeKnowledgeable of 2025 concentrated on the changes to SSP coming in April 2026. The webinar covered what needs to happen within
Your Policy Team
Mathew Akrigg MCIPPdip MAAT Policy and Research Officer (Currently on secondment at HMRC)
Samantha O’Sullivan ChFCIPPdip Policy and Advisory Lead
Sarah Smith ChMCIPPdip Policy and Research Officer
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