UK household-employer guide
Sick pay & statutory leave for domestic staff
If your nanny or housekeeper is off sick, Statutory Sick Pay can apply from the first full working day. Family leave follows separate eligibility, notice and pay rules.
Do I have to pay my nanny or housekeeper when they are sick?
For sickness absences starting on or after 6 April 2026, an eligible employee can receive Statutory Sick Pay from the first full working day of sickness, with no lower earnings threshold. The weekly amount is 80% of average weekly earnings or £123.25, whichever is lower, and SSP can be paid for up to 28 weeks. This is general statutory guidance: eligibility, average weekly earnings, linked absences and the employee's actual working days should be checked using the current GOV.UK employer calculator.
A household can offer more generous contractual sick pay, but it cannot use a contractual scheme to provide less than the statutory amount where SSP is due. GOV.UK says any contractual or occupational sick-pay scheme should be included in the employment contract. This is general information, so the household should check the written terms and payroll treatment for the individual employee rather than assuming full salary continues automatically.
Statutory Sick Pay rules from 6 April 2026.
The April 2026 reform changed both who can qualify and when payment begins. Absences that started before 6 April can fall under transitional rules.
The statutory figures above are dated to the 2026/27 rules. They are not a payroll result for a specific employee. Check the current rate again each April and after any statutory change.
SSP still has eligibility, notice and evidence rules.
Removing the earnings threshold did not turn every absence into an automatic payment.
Sick leave does not stop statutory holiday building up.
GOV.UK says statutory annual leave continues to accrue while an employee is off sick, no matter how long the sickness absence lasts, and annual leave can be taken during sick leave. That means a household should not simply reduce the employee's annual-leave balance because they have been absent through sickness. The interaction between sick leave, holiday pay and carry-over can depend on the circumstances, so this is general information rather than an individual leave calculation.
Family leave is not one single entitlement.
Maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental, neonatal, parental bereavement and unpaid parental leave each have their own eligibility and notice rules.
Statutory Maternity Leave is made up of 26 weeks of Ordinary Maternity Leave and 26 weeks of Additional Maternity Leave. HMRC says the leave entitlement applies regardless of length of service. Statutory Maternity Pay has separate qualifying rules and can run for up to 39 weeks, so leave and pay must be assessed separately.
From 6 April 2026, Paternity Leave is a day-one employment right for eligible employees. The one or two weeks can be taken together or separately and must normally finish within 52 weeks of birth. Statutory Paternity Pay still has separate continuity-of-service and earnings conditions.
Eligible employees can take 26 weeks of Ordinary Adoption Leave plus 26 weeks of Additional Adoption Leave. Adoption Pay is a separate statutory-pay entitlement with its own qualifying rules.
Eligible parents can convert the unused balance of maternity or adoption leave into Shared Parental Leave, up to a maximum of 50 weeks, with up to 37 weeks of Shared Parental Pay available where the pay criteria are met. Eligibility and notice depend on both parents' circumstances.
For qualifying neonatal care, leave is a day-one employee right and can add up to 12 weeks on top of other parental leave. Statutory Neonatal Care Pay has separate service and earnings criteria.
Eligible employees can take one or two weeks for each child who has died or was stillborn, with leave available from the first day of employment. Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay is a separate entitlement and has its own eligibility test.
From 6 April 2026, eligible employees can give notice for Unpaid Parental Leave from day one. The statutory entitlement is 18 weeks per child up to the child's 18th birthday, normally limited to four weeks per child in a year unless the employer agrees otherwise.
A new day-one right applies in England, Scotland and Wales where the mother, main adopter or main intended parent dies on or after 6 April 2026 while the child is under one or within the first year of adoption. There is no statutory pay entitlement for this leave.
The table above is a route map, not a complete eligibility decision. Family-leave rules can differ by employee status, service, earnings, family circumstances, territorial rules and notice dates. Check the specific GOV.UK employer guide for the relevant leave before confirming an individual request.
Leave and statutory pay must be checked separately.
An employee can have a right to leave without qualifying for the corresponding statutory payment, or qualify for a different payment route.
For 2026/27, this standard rate applies to Statutory Paternity Pay, Statutory Shared Parental Pay, Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay and Statutory Neonatal Care Pay, and to the later weeks of Statutory Maternity and Adoption Pay. Maternity and Adoption Pay use 90% of average weekly earnings for the first six weeks. This is general rate information; each payment has its own qualifying test.
If the employment contract or household policy provides enhanced sick pay, maternity pay or other family leave, record the enhancement clearly and operate it consistently. The contractual enhancement sits on top of the statutory floor and does not remove statutory rights.
Average weekly earnings, qualifying weeks, tax and National Insurance treatment can affect the pay-period result. This page does not calculate an individual employee's maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental, neonatal or bereavement pay.
Use the correct notice and evidence process for the type of absence.
A household policy can explain who an employee should contact, but it should not collapse all sickness and parental leave into one generic absence rule.
From our work
We define the normal working pattern before an absence needs to be administered.
Filipino Domestic Services' current staffing enquiry asks a household to define the role, postcode, live-in or live-out arrangement, normal days and hours, recurring duties and preferred start date. The employer guide then asks the household to confirm gross pay, working time, holiday, payroll, pension and insurance arrangements before the employee starts.
That information becomes practical when somebody is sick. A household needs to know which days the employee normally works, who they should contact, what the contract says about enhanced sick pay and how payroll will record the absence. A vague instruction such as “let us know if you cannot come in” is less useful than a clear reporting route with a reasonable deadline and a payroll record tied to the actual working pattern.
Family leave needs the same separation of role administration from candidate matching. Filipino Domestic Services introduces candidates; the household remains responsible for the employment terms and statutory administration after a direct hire. We would therefore keep the employee's statutory leave request distinct from questions about replacement cover or future staffing. The first step is to identify the correct leave category, check its notice and pay criteria against current official guidance, and record the household's response consistently.
Questions household employers ask about sick pay and family leave.
Do I have to pay my nanny from the first day they are sick?
For a sickness absence starting on or after 6 April 2026, an eligible employee can receive Statutory Sick Pay from the first full working day of sickness. The amount is 80% of average weekly earnings or £123.25 a week, whichever is lower. Check the current GOV.UK calculator for the employee's actual dates and earnings.
Is there still a minimum earnings threshold for Statutory Sick Pay?
No lower earnings threshold applies to SSP for absences starting on or after 6 April 2026. The employee must still satisfy the other SSP conditions, including the employment, sickness and notice requirements.
When can I ask a nanny or housekeeper for a fit note?
GOV.UK says an employer can ask for a fit note when the employee has been off sick for more than seven days in a row, including non-working days. For seven calendar days or less, the worker can self-certify their sickness.
Does holiday continue to accrue while a domestic employee is off sick?
Yes. Statutory annual leave continues to accrue during sickness absence, and annual leave can be taken while an employee is off sick. Carry-over and holiday-pay questions can depend on the working pattern and reason leave was not taken.
Does a nanny get maternity or paternity leave from day one?
Statutory Maternity Leave is available regardless of length of service for an eligible employee, and Paternity Leave became a day-one right from 6 April 2026. Statutory Maternity Pay and Statutory Paternity Pay have separate eligibility tests, so a right to leave does not automatically mean a right to statutory pay.
Can I offer better sick pay or family leave than the statutory minimum?
Yes. A household can provide contractual sick pay or enhanced family-leave terms above the statutory minimum. The enhanced terms should be recorded clearly in the employment contract or policy and operated consistently alongside the employee's statutory rights.
Sources and compliance boundary.
This guide summarises current UK sick-pay and family-leave information for household employers. It is educational content, not personalised legal, payroll or HR advice. Employment status, dates, earnings, family circumstances, territorial rules and contractual enhancements can change the correct treatment.
Keep the absence record, payroll and leave entitlement aligned.
Identify the correct absence category first, then apply the relevant notice, evidence and statutory-pay rules to the employee's real working pattern.