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Domiciliary care glossary

Qualifying day

A qualifying day is a day used to calculate Statutory Sick Pay. It is normally a day the employee is contractually required to work, although an employer and employee can use a different agreed pattern for a variable rota. SSP is paid only for full qualifying days within a sickness absence.

Qualifying day, calendar day and scheduled shift

TermWhat it controlsCare example
Calendar dayThe length of the sickness period, including weekends and non-working days.A Friday-to-Monday illness contains four calendar days.
Qualifying dayWhether SSP is payable for that full sick day.Monday is payable if it is part of the agreed qualifying pattern.
Scheduled shiftThe work and visits removed from the rota.One waking-night shift can cross two calendar dates but remains one rota assignment.

Fixed and rotating care patterns

For a fixed three-day worker contracted to work Monday, Wednesday and Friday, those are normally the qualifying days. A full week of sickness therefore pays three daily SSP amounts, not seven.

For a rotating rota, record the agreed qualifying-day pattern separately from the visits later allocated to the worker. If there is no agreement, HMRC fallback rules apply; do not invent a favourable pattern after the sickness begins.

Zero-hours and bank workers

A casual or zero-hours worker can qualify when they are treated as an employee for SSP and meet the other conditions. Entitlement does not make every day a qualifying day. The employer still needs an agreed or statutory pattern and evidence of the dates used.

Practical rule: if the public calculator is set to a variable rota, enter the qualifying dates explicitly. It does not infer shifts that were never scheduled.

How daily SSP is calculated

For a part week, divide the applicable weekly SSP rate by the number of qualifying days in that SSP week, then multiply by the qualifying days on which the employee was sick. SSP weeks run Sunday to Saturday.

Removing waiting days from 6 April 2026 did not remove qualifying days. They still decide which full sick days are payable and the divisor used for the daily rate.

Three care examples

Three-day worker

Monday, Wednesday and Friday are qualifying days. A Tuesday illness is part of the sickness period but is not itself payable.

Variable-hours carer

The agreed pattern or explicit qualifying dates determine SSP; the number of client visits does not replace that decision.

Waking-night shift

Record the contractual or agreed qualifying day consistently even when the shift starts on one date and ends on another.

Related terms and tools

Statutory Sick Pay →Average weekly earnings →Linked period of sickness →Self-certification and fit notes →Company sick pay →Zero-hours worker →
Calculate qualifying days and cover cost

Reviewed 28 July 2026. Primary source: HMRC manual SSP calculation guidance.

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