Sick Pay Calculator: Days, Daily Rate & Pay Percent

What does $1,000.00 of sick pay mean?

It means that five sick days at a $200 daily rate and full pay are worth $1,000.00: 5 × $200.00 × 100 ÷ 100. The percent is the whole story in miniature — at 100% every sick day is worth a full day's pay, at 80% each day is worth $160.00, and at 50% each day is worth $100.00, so the same five days are worth $1,000.00, $800.00 or $500.00 depending on the policy. The part people get wrong is multiplying days by the daily rate and forgetting the percent: on an 80% policy that shortcut overstates the claim by $200.00 on five days, and the error grows with every extra day.

Three things to check before you trust the number

Is $200 really your daily rate? A daily rate is a weekly wage divided by the days you work each week, and the wrong divisor is the easiest error here: a $1,000 weekly wage is $200 a day over five days but $166.67 over six. The $150 branch earns $750.00 on five days and the $250 branch earns $1,250.00 — a $50 daily-rate error moves the five-day total by $250.00.

Is the percent really 100? Many policies pay full pay only for a first stretch of days, then drop to a fraction. The 80% branch earns $800.00 and the 50% branch earns $500.00 on the same five days — if your claim spans a rate change, split it at the change date and add the two parts, exactly as the guide shows.

Are all five days covered? Some policies start paying only after one to three waiting days, and some cap the number of paid sick days a year. A claim of five days with two waiting days pays for three days, which is $600.00 at $200 and full pay — the same arithmetic, but on three days instead of five.

Worked example

On the defaults: 5 sick days, $200 a day, 100% pay.

1. Gross daily value: $200.00 × 100 ÷ 100 is $200.00 a day.
2. Sick pay: 5 × $200.00 is $1,000.00.
3. Check the reverse: $1,500 at $200 and 100% needs 7.5 days, $1,000 over 5 days at 100% needs $200 a day, and $800 over 5 days at $200 needs 80%.

And the other way: the days behind $1,500 at $200 a day and 100% pay are 7.5 days, the daily rate behind $1,000 at 5 days and 100% pay is $200 a day, and the pay percent behind $800 at 5 days and $200 a day is 80%.

Every branch, checked

• 3 sick days, same rate and percent: 3 sick days, same rate and percent: $600.00 of sick pay.
• 10 sick days, same rate and percent: 10 sick days, same rate and percent: $2,000.00 of sick pay.
• $150 a day, 5 days at 100%: $150 a day, 5 days at 100%: $750.00 of sick pay.
• $250 a day, 5 days at 100%: $250 a day, 5 days at 100%: $1,250.00 of sick pay.
• 80% pay, 5 days at $200 a day: 80% pay, 5 days at $200 a day: $800.00 of sick pay.
• 50% pay, 5 days at $200 a day: 50% pay, 5 days at $200 a day: $500.00 of sick pay.

The reverses, worked backwards

• Days behind $1,500 at $200 a day and 100% pay: 7.5 days — at 7.5 days the figures are $1,500.00 of sick pay.; at the lower neighbor the figures are $1,300.00 of sick pay.; at the upper neighbor the figures are $1,700.00 of sick pay..
• Daily rate behind $1,000 at 5 days and 100% pay: $200 a day — at $200 a day the figures are $1,000.00 of sick pay.; at the lower neighbor the figures are $950.00 of sick pay.; at the upper neighbor the figures are $1,050.00 of sick pay..
• Pay percent behind $800 at 5 days and $200 a day: 80% — at 80% the figures are $800.00 of sick pay.; at the lower neighbor the figures are $750.00 of sick pay.; at the upper neighbor the figures are $850.00 of sick pay..

What the defaults assume

The defaults are 5 sick days, a $200 daily rate and 100% pay, so the headline is one working week off at full pay. The model is one multiplication with a percent: days times daily rate times percent divided by 100. The days reverse is checked at 1 day either side, because 1 day at $200 and full pay is $200.00; the daily-rate reverse is checked at $10 either side, because $10 on 5 days at full pay is $50.00; the percent reverse is checked at 5 points either side, because 5 points on 5 days at $200 is $50.00. The model does not include waiting days, annual caps, tax, or a rate change mid-claim — split the claim at any change date and add the parts.

Output · formula · meaning

Who uses this

• An employee checking a sick-pay claim — 5 days at $200 and full pay is $1,000.00, before any waiting days.
• Someone on a partial-pay policy — the 80% and 50% branches show the same five days worth $800.00 and $500.00.
• A payroll clerk verifying a batch — the reverses recover the days, rate or percent behind any quoted figure.
• Anyone comparing two policies — the branches show how a percent change moves the total faster than a rate change.

Accuracy & limitations

Figures are the model’s own arithmetic on the numbers you type, computed from unrounded values and displayed rounded HALF_UP to 2dp. The main limitation is the policy, not the arithmetic: waiting days, annual caps, rate changes and eligibility rules vary by employer and insurer, and this page pays every day you type at one percent. This page is a calculation tool, not HR, payroll or legal advice.

Cite this calculator

5 sick days at $200 a day and 100% pay earn $1,000 of sick pay. Source: Bright Side Kit, https://brightoolbox.com/sick-pay-calculator/, accessed 28 October 2026.

Frequently asked questions