Sick Leave Policy UK: Complete Employer Guide & Template Rules (2026)

Every UK employer must tell staff in their written statement of employment particulars (on or before day one of employment) what terms and conditions apply to incapacity for work due to sickness or injury, including any provision for sick pay. Putting the full operational rules in a dedicated, accessible sickness absence policy keeps contracts concise while giving managers and staff a single workflow to follow.

In a 5 to 25 person business or school, ambiguity around sickness reporting causes immediate friction: a shift goes uncovered because a text message went to the wrong person, payroll is unsure whether to pay Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) or contractual full pay, or a manager asks for a doctor's note after two days of flu. A well-structured policy answers each question in plain English.

If you want a ready-to-share document tailored to your exact allowance and reporting rules, you can generate one in 60 seconds using our free UK Staff Holiday and Sickness Policy Generator.

Set out clearly who an employee should contact on their first day of sickness, the normal time deadline (for example, at least one hour before their rostered shift starts, or by 9:00am for office staff), and who to contact if their line manager is unavailable. Ask the employee to share the general nature of their absence, whether it relates to a workplace accident, and when they expect to be well enough to return.

Keep your reporting rules compatible with Statutory Sick Pay law. Under GOV.UK SSP guidance, an employer cannot withhold SSP simply because an employee did not phone in by a specific early-morning deadline if they had a good reason, nor can an employer insist that sickness is reported in person or on a special employer form before SSP is paid. Always include a sensible exception where an employee is hospitalised or incapacitated and a family member notifies you on their behalf.

For absences lasting more than a couple of days, explain how often the employee should keep in touch during the first week before a fit note provides an expected return date. Daily calls for a five-day bout of flu rarely help anyone; agreeing a mid-week check-in is usually far more practical.

Make sure your policy reflects the April 2026 reforms under the Employment Rights Act 2025. From 6 April 2026, the old three-day waiting period and the £125-per-week Lower Earnings Limit are abolished. Eligible employees qualify for SSP from their first full qualifying working day of sickness, paid at the lower of 80% of their normal average weekly earnings or the flat weekly cap of £123.25 for 2026/27, for up to 28 weeks.

Rather than hard-coding a single tax year's pound figure into a static Word document and forgetting to update it each April, explain the statutory framework and state that SSP is paid at the current statutory rate published on GOV.UK.

If you also provide enhanced company sick pay (occupational sick pay), separate the two rules clearly. State any qualifying service period (such as completing probation), how many days or weeks of full or half pay are available in a rolling 12-month window or leave year, and explicitly confirm that contractual sick pay is inclusive of any SSP due for the same day.

By law, employees can self-certify sickness absence for the first 7 calendar days in a row. Calendar days include weekends, bank holidays, and non-working days for part-time staff. For example, if a full-time employee is off sick on Thursday and Friday, feels unwell over Saturday and Sunday, and is still off on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, that is 7 calendar days of absence (even though only 5 working days were missed).

You can only require medical evidence (a Statement of Fitness for Work, or fit note) once the absence lasts more than 7 consecutive calendar days. Fit notes can be issued digitally or on paper by a GP, hospital doctor, registered nurse, pharmacist, physiotherapist, or occupational therapist, and must be free of charge to the employee when issued after day 7.

When a fit note states that an employee 'may be fit for work' with advice such as a phased return, amended duties, altered hours, or workplace adaptations, treat that advice as a constructive prompt. Meet with the employee to discuss whether the adjustments can be accommodated, put the agreed plan in writing with a review date, and treat the employee as still off sick if you cannot reasonably implement the recommended adjustments.

A brief, private return-to-work conversation after every spell of sickness is one of the most effective ways to support staff and reduce repeat short-term absence. For a one- or two-day absence, five minutes is enough: welcome the person back, check they are well enough to resume normal duties, complete their self-certification record, and ask if anything at work contributed to the illness.

Many UK employers use attendance review prompts, such as a certain number of absence spells in a rolling 12-month period or an illustrative Bradford Factor score (S × S × D), to make sure managers hold a supportive review conversation consistently across teams. If your policy mentions review points, state clearly that a score or trigger prompts a conversation to understand the context, not an automatic warning.

Under the Equality Act 2010, employers have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments where a worker has a disability (a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities). Applying rigid attendance triggers without discounting or adjusting for disability-related absence, or counting pregnancy-related sickness towards attendance warnings, creates serious discrimination risk.