Sick Leave Policy Template UK 2026: Free Download & Complete Guide
Everything you need to write a compliant, fair sick leave policy for your UK business — with a free template covering notification procedures, fit notes, SSP, return-to-work interviews, and more.
Why Every UK Business Needs a Sick Leave Policy
Sickness absence costs UK employers an estimated £29 billion per year. Yet a surprising number of small and medium-sized businesses still operate without a written sick leave policy — relying instead on informal arrangements, verbal agreements, or a paragraph buried in an outdated employee handbook.
A clear, well-written sick leave policy protects both the employer and the employee. It sets expectations about how sickness should be reported, what evidence is required, how pay works, and what happens when someone is off for an extended period. Without one, you are left making decisions on the spot, which almost inevitably leads to inconsistency — and inconsistency is what leads to grievances, tribunal claims, and damaged trust.
This guide walks through every section your sick leave policy should contain, explains the legal requirements you must meet, and provides a template you can adapt for your own organisation.
Legal Requirements: What UK Law Demands
Before drafting your policy, you need to understand the legal minimums. UK employment law sets several non-negotiable requirements around sickness absence:
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
Employers must pay SSP to eligible employees from the fourth qualifying day of absence. In 2026/27 the rate is reviewed annually — check the SSP calculator for the current figure. SSP is payable for up to 28 weeks.
Fit Notes (Statements of Fitness for Work)
Employees must provide a fit note from a GP, hospital doctor, or other approved healthcare professional for any absence lasting more than seven consecutive days (including non-working days). For absences of seven days or fewer, employees can self-certify.
Equality Act 2010
You must make reasonable adjustments for employees with disabilities. Sickness absence related to a disability must be handled carefully — applying absence triggers mechanically without considering disability can amount to discrimination.
Pregnancy-Related Sickness
Absence due to pregnancy-related illness must be recorded separately and never used against the employee in absence management processes.
What Your Sick Leave Policy Should Include
A comprehensive sick leave policy should cover the following areas. Below, we explain what each section needs to contain and why it matters.
1. Scope and Purpose
Start by stating who the policy applies to (all employees, workers, or specific groups) and what the policy aims to achieve. Keep this brief — one or two paragraphs. The purpose should acknowledge that sickness happens, that the company wants to support employees in recovering, and that the policy exists to ensure consistency and fairness.
2. Notification Procedures
This is arguably the most important operational section of the policy. Employees need to know exactly what to do when they wake up unwell. Your policy should specify:
- Who to contact — their line manager, HR, or a specific absence line
- How to contact them — phone call, text message, email, or through your absence management system
- When to make contact — ideally before their shift starts, or within a specific timeframe (e.g. within 30 minutes of their normal start time)
- What information to provide — the nature of the illness (in general terms), expected duration, and any urgent work that needs covering
- Ongoing contact requirements — how often they should update their manager if the absence continues beyond the first day
Be clear that text messages to colleagues do not count as proper notification. You want a direct conversation with the relevant manager wherever possible.
3. Self-Certification and Fit Notes
Explain the evidence requirements at each stage:
| Absence Duration | Evidence Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1–7 calendar days | Self-certification form | Employee completes on return to work. No GP note required. |
| 8+ calendar days | Fit note from GP or approved healthcare professional | Must be provided promptly. Fit notes can now be issued digitally. |
| Ongoing / long-term | Consecutive fit notes with no gaps | Each fit note should cover from the expiry of the previous one. |
Your policy should also state what happens if an employee fails to provide the required evidence — for example, that the absence may be treated as unauthorised and pay may be withheld.
4. Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
Set out the basics of SSP clearly: who is eligible, the three waiting days, how long it is payable, and the current weekly rate. If your company offers an enhanced company sick pay scheme (sometimes called occupational sick pay), detail the terms here — for instance, how many weeks at full pay and half pay, any qualifying period before the enhanced scheme applies, and how it interacts with SSP.
For a quick reference on current SSP rates and eligibility, see our Statutory Sick Pay calculator.
5. Return-to-Work Interviews
Return-to-work interviews are one of the most effective tools for managing absence. Research consistently shows that organisations that conduct return-to-work interviews after every absence see a measurable reduction in short-term sickness absence.
Your policy should state that a return-to-work conversation will take place after every period of absence, no matter how short. The interview should:
- Welcome the employee back
- Check they are fit to return and whether any adjustments are needed
- Establish the reason for absence and whether it is related to a recurring condition
- Update absence records
- Identify any workplace factors contributing to absence (stress, workload, environment)
Frame these as supportive conversations, not interrogations. The tone of the policy matters.
6. Absence Triggers and Monitoring
Most organisations use absence triggers — specific points at which a more formal review is initiated. Common triggers include:
- Three or more separate absences in a rolling 12-month period
- Eight or more working days lost in a rolling 12-month period
- A recognisable pattern (e.g. regular Monday or Friday absences)
- A Bradford Factor score above a defined threshold
Be explicit that hitting a trigger does not automatically result in disciplinary action — it simply prompts a meeting to discuss the situation. This is important for legal defensibility and for maintaining employee trust.
7. Long-Term Sickness
Long-term sickness (typically defined as four or more consecutive weeks) requires a different approach from short-term absence. Your policy should cover:
- Keeping in touch — agree a reasonable frequency for contact (e.g. weekly or fortnightly phone calls), respecting the employee's need for rest
- Occupational health referrals — explain when and why you might refer someone to occupational health, and that this is about support, not surveillance
- Phased returns — outline how you handle gradual returns to work, such as reduced hours or modified duties for an agreed period
- Reasonable adjustments — if the condition amounts to a disability under the Equality Act, set out your commitment to exploring and implementing reasonable adjustments
- Ill-health capability process — as a last resort, if someone cannot return to work and all alternatives have been exhausted, explain the process for managing this. This should always involve a thorough, well-documented process and usually legal advice.
8. Reasonable Adjustments
While reasonable adjustments sit within the long-term sickness section, they deserve specific attention. Under the Equality Act 2010, if an employee has a disability (a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities), you have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments.
Examples of reasonable adjustments include:
- Adjusted working hours or shift patterns
- Working from home arrangements
- Modified duties or reallocation of certain tasks
- Additional breaks
- Specialist equipment or software
- Time off for medical appointments
- Phased return to work after long-term absence
Your policy should make clear that disability-related sickness absence will be considered separately from other absence for the purposes of any triggers or formal processes.
Important: Discrimination Risk
Failing to make reasonable adjustments, or treating disability-related absence the same as other absence when applying triggers or disciplinary procedures, can result in discrimination claims at an employment tribunal. If in doubt, seek legal advice before taking formal action against an employee with a known health condition.
9. Sick Pay and Annual Leave
Employees continue to accrue statutory holiday entitlement while off sick. If an employee is unable to take their annual leave due to sickness, they may be entitled to carry it over. Your policy should address how this works in your organisation, including any limits on carry-over.
10. Sickness During Annual Leave
If an employee falls ill during a period of booked annual leave, your policy should explain whether they can reclaim those holiday days as sick leave (subject to providing a fit note or self-certification) and the process for doing so.
11. Medical Appointments
Clarify whether routine medical and dental appointments are treated as sick leave, annual leave, or unpaid absence. Many employers ask that routine appointments be arranged outside working hours where possible, but allow reasonable time off for hospital appointments or specialist referrals.
Template Structure: Sections at a Glance
Here is a summary of every section your sick leave policy document should contain:
Common Mistakes to Avoid
When drafting or reviewing your sick leave policy, watch out for these common pitfalls:
Policy Pitfalls
- Being too vague — “Contact your manager as soon as possible” is not specific enough. State the timeframe and method.
- No distinction between short-term and long-term — these require fundamentally different management approaches.
- Automatic triggers — using absence triggers as automatic disciplinary steps rather than prompts for conversation is legally risky.
- Ignoring the Equality Act — failing to mention reasonable adjustments or the separate treatment of disability-related absence.
- Punitive tone — a policy that reads like a list of punishments discourages people from reporting genuine illness. Balance firmness with support.
Tracking Sick Leave Effectively
A written policy is only useful if you actually track absence consistently. If sick leave is recorded in a mixture of spreadsheets, emails, and sticky notes, your policy becomes impossible to enforce fairly.
You need a system that records every absence with start and end dates, tracks different absence types separately (so you can exclude protected absences from triggers), and gives managers a clear view of their team's absence history. TimeTally's sick leave tracker does exactly this — recording sickness absence alongside other leave types, with approval workflows and a team calendar showing who is off when.
Combined with our free Bradford Factor calculator and SSP calculator, you have the tools to implement your sick leave policy consistently and fairly. TimeTally is available at just £2 per employee per month, with export to Xero, QuickBooks, or CSV.
For businesses looking for a broader solution, TimeTally also provides full absence management with custom leave types, pro-rata calculations for part-time staff, and UK statutory entitlement calculations.
Summary
A good sick leave policy does three things: it sets clear expectations so employees know what to do when they are unwell, it gives managers a consistent framework for handling absence, and it protects your business legally by demonstrating that you treat all employees fairly.
Key takeaways:
- Cover notification procedures, evidence requirements, SSP, return-to-work interviews, and long-term sickness as a minimum
- Always address reasonable adjustments and the Equality Act
- Use absence triggers as conversation starters, not automatic disciplinary steps
- Separate pregnancy-related and disability-related absence from general absence monitoring
- Track sick leave consistently using a dedicated tool like TimeTally
- Review your policy annually to ensure it reflects current legislation and best practice
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