Conditions, pay and pension

Police career break rules: pay, increments and pension

The national rules in Annex OO, what eight force policies add, and what a break really costs: take-home pay, delayed increments, pension you cannot buy back, and the annual allowance charge some officers face when they return.

Work out what my break costs Or read the short answer

Independent information, not advice · Sources checked 14 October 2026 · England and Wales, with Scotland noted

Short answer

A police career break is unpaid leave of up to five years (longer only in exceptional circumstances), open to officers who have finished probation. It is set nationally by Annex OO to the Police Regulations 2003, and each force adds its own policy. You stay a police officer, keep your rank and pay point, and come back on the same hours. But you are not paid, the time does not count towards increments, annual leave or pension, and you cannot buy the pension back. For a constable on pay point 4, a year out costs about £26,777 of take-home pay, about £14,318 more in later increments, and about £1,206 a year of pension for life. Officers with 1987 or 2006 service can also face an annual allowance tax charge when they return.

What a career break is, in one minute

A career break is a long period of unpaid leave that you agree with your force in advance, for a reason such as caring for children or relatives, study, travel or your own health. It is not resigning: you stay a police officer, keep your rank and pay point, and have the right to come back on the same hours and work pattern.

Up to five years, more only in exceptional circumstances, after probation.
No pay, and no paid annual leave builds up. The pay, leave and allowances rules are switched off for the break.
Increments pause. Every increment still to come is later by the length of the break.
No pension builds, and you cannot buy it back. Death, ill-health and injury cover continue.
You are still bound by the regulations, including the rules on business interests and the Standards of Professional Behaviour.
Coming back usually means vetting checks, and in some forces a medical or fitness test. The same post is not guaranteed.

What a year out costs a constable on pay point 4

Full time, £36,335 a year, next increment due in six months, a 12-month break from April 2026:

Pay forgone: £37,697 gross, about £26,777 after tax, NI and pension contributions.
Later increments: about £14,318 more, gross, because each increment comes a year late.
Pension: about £1,206 a year less from retirement, for life, in today’s money.

Work out your own figures

Enter your rank, pay point, hours and how long you want to be away. The calculator shows the pay you go without by tax year, your new increment dates, the pension you do not build, and an annual allowance check for the year you return. Free, and nothing you enter is stored.

Open the career break calculator

The national rules: regulation 33 and Annex OO

Career breaks for police officers in England and Wales come from a Police Negotiating Board agreement of 19 October 2000 (PNB Circular 00/16, Home Office Circular 4/2001). Regulation 33(12) of the Police Regulations 2003 now gives the Home Secretary the power to set the terms, and the terms are in a determination called Annex OO. The current text replaced the old one from 22 February 2019 and was published with Home Office Circular 003/2019. We found no national change since.

Annex OO, paragraph by paragraph (from 22 February 2019)
Paragraph	Topic	What it says
Para 1	Who can apply	A member who has completed probation under regulation 12, or a rejoiner who has completed probation under regulation 10B(2)(b). A human resources professional decides within 28 days and gives written reasons for a refusal.
Para 2	Appeal	Within 28 days of a refusal, to the chief officer, who decides it personally (or an acting chief officer).
Para 3	What you agree first	Start date; length, “not greater than five years, save that in exceptional circumstances the chief officer may allow more”; end date, no later than the compulsory retirement age for your rank; objectives with timescales.
Para 4	Changes	You must tell the chief officer about anything that may affect the objectives or timescales.
Para 5	Work and study	No full-time education, paid activities (or ones where expenses are reimbursed) or selling goods or services by way of business without the chief officer’s agreement.
Paras 6 and 7	Recall	Only after a review, if the objectives may not be achievable, with at least one month’s notice and a chance to make representations. Otherwise you cannot be called back early.
Para 8	Return	On the agreed date, “with the same determined hours and work pattern as before”.
Para 9	Coming back early	The force must let you return within one month of your notice if there is a suitable vacancy, or within three months in any other case.
Para 10	Your status	You remain a member of your force for the Regulations, except Part 4 (pay), Part 5 (leave) and Part 6 (allowances and expenses).
Para 11	Pregnancy	Tell the force as soon as reasonably practicable. You may suspend the break so maternity leave and pay rules apply; resuming it needs further agreement.

Annex OO is short. It does not set a minimum length, limit the number of breaks, require keeping in touch, or mention pension, vetting or the warrant card. Forces fill those gaps in their own policies, which is why the details differ (see the force table). Annex OO is the national baseline that every force policy applies.

The Police Federation’s summary of the scheme says: “Members on career breaks under this scheme remain a member of the force, so there is no break in service. They will not be paid during career breaks and the time out will not count for entitlement to pay increments and paid annual leave.” It adds that “the officer’s rank and pay point, and eligibility for replacement allowance will be protected”.

Who can take a career break

Nationally, any officer who has completed probation can apply, and so can a rejoiner who has completed the probation set under regulation 10B(2)(b). Probationers cannot. There is no national rule on reasons, and no right to a break: a human resources professional decides, with an appeal to the chief officer.

What forces add:

Length of service. Surrey and Sussex ask for more than two years’ continuous service. Nottinghamshire counts newly promoted sergeants and inspectors as still in probation until confirmed in rank.
Conduct, performance and attendance. Most forces weigh them, and a break is less likely while you are under a disciplinary sanction, a formal misconduct process or unsatisfactory performance procedures.
Reasons. Commonly caring for children or other dependants, education, personal development, travel, voluntary work and health. Several forces say a break is not for trying out or starting another career.
Notice. Typically three or four months before you want to start (Norfolk and Suffolk, West Midlands), sometimes 12 weeks (Nottinghamshire) or 28 days (North Yorkshire).

Annex OO sets the decision at 28 days, with written reasons for a refusal, and an appeal within 28 days decided personally by the chief officer. Put your reasons and objectives in writing: Annex OO paragraph 3(d) requires agreed objectives with timescales anyway.

How long, extensions and more than one break

The national limit is five years. A chief officer can allow more only in exceptional circumstances, and the break cannot run past the compulsory retirement age for your rank. Forces set the rest:

Minimum: three months (Surrey and Sussex), six months (West Yorkshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, West Midlands, Nottinghamshire) or a year (North Yorkshire). West Yorkshire handles anything shorter under its unpaid leave policy.
First approval: often shorter than the maximum, then extended. Surrey and Sussex approve up to two years at a time; Norfolk and Suffolk up to three, then one or two-year extensions.
More than one break: allowed in several forces if the total stays within five years. Norfolk and Suffolk want at least 12 months between breaks; North Yorkshire a year’s service. Police Scotland allows any number within the total.
Extensions: ask early. Police Scotland wants eight weeks’ notice; West Midlands three months.

The calculator accepts up to seven years, and flags anything over five as needing exceptional circumstances.

During the break: still an officer

Annex OO paragraph 10 keeps you “a member of his police force for the purposes of the Regulations”, except the parts on pay, leave and allowances. That has practical effects:

Conduct rules still apply. The restrictions on private life (regulation 6), the business interests rules (regulations 7 to 9) and the Standards of Professional Behaviour all continue. So can misconduct proceedings, and failing to return when agreed can itself become a misconduct matter (West Yorkshire).
Warrant card. Forces differ. West Yorkshire and West Midlands let you keep it (West Midlands: not outside the UK); Norfolk and Suffolk take it back with your kit; North Yorkshire agrees it case by case; Police Scotland decides by length.
Being called in. Some forces may ask you to attend court or short-term duties. West Midlands pays you for that time, and North Yorkshire includes two days’ officer safety training a year.
Keeping in touch. There is no national rule. Forces ask for contact once a year (Police Scotland), every six months (North Yorkshire), an annual declaration (West Midlands) or an annual review (West Yorkshire), and for changes of address and circumstances.
Annual leave. None builds up during the break, and the time does not count towards the service that moves you up the leave scale (Federation summary; Norfolk and Suffolk). See the annual leave hub.
Pregnancy. Tell the force as soon as reasonably practicable. You can suspend the break so that maternity leave and pay rules apply (Annex OO paragraph 11).
Police housing and car schemes. The Federation advises discussing force accommodation before you apply, and West Midlands requires you to leave it. A car salary sacrifice usually ends: Kent and Essex charge a termination fee on a career break. See our car salary sacrifice guide.
Long service medal. West Midlands says career break time does not count towards it.

Second jobs and business interests during a break

A career break is not a way round the business interests rules. Annex OO paragraph 5 says you must not take on “full-time education or activities for which he is paid or reimbursed expenses or which involve him in the sale of goods or services, by way of business, without the agreement of the chief officer.” The ordinary business interests rules also keep applying, because they sit outside the parts Annex OO switches off.

West Yorkshire: “Officers will not be allowed to undertake paid employment whilst on a career break.” An existing approved business interest can continue.
West Midlands: breaks are not for taking up other paid work, another career or starting a business. New interests need approval, and paid full-time permanent work with a similar skill set will not be approved.
Norfolk and Suffolk: no other employment or business interest without the force’s prior agreement.
Police Scotland: a break is not normally supported where other paid work has been found or is sought, unless its only purpose is to fund the break.

If you plan to earn anything during a break, even casual or self-employed work, get written agreement first. Our guide to second jobs and business interests covers how to apply and what is usually refused.

Coming back: rank, hours, posting and notice

Rank and pay point. Kept. Norfolk and Suffolk say you are “guaranteed to return to the same rank”; West Midlands says rank and rate of pay are protected. Pay awards made while you were away apply to your pay point when you return.
Hours and work pattern. The same as before the break (Annex OO paragraph 8). To come back part time, or on different hours, make a flexible working request.
Posting. Not guaranteed. West Yorkshire decides where you go and usually returns specialists to core policing; North Yorkshire gives no right of appeal against the posting.
On the agreed date. Forces ask you to make contact well before: three months (West Yorkshire, Norfolk and Suffolk); West Midlands contacts you six months before.
Early. Give notice. The force must take you back within one month if there is a suitable vacancy, otherwise within three months (paragraph 9).
Recalled early. Only after a review, if the force believes the agreed objectives may not be achievable, with at least a month’s notice and a chance to make representations (paragraphs 6 and 7).
Not coming back. Resign with the usual notice (one month in West Yorkshire, 28 days in Norfolk and Suffolk). Pension rules for leavers apply: see resigning from the police.

One pension point on return: from 1 April 2026, if you come back from unpaid leave of a year or more, your contribution band is set on your rate of pay on the day you return, rather than on the previous year’s earnings (regulation 167A of the 2015 regulations). The bands are 12.88% to 14.22%.

Vetting, medicals and fitness on return

Annex OO says nothing about vetting, but every force policy we read checks it before you return, and the longer you are away the more is checked.

West Yorkshire: “All vetting checks, fitness testing and” personal safety training “must be completed prior to the officer returning.” If you spent a long time overseas you must provide evidence or references.
Norfolk and Suffolk: return is subject to vetting, with evidence of UK residence for the last three years (recruitment vetting) or five years (management vetting), allowing travel of up to a year. A break planned around travel that would make you ineligible for vetting will not be approved, and failing vetting ends the agreement. A Workplace Health medical too.
West Midlands: keep your recruitment vetting during the break; management vetting is suspended. A health check if away under a year, updated clearance if longer.
North Yorkshire: a vetting review, and a criminal records check if you lived abroad for more than six months. Failing vetting “may be regarded as gross incompetence”.
Surrey and Sussex: pass vetting, a medical where appropriate and the fitness test.
Police Scotland: no re-vetting under a year; normal vetting if longer, which “will not stop your return to work”.

Plan for it before you go

If you will live or travel abroad, ask your force vetting unit before you apply what evidence they will need on your return, and keep it as you go: addresses, dates, and references or police certificates from other countries. Tell the force about any arrest, caution or financial problem during the break, as you would in service.

Pay and increments: the cost after you come back

During the break you are paid nothing. You also pay no income tax, National Insurance or pension contributions on that pay, so the real loss is your take-home pay. If the break covers part of a tax year, the pay you do earn that year keeps your full personal allowance, so the tax saving can be more than your usual rate.

The bigger hidden cost is progression. Regulation 24(3)(d) of the Police Regulations 2003 says that, when your service in a rank is counted for pay, “any period of unpaid leave shall be disregarded”. Your pay point is protected, but the clock stops: the increment you were due during or after the break, and every one after it, comes later by the length of the break. (Regulation 24(3)(e) counts part-time service as full time, so part-time officers progress at the same speed.)

Worked example: a constable on pay point 4, one year out

Constable, £36,335 a year, full time, next increment (to point 5, £39,058) due in October 2026. Break from April 2026 to March 2027.

Pay forgone: six months at £36,335 and six at £39,058 = £37,697 gross.
Deductions you no longer pay: income tax £4,054, NI £2,010, pension contributions £4,855.
Take-home pay forgone: about £26,777.
Increments: back on point 4 in April 2027, so point 5 arrives in October 2027 instead of October 2026, and the top of the scale (£52,015) in October 2029 instead of October 2028. Until then you earn less than you would have: about £14,318 gross, at today’s rates.

A shorter break of six months (April to September 2026) costs £18,168 gross but only about £11,712 take-home, because the six months you work keep your whole personal allowance. The increment still moves: to April 2027.

A simple way to see the increment cost: if you would have reached the top of your scale before retiring either way, a break of a given length costs you roughly that length of time at top-of-scale pay in total, split between the pay forgone during the break and the lower pay afterwards. The closer you are to the top, the more of the cost falls inside the break; at the top there is no later cost at all.

Worked example: a sergeant on point 2, three years out

Sergeant on £55,443, next increment due April 2027, break from April 2026 to March 2029.

Without the break: £55,443, £56,573 and £58,175 over the three years, so £170,191 gross forgone (about £115,363 take-home).
On return the sergeant restarts on point 2, with point 3 in April 2030 and the top in April 2031: about £4,334 more gross.
Pension not built: about £3,078 a year of 2015 pension, worth about £3,873 a year at retirement in today’s money.

Worked example: a part-time constable at the top, two years out

Constable on pay point 7 working 30 hours (75%), so £39,011 a year. Two-year break: £78,023 gross forgone, about £54,553 take-home. No increment delay, because there are no increments left. Pension not built: about £1,411 a year, worth about £1,722 a year at retirement.

These figures use today’s pay scales for every year, so pay awards are left out, and 2026/27 tax rates. Use the career break calculator for your own rank, point, hours and dates.

What a one-year break costs, by rank

A 12-month break from April 2026, full time, outside London, 2015 scheme, with the next increment (where there is one) due six months in. Pension is the 2015 pension not built, including the effect of the later increments, at retirement in 20 years’ time, in today’s money.

Cost of a 12-month career break, 2026/27 rates
Rank and pay	Gross pay forgone	Take-home forgone	Later increments (gross)	Pension lost at retirement
Constable, pay point 1 £32,255	£32,932	£23,838	£19,083	£1,191 a year
Constable, pay point 4 £36,335	£37,697	£26,777	£14,318	£1,206 a year
Constable, pay point 7 (top) £52,015	£52,015	£35,300	None (top of scale)	£1,214 a year
Sergeant, pay point 2 £55,443	£56,008	£37,971	£2,167	£1,357 a year
Inspector, point 0 (outside London) £66,000	£66,899	£43,788	£4,497	£1,664 a year
Chief inspector, point 1 (outside London) £72,806	£73,516	£47,075	£2,193	£1,766 a year
Superintendent, point 1 £87,123	£89,334	£54,750	£13,147	£2,385 a year

Officers at the top of their scale lose no increments, so their cost is the pay forgone and the pension. Officers near the bottom of a long scale, such as constables on points 1 to 5, lose the most to the increment delay.

Your pension during and after a career break

You stay a member, but build nothing

Under the 2015 scheme, an officer on a career break “is taken to be an active member of this scheme” and the employment relationship continues (regulation 22). Your pension account stays open, but nothing is added to it, because the 2015 scheme builds pension at 1/55.3 of the pensionable earnings you actually receive each year (regulation 58), and you receive none. The Home Office’s 2003 circular put it this way for the older schemes: the break is “qualifying (but not reckonable) service”.

Staying a member matters: the Federation’s summary says you remain covered by your scheme’s death benefits and enhanced ill-health provisions, and by injury benefits where they apply. Norfolk and Suffolk’s policy says the same about benefits built up to the start of the break.

2015 scheme: what you lose

Each month away costs 1/55.3 of a month’s pensionable pay. That slice would have been revalued every year by CPI plus 1.25% while you serve, so it grows before you retire. For the constable on pay point 4 above, a year out means about £682 a year of pension not built, worth about £880 a year at retirement in today’s money after 20 years of revaluation. Add the later increments, and the total is about £1,206 a year, for life.

1987 and 2006 service: what changes

Your legacy service stopped growing when you moved into the 2015 scheme, so a career break today does not reduce the number of legacy years you have. Two things can still change:

The 1987 scheme’s 25 and 30-year dates move back. When your 1987 pension can be paid depends on your total pensionable service, and 2015 scheme service counts towards those tests. A career break is not pensionable service, so the date you reach 25 or 30 years moves back by the length of the break. In a 2024 decision (CAS-57022-H5Y8) the Pensions Ombudsman did not uphold a complaint from a Gloucestershire officer whose career break did not count towards the service needed for an early pension. The 2003 circular said the answer was to serve on to complete 30 years’ reckonable service.
Final pay. Legacy pensions use your final pay when you leave. In the 1987 scheme, if you were paid for only part of the last year, that pay is scaled up to a full year, and the best of the last three years counts (regulation G1(2) and (4)), so a break a few years before you retire should not lower it. Retiring straight from a break, or within a year or two of one, is different: ask your administrator before you plan it.

To see a break in the context of your whole pension, use our police pension calculator. The estimate is free; the full report, which we sell, is £47.

Open the pension calculator

Can you buy the pension back?

No, not as a buy-back. This is the point most officers get wrong, because you can buy back some other kinds of unpaid leave.

2015 scheme: regulation 172 lets you pay the contributions you missed for unpaid adoption, maternity, parental, maternity support, adoption support and sick leave (sick leave up to six months at a time and 12 months in total), within three months of returning. A career break is not on the list.
1987 scheme: the Home Office “has not been able to approve” the buy-back element of the PNB career break agreement (Circular 033/2003).
2006 scheme: unpaid leave other than the listed kinds is not reckonable, and its buy-back covers only maternity, parental and sick leave (regulation 10).
Force policies: Norfolk and Suffolk (“no buy-back option”), West Midlands, North Yorkshire and Police Scotland all say officers cannot buy the time back.

What you can do instead

Added pension (2015 scheme). Schedule 3 lets any active member buy extra pension, by a lump sum (once a scheme year, after 12 months’ continuous pensionable service) or by monthly contributions, up to an overall limit. It is a general purchase, not a buy-back of the break, and it is priced by the scheme’s actuarial factors, which depend on your age. We could not verify a current published price or limit for police officers, so we do not quote one: ask your administrator for a quote.
Serve a little longer. In the 2015 scheme each extra month adds pension; for 1987 members, it may be how you still reach 30 years.
Other savings. Additional voluntary contributions or a personal pension, with tax relief. These are outside the police scheme.

Buying added pension counts for the annual allowance

Any added pension you buy is pension growth in the year you buy it. A large lump-sum purchase in your first year back, on top of a jump in your legacy pension (see below), could take you over the annual allowance.

Career breaks and the McCloud remedy

The McCloud remedy gives in-scope officers a choice between legacy and 2015 benefits for service from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022. To be in scope you must have been in service on or before 31 March 2012 and have no “disqualifying gap in service”, meaning a gap of more than five years in which you were not in pensionable service (Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Act 2022, section 1).

A career break should not be a gap. You stay a member of the force and an active member of the scheme (2015 regulations, regulation 22), and the 2015 members’ guide says its “gap in service” rule does not include a career break. No provision says so in terms for the remedy, so this is our reading: confirm with your administrator if you had a long break around 2012 to 2015.
A break inside 2015 to 2022 builds nothing on either side of the choice, because neither scheme counts unpaid career break time.
Resigning and rejoining is different. The Federation notes that the protection of staying a member “would not be the case if an officer were to resign and rejoin”.

See the McCloud remedy explained for the choice itself.

The annual allowance charge on return

This is the risk West Yorkshire Police’s policy flags, and the only force policy we found that does. It says:

“Any benefits calculated during the career break (e.g. annual allowance) are calculated using the pay the officer was on at the start of the break. When the officer returns, their benefits are calculated on the returning pay which will have often increased significantly. This means that the officer may incur annual allowance tax charges on return to employment.”

Why it happens

The annual allowance (£60,000 a year for most people) caps how much your pension can grow each tax year before tax is charged. For a defined benefit scheme HMRC measures growth as the value of your pension at the end of the year (16 times the yearly pension) less its value at the start, raised by CPI (3.8% for 2026/27), each scheme on its own (Pensions Tax Manual PTM053301).

1987 and 2006 pensions are linked to final pay. While you are on the break, that pay is held at the pay you had when you left. When you return, it jumps to your new pay, which includes every pay award made while you were away, and any promotion. HMRC only allows for one year’s CPI in the opening value. So several years of pay rises are counted as pension growth in a single year.
The jump is multiplied by your legacy service. With 20 years of 1987 service your pension is 20/60 of final pay, and HMRC values each pound of pension at 16. So every £1,000 of pay rise above the CPI uplift adds about £5,333 to your pension growth.
2015 pensions do not jump. They are built year by year on the pay you receive, so a 2015-only officer’s growth in the year back is just the normal year’s build-up and revaluation.

Worked example: an inspector with 1987 service, three years out

Inspector outside London on point 3 (£71,396), 20 years of 1987 service and 4 years in the 2015 scheme, takes a three-year break from April 2026 and returns in April 2029. We value 2029/30, the first year back, on HMRC’s method, with the opening value on pay at the start of the break, as West Yorkshire describes.

Pension growth in the year back (indicator, before carry forward)
Case	Pay at start of break	Pay on return	1987 growth	2015 growth	Total
Inspector, 1987 service, no pay awards during the break	£71,396	£71,396	£0	£7,302	£7,302
Same officer, pay awards of 3.5% a year	£71,396	£81,694	£40,453	£24,751	£65,204
Same officer, promoted to about £90,000 on return	£71,396	£90,000	£84,752	£27,154	£111,906
Constable, 2015 scheme only, two-year break, awards of 3.5%	£52,015	£57,505	n/a	£19,015	£19,015

No pay awards: the 1987 pension has not grown in real terms, so its growth is nil. The amount by which it fell short of the CPI uplift is even set against the 2015 growth (a rule from 2023/24), leaving a total of about £7,302.
Pay awards of 3.5% a year: pay on return of about £81,694 gives 1987 growth of about £40,453 and a total of about £65,204, over the £60,000 allowance.
Promotion on return: a chief inspector or superintendent role soon after you return pushes it further: about £111,906 at £90,000.
2015 only: a top-scale constable with no legacy service comes back with growth of about £19,015, well under the limit.

Over the allowance does not always mean a charge. You can use unused allowance from the three previous tax years (carry forward), and while you were on the break your pension grew little or not at all, which may leave allowance to carry forward. The charge, if any, is at your marginal tax rate, and you may be able to ask the scheme to pay it (Scheme Pays). Your administrator sends a pension savings statement if you go over. Our annual allowance guide explains carry forward, Scheme Pays and the taper.

How to reduce the risk

Before you go, ask your pension administrator how they will value your benefits during and after the break.
Keep your annual benefit statements and pension savings statements for the three years before the break; you need them to work out carry forward.
If you expect a promotion on return, ask for an annual allowance estimate before you accept the start date.
Do not combine the year back with a large added pension purchase without an estimate.

The figures above come from our annual allowance engine, the same one used in the pension calculator, and are an indicator only: they leave out carry forward, other pensions and the taper, and assume West Yorkshire’s description of how benefits are valued during a break applies to your administrator too. The McCloud remedy can also change how 2015 to 2022 service is valued. Your pension savings statement is what counts.

Force policies compared

Every row below is from a policy we read on 14 October 2026, with the document named. We only include what each document says. Where a force is missing, we could not find a public policy: we found none for Essex and Kent (their leave protocols refer to a career break protocol, L 01110, that is not published), and none for the other forces we searched.

Officer career break policies (checked 14 October 2026)
Force and document	Length	Eligibility	Key terms
West Yorkshire Force policy web page, last reviewed January 2025	6 months to 5 years, annual reviews; under 6 months goes through the unpaid leave policy. Over 5 years only in exceptional cases.	Constables must have completed probation. Pending complaints, discipline, performance and attendance are weighed.	Warrant card kept; still subject to Police Regulations and Conduct Regulations. No paid employment. Rank and pay point protected. Vetting, fitness test and personal safety training before return; usually back to core policing from a specialist post. The only policy we found that warns of annual allowance charges on return.
Norfolk and Suffolk Career Break (Police Officers), version 2, March 2024	Usually 6 months to 5 years in total; first approval up to 3 years, then extensions. More than one break allowed, at least 12 months apart.	Probation complete; satisfactory performance, conduct and attendance. Less likely to be approved under formal misconduct or UPP.	“Guaranteed to return to the same rank”, but not the same posting. Not pensionable, “no buy-back option”. Warrant card and kit returned. Vetting on return, with UK residence evidence for 3 or 5 years. Contact HR 3 months before return.
Surrey and Sussex Career Break Policy 173, 2025	3 months to 5 years; approved for up to 2 years at a time.	More than 2 years’ continuous service and probation passed; not while under a disciplinary sanction or formal attendance or performance stage.	Pay and pension suspended. On return: pass vetting, a medical where appropriate and the fitness test. Will not support a break to start a business not already approved.
West Midlands Career Break POD/07, version 2.1, March 2026	Usually 6 months to 5 years; one or two breaks, together no more than 5 years.	Probation complete. Usually refused with a current disciplinary sanction or formal capability process.	Rank and rate of pay protected; same hours, not necessarily the same unit. Cannot buy additional service. Warrant card kept but not taken abroad. Keep recruitment vetting; updated clearance if away over a year. You may be called in for training or court, paid for that time.
North Yorkshire Career Break Procedure (Police Officers), version 5.0	1 year to 5 years (up to 6 in exceptional cases); can be two periods with at least a year’s service between.	Any officer, with the expectation that probation is complete.	Time does not count for pay, annual leave or increments; rank and pay point protected. No pension buy-back. Contact every 6 months. Vetting review on return, criminal records check if abroad more than 6 months; 2 days’ officer safety training every 12 months.
Nottinghamshire PS 145 Career Breaks Policy, version 1.1, July 2022	6 months to 5 years for officers.	Probation complete (including newly promoted sergeants and inspectors being confirmed). Not normally while subject to a complaint, misconduct, UPP or attendance process.	“Unpaid and unpensionable”. No guarantee of the same post. Vetting and medical appropriate to the post. Police staff must resign for breaks over 2 years.
Police Scotland Career Breaks Procedure, version 4.00, June 2023	Any number of breaks, up to 5 years in total; more only in exceptional cases.	Officers up to chief superintendent who have completed probation; no live regulation warning or misconduct disposal.	No pay or allowances; service entitlements frozen. Officers cannot buy back pensionable years. Contact at least once a year. Re-vetting if away over a year, which “will not stop your return”. Other paid work not normally supported unless it only funds the break.
Metropolitan Police Work/Life Balance Policy, 2008 (old)	3 months to 5 years; more than one break allowed within the 5-year total.	Not stated in the part we read.	Not necessarily back to the original post. Not allowed simply to take other employment. This is the only Met document we found; it is from 2008 and is probably out of date. The current Met procedure is not published.

Policies change. Check the current version on your force intranet before you apply, and ask your Federation representative how it is applied in practice.

Police staff: different rules

Police staff are employees, not officers, so Annex OO does not apply. Their career breaks come from force policy and their contract, and their pension is the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) or, in Scotland, the staff scheme. The main differences:

Your job may not be kept. West Midlands staff give up their post and are placed “at risk” on return. Nottinghamshire staff must resign for breaks over two years, or for reasons other than caring, and have no right of appeal.
You can buy lost pension. The LGPS lets you buy back pension lost through unpaid leave. The rules changed on 1 April 2026: for absences that started on or after that date, you apply within one year of returning to work (or longer if your employer allows), and your employer pays its share of the cost for the first three years of absence. For absences that started before then, the old rules apply: apply within 30 days of return, and the employer pays two-thirds of the cost, up to 36 months.
Police Scotland staff can buy lost pension for up to 36 months; Scottish officers cannot.

See the LGPS and the police pension compared, and check your own force’s staff career break policy, which is usually a separate document.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland has its own rules with the same shape. Regulation 25(13) of the Police Service of Scotland Regulations 2013 lets the Scottish Ministers set career break terms, and their determination (Annex 20) mirrors Annex OO: probation first, up to five years unless exceptional, paid work only with agreement, return on the same hours, and the pay, leave and allowances rules switched off. Unpaid leave is disregarded for pay (regulation 31(2)(e)). Police Scotland’s procedure allows any number of breaks within five years and says officers “do not build up pensionable service” and cannot buy pensionable years back. The Scottish 2015 pension scheme’s buy-back for unpaid leave (regulation 162) does not cover career breaks either. Our calculator uses England and Wales pay scales, so it is not right for Scottish officers.

Northern Ireland: we have not covered the PSNI. We found no published PSNI career break policy.

Alternatives to a career break

Part-time working. You keep some pay, keep building pension on what you earn, and part-time service counts as full time for increments. Try the part-time pay calculator.
Shorter unpaid leave. Several forces handle breaks under six months through an unpaid or purchased leave policy instead.
Maternity, adoption or parental leave first. These have their own pay rules, and unpaid periods of them can be bought back for pension under regulation 172, unlike a career break.
Resign and rejoin. Rejoiners are covered by regulation 10B, but you lose the guaranteed return and the protection of staying a member while you are away, which the Federation notes does not apply if you resign and rejoin. See rejoining the police.

Checklist before you apply

Read your force’s current career break policy, and check its minimum length, notice period and rules on more than one break.
Work out the full cost: pay, later increments and pension. Use the calculator.
Write down your reasons and objectives with timescales; Annex OO requires them.
Ask HR to confirm in writing your rank, pay point, return hours and the incremental date they will use when you return.
Ask your pension administrator how the break affects your scheme, any 1987 30-year date, and how they will value your benefits for the annual allowance when you return.
Keep your last three years of pension statements for carry forward.
If you plan any paid work, study or business, get written agreement first.
Ask the vetting unit what evidence you will need on return, especially if you will live abroad.
Sort out police housing, a car salary sacrifice, and any other payroll deductions (Federation subscriptions, insurance schemes) that stop with your pay.
Agree how you will keep in touch, and diarise contacting HR three to six months before your return date.
If you might become pregnant, know that you can suspend the break for maternity leave.
Talk to your Federation representative before you sign.

Myths

“I can buy back the pension, like maternity leave.” No. The buy-back for unpaid leave does not include career breaks.
“It only costs the months without pay.” Your increments are delayed too, so you earn less for years after you come back, unless you are already at the top.
“I am not an officer while I am away.” You are. The conduct rules, business interests rules and Standards of Professional Behaviour still apply.
“I will go back to my old job.” Your rank and pay point, yes. Your post, not necessarily.
“Five years is a right.” It is the maximum. A break needs approval, and forces often approve shorter periods and review them.
“A break cannot affect my tax.” For officers with 1987 or 2006 service, the year back can bring an annual allowance charge.
“I can do some paid work while I am away.” Only with the chief officer’s agreement, and some forces do not allow it at all.

Not verified

We looked for these on 14 October 2026 and could not confirm them, or they rest on our reading rather than express wording.

Increment dates. No regulation says in terms that the increment date moves. We rely on regulation 24(3)(d) (unpaid leave disregarded) and force policies that say the time does not count for increments.
How administrators value a break for the annual allowance. Only West Yorkshire Police describes it. HMRC has no guidance specific to career breaks.
The McCloud disqualifying gap. Our reading is that a career break is not a gap, because you stay an active member. No provision says so for the remedy.
Added pension price and limit. We could not find the current limit or factors for police officers in England and Wales, so we quote neither.
The original texts of PNB Circular 00/16 and Home Office Circular 4/2001. We read them only as quoted in Circular 033/2003 and force policies.
Current Metropolitan Police, Essex and Kent policies. Not published. The Met row uses a 2008 policy.
Surrey and Sussex guidance. Their policy refers to separate career break guidance we could not find.
Legacy final pay when you retire straight from a break. We describe the 1987 rule; how the 2006 scheme applies it in that case was not checked.

Your figures, before you apply

The calculator uses the same rules as this guide. Enter your rank, pay point, hours and dates to see the pay, increments and pension a break would cost, then copy or print it to take to HR or your Federation representative.

Open the career break calculator

Quick answers

Frequently asked questions

How long can a police career break be?

Up to five years under Annex OO to the Police Regulations 2003, and longer only if the chief officer agrees there are exceptional circumstances. There is no national minimum: forces set their own, from three months (Surrey and Sussex) to six months (most) or a year (North Yorkshire). Some forces allow two or more breaks as long as the total stays within five years.

Can I take a career break during probation?

No. Annex OO is open only to officers who have completed probation under regulation 12 (or, for rejoiners, under regulation 10B(2)(b)). Some forces add conditions, such as Surrey and Sussex's two years' continuous service.

Do police officers get paid on a career break?

No. You remain a member of your force, but the pay, leave and allowances parts of the regulations do not apply during the break (Annex OO paragraph 10). Some forces pay you for any day they call you in for training or court.

Does a career break affect my increments?

Yes. When your service in a rank is counted for pay, "any period of unpaid leave shall be disregarded" (Police Regulations 2003, regulation 24(3)(d)). Your rank and pay point are kept, but every increment still to come is later by the length of the break. For a constable on pay point 4, a year out costs about £14,318 in delayed increments on top of the pay forgone.

Does a police career break count towards my pension?

No. You stay a member of the scheme, and death, ill-health and injury cover continue, but the break is not pensionable service. In the 2015 scheme you build no pension for that time. In the 1987 scheme the break does not count towards the 25 and 30 years of service that decide when your pension can be paid.

Can I buy back the pension I lose on a career break?

No. The 2015 scheme's option to pay contributions for unpaid leave (regulation 172) covers unpaid maternity, adoption, parental, support and sick leave only. The Home Office did not approve buy-back for career breaks in 2003 (Circular 033/2003), and the force policies we read say there is no buy-back. You can ask your administrator for a quote for added pension, which is a separate, general purchase.

Can returning from a career break cause a pension tax charge?

It can, mainly if you have 1987 or 2006 scheme service. West Yorkshire Police's policy warns that benefits during the break are valued on the pay at the start of the break, and on your return pay afterwards, which "will have often increased significantly", so you "may incur annual allowance tax charges on return". In our example an inspector with 20 years of 1987 service returning after three years of 3.5% pay awards has pension growth of about £65,204 in the year back, against the £60,000 allowance.

Can I work or run a business on a career break?

Only with your chief officer's agreement. Annex OO paragraph 5 bars paid activities, full-time education and selling goods or services by way of business without it, and the business interests rules still apply. Several forces refuse breaks taken to start another career, and West Yorkshire does not allow paid employment at all.

Am I still a police officer on a career break?

Yes. You remain a member of your force and are still bound by the restrictions on private life, the business interests rules and the Standards of Professional Behaviour, so misconduct proceedings can still apply. Forces differ on the warrant card: West Yorkshire and West Midlands let you keep it, Norfolk and Suffolk take it back.

Will I come back to the same job?

You come back at the same rank and pay point, on the same hours and work pattern (Annex OO paragraph 8). The same post is not guaranteed: Norfolk, West Midlands, North Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire all say so, and West Yorkshire usually returns specialists to core policing.

Do I need to be vetted again after a career break?

Usually, yes. Forces check vetting before you return, and some require evidence of where you lived, a criminal records check if you were abroad, a medical or a fitness test. Norfolk will not approve a break planned around travel that would make you ineligible for vetting.

Can I come back early from a career break?

Yes. Give notice and your force must take you back within one month if there is a suitable vacancy, or within three months otherwise (Annex OO paragraph 9). The force can only call you back early after a review, with at least a month's notice.

Is it different for police staff?

Yes. Staff are employees under their own force policy, not Annex OO, and are in the Local Government Pension Scheme, which does let you buy lost pension for unpaid leave. Some forces make staff give up their post, and Nottinghamshire makes staff resign for breaks over two years.

What about Police Scotland?

Scotland has its own rules with the same shape: a career break of up to five years under the Police Service of Scotland Regulations 2013 and the Scottish Ministers' determination, unpaid and not pensionable for officers, with no buy-back. Police Scotland's procedure allows any number of breaks within the five-year total.

Evidence

Sources and how we checked them

Every rule on this page was written from the sources below, all accessed on 14 October 2026. Regulations and Home Office documents are listed first, then force policies. Where we relied on our own reading, the page says so. Spotted something out of date? See our corrections policy.

Annex OO: career breaks, determination under regulation 33 (Home Office Circular 003/2019, accessible version) : The national scheme from 22 February 2019: eligibility, five-year limit, return on the same hours, paragraph 10 status. Accessed 14 October 2026.
Home Office Circular 003/2019 : Publishes the replacement Annex OO and the rejoiner changes. Accessed 14 October 2026.
Police Regulations 2003, regulation 33 (leave) : Regulation 33(12): the Secretary of State determines the career break terms. Accessed 14 October 2026.
Police Regulations 2003, regulation 24 (pay) : Regulation 24(3)(d): unpaid leave is disregarded when service in a rank is counted for pay; 24(3)(e): part-time service counts as full time. Accessed 14 October 2026.
Home Office Circular 033/2003: police pensions, maternity leave and career breaks : Career break is qualifying but not reckonable service; buy-back not approved; added 60ths and AVCs; PNB Circular 00/16 and HOC 4/2001 as the origin. Accessed 14 October 2026.
Police Federation (Warwickshire branch), Career break scheme : The Federation's summary: no break in service, no pay, time does not count for increments or paid leave; rank and pay point protected. Updated August 2016. Accessed 14 October 2026.
Police Pensions Regulations 2015, regulation 22 (periods of unpaid leave) : A member on a career break is taken to be an active member; the employment relationship continues. Accessed 14 October 2026.
Police Pensions Regulations 2015, regulation 58 : Pension built at 1/55.3 of pensionable earnings each scheme year. Accessed 14 October 2026.
Police Pensions Regulations 2015, regulation 172 : Option to pay contributions for unpaid leave: adoption, maternity, parental, support and sick leave only; within 3 months of return. Accessed 14 October 2026.
Police Pensions Regulations 2015, regulation 167A (relevant pay) : After a long period of leave, the contribution band uses your pay on the day you return. In force 1 April 2026. Accessed 14 October 2026.
Police Pensions Regulations 1987, regulation G1 : Average pensionable pay: part-year pay is scaled up to a full year, with a two-year look-back. Accessed 14 October 2026.
Police Pension Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/3415), regulation 10 : Unpaid leave other than the listed kinds is not reckonable service. Accessed 14 October 2026.
Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Act 2022, section 1 : The McCloud remedy scope and the five-year disqualifying gap. Accessed 14 October 2026.
HMRC Pensions Tax Manual PTM053301 : Pension input amount for defined benefit arrangements: 16 times the pension, opening value raised by CPI. Accessed 14 October 2026.
HMRC Pensions Tax Manual PTM053910 : When a member counts as deferred rather than active for the annual allowance. Accessed 14 October 2026.
Pensions Ombudsman, CAS-57022-H5Y8 (Gloucestershire Constabulary, 4 December 2024) : Career break time did not count towards the service needed for an early 1987 pension; complaint not upheld. Accessed 14 October 2026.
West Yorkshire Police, Career Break Scheme: Police Officers (last reviewed January 2025) : Annual allowance warning, no paid employment, vetting and fitness before return. Accessed 14 October 2026.
Norfolk and Suffolk, Career Break (Police Officers), version 2 (March 2024) : Same rank guaranteed, no buy-back, vetting and residence evidence. Accessed 14 October 2026.
Surrey and Sussex, Career Break Policy 173 (2025) : 3 months to 5 years, two years' service, vetting, medical and fitness test on return. Accessed 14 October 2026.
West Midlands Police, Career Break POD/07, version 2.1 (March 2026) : One or two breaks, warrant card, vetting, paid recall days, staff differences. Accessed 14 October 2026.
North Yorkshire Police, Career Break Procedure (Police Officers), version 5.0 : Increments, no buy-back, six-monthly contact, vetting review. Accessed 14 October 2026.
Nottinghamshire Police, PS 145 Career Breaks Policy (July 2022) : Officers and staff; staff must resign for breaks over two years. Accessed 14 October 2026.
Police Scotland, Career Breaks Procedure, version 4.00 (June 2023) : Officer and staff rules in Scotland. Accessed 14 October 2026.
Metropolitan Police, Work/Life Balance Policy (2008) : Old Met policy; the current procedure is not published. Accessed 14 October 2026.
Police Service of Scotland Regulations 2013 (SSI 2013/35), regulation 25 : Scottish Ministers determine career break terms (reg 25(13)). Accessed 14 October 2026.
Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013 (as amended from 1 April 2026) : Buying lost pension after unpaid leave for police staff; new rules for absences from 1 April 2026. Accessed 14 October 2026.

On this topic elsewhere

Career break calculator → Your own pay, increment, pension and annual allowance figures. Annual allowance 2026 → The pension tax limit, carry forward and Scheme Pays. Second jobs and business interests → What needs approval and how to apply. Part-time pay calculator → If fewer hours would work instead of a break. Annual leave hub → Entitlement by service under Annex O. The McCloud remedy → Why 2015 to 2022 service may count in a legacy scheme. Rejoining the police → If you resign instead and come back later. LGPS and the police pension → How the staff scheme differs.

Disclaimer

PolicePay.co.uk is an independent reference site. It is not affiliated with any police force, the Home Office or the Police Federation. This page is general information, not financial, tax or pension advice, and cannot take account of your circumstances. Career break terms vary by force: check your force’s current policy, and ask HR and your pension administrator before you apply. Details are as checked on 14 October 2026.