Final Pay, Leave
And TOIL
What lands in your last police pay: salary to your last day, annual leave paid in lieu or clawed back, what happens to TOIL and rest days owed, deductions, tax and your P45. With the national rules, how forces actually apply them and a worked example.
Independent information, not advice · Sources checked 21 October 2026 · England and Wales unless stated
You are paid to your last day. For annual leave, Annex O para 6 works out your pro rata share of the leave year: if you have taken less you are entitled to a payment in lieu and if you have taken more you must pay it back, usually from final pay. There is no national rule for TOIL, rest days in lieu or public holidays owed: force policies decide and most expect you to use them during your notice. Get the figures in writing before your last day.
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Planning your last day?
Build a resignation letter that asks for your leave, TOIL and final pay figures in writing and check what your pension becomes on that date. Both free, nothing stored.
What your final pay can include
Final pay is not one rule. It is basic pay to your last day, adjusted for leave, plus anything owed for time worked, minus anything you owe. Some of it is set nationally in the Home Office determinations under the Police Regulations 2003. Much of it, especially TOIL, is force policy.
| Item | What happens | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Basic pay | Paid to your last day of service, pro rata for a part month | Police Regulations 2003 reg 30; Annex M |
| Annual leave not taken | Payment in lieu for the pro rata share not taken | Annex O para 6(b) and (c); WTR 1998 reg 14 |
| Annual leave taken in excess | You compensate the force: by payment, extra service or otherwise | Annex O para 6(d) |
| TOIL (overtime) | No national rule on leaving: force policy decides whether it is paid, taken or lost | Annex G (TOIL within 3 months); force policy |
| Rest days in lieu and public holidays owed | No national rule on leaving: force policy | Annex H; Annex E; force policy |
| Overtime and allowances worked | Paid as normal, often a month in arrears: check whether in final pay or later | Force payroll practice |
| Overpayments, excess leave, other sums | Usually recovered from final pay: ask for a breakdown | Annex O 6(d); force policy |
| Pension contributions | Deducted from pensionable pay up to your last day | Police pension regulations |
| Tax and National Insurance | Holiday pay is earnings; anything paid after your P45 is taxed at 0T | HMRC EIM01470, NIM09170 |
Pay to your last day
Your pay and pensionable service run to your last day of service, which is why the resignation letter should name a date. Regulation 30 of the Police Regulations 2003 lets the Home Secretary decide how pay for part periods is worked out. Annex M (as made in 2003) defines a month's pay as the annual rate divided by 12, a week's pay as the annual rate divided by 52 1/6 and a day's pay as a week's pay divided by 7.
On £48,000 a year, a week's pay is £920.13 and a calendar day's pay is £131.45. Leaving on the 15th of a 30-day month, basic pay for that month would be about 15 x £131.45 = £1,972, before tax, National Insurance and pension contributions. Forces' payroll systems may round differently.
Overtime, on-call allowance (£35 a day from 1 September 2025, Annex U) and other variable payments are often paid a month in arrears. Ask payroll whether those for your last few weeks come in final pay or a separate payment after you leave and make sure they have your bank details and address.
Your annual leave entitlement
Annex O, as substituted from 1 April 2025, sets annual leave in 8-hour days for ranks below superintendent (direct entry inspectors have their own table). For officers appointed before 1 April 2025:
| Service | From 1 April 2025 | From 1 April 2026 | From 1 April 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 6 years | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| 6 years | 26 | 26 | 26 |
| 7 years | 26 | 27 | 27 |
| 8 years | 26 | 28 | 28 |
| 9 years | 26 | 28 | 29 |
| 10 years | 28 | 28 | 30 |
| 11 to 14 years | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| 15 years | 29 | 29 | 30 |
| 16 to 19 years | 29 | 30 | 30 |
| 20 years or more | 30 | 30 | 30 |
Officers appointed on or after 1 April 2025 have 25 days under 6 years' service, then 26, 27, 28 and 29 days at 6, 7, 8 and 9 years and 30 days from 10 years. Public holidays are on top: Annex E gives constables to chief inspectors a day's leave on each public holiday, so far as the exigencies of duty permit. Up to 5 days can be carried forward with the chief officer's agreement, more in exceptional circumstances (Annex O para 3(a)). Our annual leave calculator checks your figure.
Annual leave when you leave: the Annex O formula
Annex O para 6 applies when you stop being a member of a force part way through a leave year, other than on an immediate transfer to another force.
- Taken less than your share: you are entitled to a payment in lieu of the leave owed, worked out as (A x B) - C. A is your annual leave entitlement, B is the proportion of the leave year that has passed by your leaving date and C is the leave you have taken in the leave year so far.
- Taken more than your share: you "shall provide compensation, whether by payment, by additional service or otherwise" (para 6(d)). In practice this is usually a deduction from final pay.
- How a day is valued: Annex O does not say. Some forces pay at basic pay; Suffolk's policy says holiday pay includes overtime and allowances, using a Police Federation method. Ask how yours does it.
Para 2 of Annex O separately says that in the leave year an officer retires, leave is 1/12 of the entitlement for each complete month, with part days rounded up. Annex O does not say how that fits with para 6 for someone who resigns. If the figures differ, ask HR which they used.
Worked example: leave owed and leave over-taken
A constable on £48,000 with 11 years' service has 28 days' leave from 1 April 2026. Their leave year runs from 1 April and their last day is 30 November, so 244 of 365 days have passed: B = 0.668.
Leave owed. They have taken 12 days. (A x B) - C = (28 x 0.668) - 12 = 6.7 days. If each day were valued at a week's pay divided by 5 (the Annex G definition of a day's pay for overtime, used here only as an illustration), that is 6.7 x £184.03 = about £1,236 before tax. Most forces would rather they took those days during notice.
Leave over-taken. If instead they had taken 22 days, they would have taken 3.3 days more than their share and the force would expect that back, usually from final pay.
The quickest way to avoid both a big payment in lieu that your force may resist and an unexpected deduction is to agree a leave plan for your notice period as soon as you give notice.
The Working Time Regulations floor
Regulation 41 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 treats holding the office of constable as employment under a worker's contract. So the statutory minimum applies to officers as well as Annex O: on termination, reg 14 gives a payment in lieu of statutory leave (5.6 weeks a year, including bank holidays) not taken in the leave year and since 1 January 2024 reg 14(6) also covers statutory leave carried forward from earlier years.
- Statutory leave cannot be replaced by payment except on termination (reg 13(9)).
- Leave you could not take because of sickness or family leave, or because the force did not give you a reasonable chance to take it, can carry over (reg 13(14) to (18)).
- Under the Regulations, repayment of over-taken leave depends on a "relevant agreement" (reg 14(4)); for officers, Annex O para 6(d) provides for compensation.
- A complaint about unpaid statutory holiday pay goes to an employment tribunal (reg 30). Time limits are short; talk to your Federation rep or ACAS straight away if there is a dispute.
TOIL: what happens to time off in lieu
For constables and sergeants, Annex G lets you choose time off instead of overtime pay. You must elect before the end of the pay period, the time off is the overtime plus 15 minutes for every 45 minutes (time and a third) and it is granted within a period the chief officer fixes, of no more than three months, subject to the exigencies of duty. Inspectors and chief inspectors are not paid overtime in the same way.
We found nothing in Annex G or Annex H that says what happens to an untaken TOIL balance when you leave. It is force policy. Some forces pay it, some expect it to be used during notice and some cap how much can be taken. Ask HR for your force's rule as soon as you decide to leave and record your balance.
Rest days in lieu and public holidays owed
Annex H sets compensation for working a rest day or public holiday. Recalled to work a rest day with less than 15 days' notice, you are paid time and a half (3/64 of a day's pay per 15 minutes) or can take time off; otherwise you get another rest day. A public holiday worked with less than 8 days' notice is paid at double time plus a day in lieu. If you choose time off instead, it is one and a half times for a rest day and double for a public holiday, granted within a period of up to 3 months. Inspectors and chief inspectors get a day in lieu within 12 months.
As with TOIL, there is no national rule for an untaken balance on leaving. Suffolk's policy pays or debits a public holiday balance that cannot be cleared during notice; West Midlands lets officers use rest days in lieu within its notice limit.
How forces actually do it
Force leave policies published under the Freedom of Information Act show how different the answers are. These are examples, not your force's rules.
| Force policy (FOI publication) | Annual leave on leaving | TOIL and other time owed |
|---|---|---|
| West Midlands Police, Annual Leave (Police Officer) v2.0, March 2025 | Pro rata to the nearest full day, expected to be taken during notice; paid if it cannot be taken for operational reasons; excess deducted from final salary | Up to 35 days can be taken in notice: 15 days of annual leave plus 20 days of time owing and rest days in lieu. Some force-specific days are not paid in lieu |
| Suffolk Constabulary, Leave and Time Off (Officers) v2.14, September 2026 | Paid only if you must work the notice period, are on long-term sick leave or are on family leave; paid in final salary; excess deducted; holiday pay includes overtime and allowances | The same applies to TOIL and public holiday balances; TOIL not taken within 3 months is paid; public holiday balance paid or debited if not cleared in notice |
| Nottinghamshire Police, Leave Policy v2.2, April 2020 | Should be used during notice; paid only where the force refused the chance to take it (sick or family leave may differ); excess repaid or made up | Not stated in the part we read |
| Surrey and Sussex Police, Leave Policy 477/2025 | Outstanding leave expected to be taken before leaving; paid where organisational reasons prevented it; over-taken leave recovered from final salary | Not stated in the part we read |
Your force's policy is on its intranet and often on its FOI publication scheme. If HR's answer seems to conflict with Annex O or the Working Time Regulations, ask your Federation rep before you sign anything.
Money you owe, deductions and kit
- Over-taken leave: Annex O para 6(d), usually deducted from final pay.
- Overpayments: commonly recovered from final pay. We found no Police Regulations provision setting a national method, so ask for a written breakdown and challenge anything you do not recognise.
- Your rights if a deduction is wrong: police officers are office holders. In City of London Police v Geldart [2021] EWCA Civ 611 the Court of Appeal noted the officer could not bring an unlawful deductions claim under the Employment Rights Act 1996 because she was not a "worker" for that Act, but could sue for the debt in the county court. In practice, raise it with HR and your Federation rep first.
- Uniform and equipment: Annex W says they remain the police authority's property and are returned when you leave, unless other arrangements are made. Return everything, including your warrant card and get a receipt. We found no national rule on charging for kit not returned.
- Training costs: we found no national rule letting forces recover training costs from officers who resign. For PCDA apprentices the Department for Education's apprenticeship funding rules (2025 to 2026, rule 190) say employers must not ask apprentices to contribute to training or assessment costs, including if they leave early. Check any separate agreement you signed for a specialist course.
Tax, National Insurance and your P45
- Holiday pay, including a payment in lieu on leaving, is earnings for tax (HMRC EIM01470) and National Insurance (NIM09170).
- You should get a P45 when you leave. Give parts 2 and 3 to your new employer so they use the right tax code.
- If any pay is made after the P45 has been issued, such as late overtime, the force must tax it at code 0T on a month 1 basis (S0T in Scotland, C0T in Wales). That can mean too much tax; it is corrected through your new employer or by HMRC.
- A large final payment can push one month into a higher rate under PAYE. It usually evens out over the tax year.
- If you will claim a pension straight away, the pension administrator issues its own tax code.
Pension contributions in your last month
Pension contributions are taken from pensionable pay up to your last day and your pensionable service ends that day. Whether a payment in lieu of annual leave counts as pensionable pay we could not confirm: the 2015 regulations define pensionable earnings as pay you are entitled to in the period, without a list. Ask your administrator.
What your pension becomes after your last day is a bigger question than any of the above. What happens to my pension if I leave explains it and the free calculator gives your own figures.
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See your own figures: what happens to your pension if you leave
Free calculator. Enter your date of birth, join date and pay. See each part of your pension, the age each is paid, your lump sums and what leaving now costs compared with a later date. Runs in your browser; nothing is stored.
Plan your notice month
- Before notice: get your leave year dates, entitlement, leave taken, TOIL, rest days and public holiday balances from HR or your duty system. Screenshot them.
- In your letter: ask for the leave position, how TOIL and other time will be settled, a final pay breakdown and kit return arrangements. The letter builder does this for you.
- First week of notice: agree in writing which days you will take as leave, TOIL and rest days. Check any cap your force applies.
- Two weeks before your last day: ask payroll for an estimate of final pay and any recovery and when overtime will be paid.
- Last day: return kit and warrant card, confirm your address and personal email and keep your last payslip.
- After: check final pay against the estimate and your P45. Raise errors quickly.
What to ask HR and payroll
| Ask | Why |
|---|---|
| My leave year dates, entitlement, leave taken and days owed or over-taken on my last day | Annex O para 6 uses the proportion of the leave year gone |
| How a day of leave paid in lieu is valued and whether it includes overtime and allowances | Annex O does not say; force policies differ |
| My TOIL, rest days in lieu and public holiday balances and the force's rule for each on leaving | No national rule; some forces pay, some expect you to use them, some do not pay |
| Whether overtime and allowances in my last month are in final pay or paid later | Payroll often pays overtime a month in arrears |
| A written breakdown of final pay, including any recovery | So you can check it before your last day |
| The date final pay is made and when my P45 is issued | Anything paid after the P45 is taxed at 0T |
| Whether anything will be recovered for uniform, equipment or courses | Kit is returned; we found no national training cost rule |
Myths and facts
What we could not verify
- How a day of leave paid in lieu is valued: Annex O does not say and the divisor forces use is not published nationally.
- A national rule on TOIL, rest days in lieu or public holiday balances on leaving: none found.
- Whether a payment in lieu of leave is pensionable pay.
- A national method for recovering overpayments, or for charging for kit not returned.
- Training cost repayment rules for DHEP, Police Now or direct entry schemes: not confirmed.
- Annex G: we used a copy hosted by a Police Federation branch; we found no newer Home Office text. Annex M is the 2003 text with a 2012 amendment.
Want to talk your pension through with someone?
Our calculators show the numbers, but some decisions (when to go, how much lump sum to take, your McCloud choice, a tax charge) are worth talking through with a regulated adviser. Tell us where you are and Andrew, who runs PolicePay, will reply by email.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do police officers get paid for untaken annual leave when they leave?
Under Annex O para 6, if you have taken less than the pro rata share of your leave for the part of the leave year that has passed, you are entitled to a payment in lieu: (A x B) - C, where A is your annual entitlement, B the proportion of the leave year gone and C the leave taken. Many force policies expect leave to be used during notice first.
What happens if I have taken too much annual leave before leaving the police?
Annex O para 6(d) says you must compensate the force 'by payment, by additional service or otherwise'. Most forces deduct the value from final pay. Ask for the calculation in writing.
Is TOIL paid when you leave the police?
There is no national rule. Annex G only says TOIL should be granted within a period the chief officer fixes, of no more than three months. Force policies differ: Suffolk pays TOIL not taken within 3 months and settles balances on leaving; West Midlands lets officers use up to 20 days of time owing during notice. Ask HR for your force's rule and plan to use TOIL during notice.
How many days' annual leave do police officers get?
For officers appointed before 1 April 2025, from 1 April 2026: 25 days under 6 years' service, rising to 30 days at 16 years (30 days at 10 years from April 2027). Public holidays are on top. Officers appointed from 1 April 2025 have their own scale reaching 30 days at 10 years.
How is my last month's pay worked out if I leave mid-month?
You are paid to your last day of service. Under Annex M a week's pay is the annual rate divided by 52 1/6 and a day's pay is a week's pay divided by 7, so a part month is roughly your annual pay divided by 365 for each calendar day. Check your force's payroll method.
Is holiday pay in lieu taxed?
Yes. HMRC treats holiday pay as earnings, including a payment in lieu on leaving and National Insurance is due. If anything is paid after your P45 is issued, your old employer must tax it at code 0T on a month 1 basis, so it may be over-taxed until you claim it back.
Can the force take money out of my final pay?
Forces routinely recover over-taken leave and overpayments from final pay. Police officers are office holders and the Court of Appeal noted in City of London Police v Geldart (2021) that an officer could not bring an unlawful deductions claim under the Employment Rights Act, though a debt claim in the county court was possible. Ask for a breakdown and challenge anything wrong through HR and your Federation rep.
Do I have to pay back my training if I resign from the police?
We found no national rule allowing forces to recover training costs from officers who resign. For PCDA apprentices, the government's apprenticeship funding rules say employers must not ask apprentices to contribute to training costs, even if they leave early. Check any agreement you signed for a specialist course.
Can I use annual leave instead of working my notice?
Usually, by agreement with your line manager. Many force policies expect it. Some cap how much leave and time owing you can take during notice (West Midlands: up to 35 days in total). Your notice period still runs; you simply are not on duty.
Is payment in lieu of leave pensionable?
We could not confirm. The 2015 scheme defines pensionable earnings as pay you are entitled to in the period, with no list of inclusions. Ask your pension administrator how your force treats it.
What about bank holidays I have worked and not had back?
Public holidays are separate from annual leave (Annex E). If you worked one and chose time off, or are owed a day in lieu, that is a public holiday balance. Some forces pay or debit it on leaving if it cannot be cleared in notice; ask HR.
Can I complain to an employment tribunal about unpaid holiday pay?
Police officers are treated as workers for the Working Time Regulations 1998 (reg 41), so a complaint about unpaid statutory holiday pay on leaving can go to a tribunal under reg 30. Time limits are short. Speak to your Federation rep or ACAS early.
Sources and how we checked them
Every factual claim on this page was written from the sources below, read on 21 October 2026. Rules and figures change, so check the source for the date you are reading this. Where we could not confirm something from an official or independent source, the page says so rather than guessing. Spotted something out of date? See our corrections policy.
- Home Office: Annex O (annual leave), in force 1 April 2025 (Circular 003/2025) : entitlement tables; carry-over (para 3); leaving part way through the year (para 6) (accessed 21 October 2026)
- Home Office: Annex E (public holidays), Circular 001/2019 : a day's leave on each public holiday, separate from annual leave (accessed 21 October 2026)
- Home Office: Annex H (rest days and public holidays), from 1 January 2019 : compensation and time off for rest days and public holidays worked (accessed 21 October 2026)
- Annex G (overtime and TOIL), copy hosted by the City of London Police Federation : TOIL within a period of no more than 3 months; a day's pay is a week's pay divided by 5 (accessed 21 October 2026)
- Home Office: Annex M (2003 determination text) : a month's, week's and day's pay; Annex W uniform returned on leaving (accessed 21 October 2026)
- Home Office: Annex U (allowances), Circular 011/2026 : on-call allowance £35 a day from 1 September 2025 (accessed 21 October 2026)
- Police Regulations 2003, regulation 30 (pay) : pay intervals and how pay for part periods is calculated (accessed 21 October 2026)
- Working Time Regulations 1998, regulations 13, 14, 30 and 41 : police treated as workers; payment in lieu on termination; tribunal complaints (accessed 21 October 2026)
- City of London Police v Geldart [2021] EWCA Civ 611 : officer could not bring an unlawful deductions claim; debt claim possible (accessed 21 October 2026)
- HMRC Employment Income Manual EIM01470 : holiday pay, including on leaving, is earnings (accessed 21 October 2026)
- HMRC National Insurance Manual NIM09170 : holiday pay and NICs (accessed 21 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: paying an employee after giving them a P45 : 0T on a month 1 basis (accessed 21 October 2026)
- DfE: Apprenticeship funding rules 2025 to 2026, rule 190 : employers must not ask apprentices to contribute to training costs (accessed 21 October 2026)
- Police Pensions Regulations 2015, regulation 33 : pensionable earnings (accessed 21 October 2026)
- West Midlands Police: Annual Leave (Police Officer) v2.0 (FOI publication) : leaving the force section (accessed 21 October 2026)
- Suffolk Constabulary: Leave and Time Off (Officers) policy v2.14 (FOI publication) : paras 2.29 to 2.33, 3.2 and 3.19 (accessed 21 October 2026)
- Nottinghamshire Police: Leave Policy PS165 v2.2 : leave during notice and repayment (accessed 21 October 2026)
- Surrey Police and Sussex Police: Leave Policy 477/2025 (FOI publication) : leave on leaving and recovery (accessed 21 October 2026)
On this topic elsewhere
More in this guide series
Pensions, pay and protection
Disclaimer
PolicePay.co.uk is an independent reference site. This page is general information, not financial, pension, tax, employment-law or careers advice and it cannot consider your personal circumstances. Pension decisions can be hard to reverse: ask your pension administrator for a statement and, where the amounts are large, an FCA-authorised adviser. Rules and figures change, so check the sources for the date you are reading this. Details apply to England and Wales unless stated. Details are as checked on 21 October 2026.