Police Sick Pay
and Long-Term Sickness
Police officers in England and Wales get full pay for up to 6 months, then half pay for up to 6 months, in any 12-month period (Annex K to the Police Regulations 2003). After that there is no pay unless the chief officer extends it. This guide covers how the 12 months are counted, extensions, attendance procedures and your pension.
See your own dates in the free police sick pay calculator: when full pay ends and half pay starts.
Trust Notice: Based on Police Regulations 2003 & Home Office Guidance. Independent explanatory guidance.
Executive Summary
Sick pay rules in policing differ significantly from standard employment law.
The Essentials
- Full Pay Period: Typically 6 months in a rolling 12-month window.
- Half Pay Period: Follows full pay for a further 6 months.
- Attendance: Long-term absence is dealt with under attendance procedures (Police (Performance) Regulations 2020), not misconduct.
What Is Long-Term Sickness?
There is no strict definition in days, but in practice, "long-term" refers to absence that extends beyond standard recovery periods or approaches sick pay reduction triggers.
Rolling 12-Month Window
Pay entitlement is calculated by looking back 12 months from your first day of current absence. It is not a fresh start each calendar year.
Office Holder Status
Your sick pay is set by Police Regulations (Annex K), not a contract. Regulation 31 deducts from full pay any statutory sick pay you are entitled to, and certain state benefits, so SSP is not paid on top.
How Pay Is Calculated
Full Pay
Usually the first 6 months (183 days) of absence.
- • Pay at your rate under the pay determination (Annex K para 4(b))
- • Allowances such as London weighting follow their own rules
- • Less any SSP or benefits deducted under reg 31
Half Pay
The subsequent 6 months (183-365 days).
- • Half the rate of your full pay (para 4(c))
- • Allowances: check your force's policy
- • Pension contributions fall with your reduced pay
No Pay
Once the half-pay months are used up, Annex K gives no pay unless the chief officer decides otherwise.
- • At Chief Officer Discretion (para 3)
- • Pension Accrual May Pause (see below)
Critical Warning
Entitlements are cumulative. If you had 2 months off sick for a broken leg 8 months ago, you only have 4 months of full pay entitlement remaining now.
Discretion to Extend Pay
Chief officers (often acting through delegated senior staff) have discretion to extend full or half pay. This is not automatic: under paragraph 3 of the sick pay determination (Annex K) it is the chief officer's call in each case, and each force writes its own criteria.
Example Criteria (one force's policy):
North Yorkshire Police's extension of sick pay procedure (dated 27 August 2025) lists these possible exceptional circumstances. Other forces word theirs differently.
- Injury or illness in the actual execution of duty (taken into account, but Annex K gives no automatic protection)
- Life-threatening illness where a short extension is expected
- A referral to a selected medical practitioner on permanent disablement
- Extension as a reasonable adjustment for a disability
The same policy says citing financial hardship is a reason a manager may not support an application. In R (Weed) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2020] EWHC 287 (Admin), the High Court quoted Police Negotiating Board guidance that the discretion will generally be appropriate where incapacity is directly attributable to an injury in the execution of duty, but held that even a finding of injury on duty did not oblige the force to extend pay. See injured on duty: what to do.
Pension Impact
CARE 2015 Scheme: Pension is accrued on actual pensionable pay. If you drop to half pay, your pension pot usually grows at half the rate for that period.
Legacy Schemes: The 1987 and 2006 schemes closed on 31 March 2022 and all officers now build pension in the 2015 scheme, so an absence today is governed by the 2015 rules. For past service in the 1987 scheme, the Home Office members' guide says sick leave on full or reduced pay counts as pensionable service if contributions are paid, while unpaid sick leave counts only if you pay the contributions, for a period under six months and no more than 12 months in total. We have not verified the 2006 scheme equivalent.
Check Pension Calculator →Attendance Process
Sickness is an attendance issue (often loosely called capability), not misconduct. As a last resort you can be dismissed with notice at a second stage meeting under the unsatisfactory attendance procedure in the Police (Performance) Regulations 2020. Points to know:
- • Your force must meet its Equality Act duties, including reasonable adjustments, if you are disabled.
- • Home Office guidance says the procedure should not prevent or delay retirement where you would normally be retired on medical grounds (para 14.60).
- • No attendance action should start or continue while you are referred to an SMP on permanent disablement, or appealing that decision, unless the absence is unrelated to that condition (paras 14.63 to 14.65).
- • That pause lasts until the SMP report has been received or the appeal resolved; after that, attendance action can start or continue.
Two stages, not three: the Police Federation reports that from 28 May 2025 the unsatisfactory performance and attendance procedure moved from three stages to two, with an improvement period of within three months (twelve in exceptional circumstances). Cases that came to the force's attention before 28 May 2025 remain under the old three-stage process. Ask your Federation rep which applies to you.
Ill-Health Retirement Guide →Considering Ill-Health Retirement?
If your absence is likely to become permanent until pension age, you need to understand the SMP process and tiers.
Ill-Health Retirement Explained →Frequently Asked Questions
How long do police get full sick pay?
Under Annex K to the Police Regulations 2003 (regulation 28), officers are entitled to full pay for 6 months and then half pay for 6 months in any one year period, whatever their length of service. This is not a calendar year entitlement: your entitlement on the first day of absence is reduced by the paid sick absence in the previous 12 months.
What happens after 6 months sick?
Once your six months of full-pay entitlement is used up (forces commonly count this as 183 days), you move to half pay. By this stage occupational health is usually involved and your force will be managing your attendance. Annex K paragraph 3 lets the chief officer, in a particular case, pay full pay to an officer on half pay, or full or half pay to an officer with no entitlement left; each force sets its own criteria for this.
Does half pay affect pension?
In the CARE 2015 Scheme, pension accrual is based on actual pay received. Therefore, moving to half pay reduces the pension accrued for that period. However, you remain an active member of the scheme.
Can I be dismissed for long-term sickness?
Yes, as a last resort, under the unsatisfactory attendance procedure in the Police (Performance) Regulations 2020 (often called UPP or UAP, and sometimes loosely called capability). Since 28 May 2025 it has two stages rather than three, with cases that came to the force's attention before that date staying under the old process. Home Office guidance says no attendance action should start or continue while you are referred to a selected medical practitioner on permanent disablement, or appealing that decision, unless the absence is unrelated to that condition (paras 14.63 to 14.65).