Police Stress Leave
Explained
Pay, Process & Career Impact. A clear guide to how to go off sick properly, what happens to your pay, and how it affects pension and promotion.
Trust Notice: Based on Police Regulations 2003 (as amended). Not medical advice. Independent explanatory guidance.
Executive Summary
Stress leave in policing is common — but poorly understood.
Key Points
- Pay Entitlement: 6 months' full pay then 6 months' half pay in any one year period, the same whatever your length of service (Annex K).
- Medical Evidence: GP fit notes are required beyond self-certification.
- Career Impact: Short-term absence has minimal impact; long-term may affect promotion timing.
Can Police Officers Go Off Sick With Stress?
Yes. Police officers are entitled to sickness absence in the same way as any employee, but governed by Police Regulations rather than standard employment law.
A GP can issue a fit note for:
- Work-related stress
- Anxiety
- Depression
- PTSD
- Adjustment disorder
You must notify your supervisor in accordance with force policy.
How Does Sick Pay Work?
Regulation 28 of the Police Regulations 2003 leaves sick pay to a Secretary of State determination, Annex K. It is the same for every officer whatever their length of service, and it makes no separate rule for stress or mental health.
First 6 Months
- Full Pay
- In any one year period (Annex K para 1)
Next 6 Months
- Half Pay
- Half the rate of your full pay (para 4(c))
After That
- No Pay
- Unless the chief officer extends full or half pay (para 3)
Your entitlement on the first day of absence is reduced by the paid sick absence in the 12 months before it (Annex K para 2), so earlier absences count. On full pay, regulation 31 also deducts statutory sick pay and certain state benefits you are entitled to. Use the police sick pay calculator to see when your full pay ends, and ask HR for your force's extension of sick pay policy.
What Happens After You Go Off Sick?
Initial Stage
- • Supervisor notified
- • Fit note submitted
- • Absence recorded
Intermediate Stage
- • Welfare contact
- • Occupational health referral
- • Risk assessment review
Extended Stage
- • Attendance review under force policy
- • Recuperative or adjusted duties discussion
- • SMP referral (if permanence is in question)
Stress leave does not automatically trigger misconduct.
Will Occupational Health Be Involved?
In most cases, yes — if absence exceeds short-term threshold.
Occupational health may assess:
- Fitness to return
- Adjustments required
- Whether condition is temporary or chronic
- Whether condition is work-related
Can Stress Leave Affect My Career?
Short-term absence
Usually minimal impact.
Long-term absence
- • May delay promotion
- • May restrict specialist roles
- • May lead to the unsatisfactory attendance procedure
It does not automatically prevent advancement.
Can I Be Dismissed for Stress?
Not for having a diagnosis. Long or repeated absence is dealt with under the unsatisfactory attendance procedure in the Police (Performance) Regulations 2020, not the misconduct rules. Since 28 May 2025 it has two stages: a first stage meeting with your line manager leading to a written improvement notice, then a second stage panel that can dismiss with notice. Along the way:
- Written notice of each meeting, and a police friend
- An improvement period, normally three months
- Equality Act duties, including reasonable adjustments if the disability definition is met
- Home Office guidance (paras 14.63 to 14.65) says attendance action should not start or continue while an SMP referral on permanent disablement, or an appeal, is pending, unless the absence is unrelated to that condition
Dismissal is not immediate. It is a staged process. See performance and attendance procedures.
What About Pension?
If stress becomes long-term and permanent, Ill-health retirement may be considered. The police pension authority refers the medical questions to a selected medical practitioner (SMP), who decides whether you are permanently unfit for police duties and for any regular employment (which sets the tier). The authority then decides whether to require you to retire or to continue to serve (Police Pensions Regulations 2015, regs 81 and 82). You can appeal the SMP's decision within 28 days of receiving the report.
Stress Leave and Misconduct
If stress contributes to a conduct issue, panels may consider mitigation. However, medical context does not automatically prevent misconduct findings. Each case is assessed individually.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long can a police officer be off sick with stress?
There is no fixed limit on the absence itself, but sick pay is limited. Under Annex K to the Police Regulations 2003 (regulation 28) you get full pay for 6 months then half pay for 6 months in any one year period, whatever your length of service, reduced by paid sick absence in the previous 12 months. After that there is no pay unless the chief officer uses the discretion to extend it.
Does stress leave affect pension?
Sick leave on full pay does not change how your pension builds. In the 2015 scheme, pensionable earnings on half pay are the reduced pay, so pension builds at the lower rate for that period. If a condition may be permanent, ill-health retirement is a separate route: a selected medical practitioner (SMP) answers the medical questions and the police pension authority decides whether you retire or continue to serve.
Can I return on restricted duties?
Often, yes. The Home Office Annex EE determination describes recuperative duties as a structured, time-limited return after illness or injury, and adjusted duties as duties with workplace adjustments, including Equality Act reasonable adjustments. Occupational health advises; your force decides.
Do I need a GP note?
Usually, yes, once the absence runs past the self-certification period in your force's attendance policy.
Can I be forced back to work?
Return-to-work decisions involve medical advice and command discretion.