Is a sickness absence policy a legal requirement in the UK?

Not exactly. No law forces you to have a standalone policy, but you must give employees written terms covering sickness and sick pay, and you need a fair, consistent process to manage absence and defend any decisions. A written sickness absence policy is simply the practical way to meet both. Without one, decisions look arbitrary and are harder to justify if challenged.

Does statutory sick pay now start on day one?

Yes. Since 6 April 2026, SSP is payable from the first day of sickness absence in the UK. The old three-day waiting period is gone, and the Lower Earnings Limit has been removed, so more staff qualify. Lower earners receive either the flat SSP rate (£123.25 a week) or 80% of their average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.

What is the Bradford Factor and is it fair to use?

It's a score that weights frequent short absences more heavily than one long absence, using the formula S² × D (spells squared, times total days). It's fair as a flag for a conversation, not as an automatic trigger for discipline. Used rigidly it risks penalising disability- or pregnancy-related absence, so always review the reason before acting on a score.

How many sick days before disciplinary action in the UK?

There's no legal number. Most employers set absence triggers, for example three separate absences or eight days in a rolling 12 months, that prompt a review conversation, not automatic discipline. The trigger starts a fair process; it doesn't end one. Set the threshold in your policy, apply it consistently, and always look at the reason behind the pattern first.

Are return-to-work interviews a legal requirement?

No. Return-to-work interviews aren't required by law, but they're widely treated as best practice and form part of a fair absence process. A short, consistent conversation after every absence confirms the employee is fit to work, catches patterns early, and deters casual absence. Skipping them makes later formal action harder to justify, because you can't show you engaged with the issue.

Can you dismiss someone for persistent sickness absence?

Potentially, but only as a last resort after a fair capability process: documented review stages, warnings, and a genuine chance to improve. If the absence relates to a disability, you must consider reasonable adjustments first, and medical or occupational health input usually matters. Rushing to dismissal without a fair process is a common route to an unfair dismissal claim.

Sickness Absence Policy: A 2026 Guide For UK Employers

Your sickness absence policy has two jobs: tell people exactly what to do when they're ill, and give you a fair process you can defend if a decision is ever challenged. Get both right and most absence sorts itself out before it reaches you.

The stakes aren't small. According to the ONS, an estimated 148.8 million working days were lost to sickness in 2025, an average of 4.4 days per worker. For a shift-based business, every one of those days is a gap somebody has to cover. And since April 2026, the cost of getting absence wrong has gone up.

What a sickness absence policy must include

A few elements are effectively non-negotiable; the rest is about applying them the same way every time. There's no law forcing you to keep a standalone policy, but you are legally required to put sickness and sick pay terms in writing, and you need a consistent process to manage absence fairly. A written policy is simply how you do both in one place. Some employers fold this into a wider absence management policy; the essentials are the same.

At a minimum, yours should cover:

How and when staff report sickness (who they tell, how, and by when on the first day)
Self-certification and fit notes (up to 7 days self-certified, a fit note after that)
Sick pay (statutory sick pay and any company sick pay you offer)
Absence triggers and review points (the thresholds that prompt a conversation)
Return-to-work expectations after any absence
The stages you follow for persistent or long-term absence
How you record absence and keep the data accurate

If your current policy is missing any of these, that is your starting list.

What changed in 2026: day-one SSP

The rules behind sick pay shifted in April 2026, and plenty of older policies still haven't caught up. Since 6 April 2026, statutory sick pay is payable from the first day of sickness absence: the three-day waiting period has been removed and the Lower Earnings Limit abolished, so SSP now starts on day one and far more staff qualify. Per ACAS, lower earners receive either the flat SSP rate (£123.25 a week) or 80% of their average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.

For your policy, this changes the maths in two ways. Short absences that used to cost you nothing for the first three days now cost from day one, so frequent one- and two-day absences add up faster. And because more of your team qualify, recording absence accurately from the first day has become a compliance question, not only good admin.

Short-term and long-term absence need different responses

One policy should cover both, but you don't manage them the same way. Short-term, frequent absence is the pattern to watch: the odd day here and there, often clustered around weekends, that mounts up over a year. Long-term absence is usually one continuous period of four weeks or more, often health-related and sometimes linked to a disability.

Here is how the two compare:

	Short-term, frequent	Long-term
Typical trigger	3+ separate spells or 8+ days in 12 months	4+ continuous weeks off
First action	Return-to-work chat, look for a pattern	Keep-in-touch contact, agree updates
Often involves	Bradford Factor review, informal conversation	Occupational health, possible adjustments
Aim	Break the pattern early and fairly	Support a realistic return, or manage capability

Return-to-work interviews: required or just smart practice?

Return-to-work interviews aren't a legal requirement, but they're widely treated as best practice and they're one of the most effective absence tools you have. A short, consistent chat after every absence confirms the person is fit to be back, catches patterns early, and quietly deters the casual sick day. Keep it brief and identical for everyone: it's a conversation, not an interrogation.

The Bradford Factor, and how to use it fairly

The Bradford Factor is a simple way to weight frequent short absences more heavily than one long one.

The formula is S² × D, where S is the number of separate absence spells in a set period (usually 12 months) and D is the total days absent.

So four separate one-day absences score 4² × 4 = 64, while one four-day absence scores 1² × 4 = 4, even though both add up to four days off. The point it makes: lots of short, unplanned absences disrupt a shift operation more than a single planned block.

Use it as a flag, not a verdict. A high score should start a conversation, never an automatic warning. Always check the reason first: absence related to a disability, pregnancy, or another protected reason must be handled separately, and leaning on a score to discipline someone in those situations is how employers end up at a tribunal. CIPD guidance is a solid reference for keeping absence management lawful.

Tracking all this by hand is where it falls apart. Scoring spells, spotting patterns, and keeping records accurate from day one is close to impossible in a spreadsheet that's always slightly out of date. This is where the right absence management software earns its place. Shiftbase logs every absence in one place and updates the schedule the moment you approve it, so the data behind your triggers stays reliable and a first-day sick call is recorded as a sick day, not a guess.

A defensible process for persistent absence

If you ever have to act on repeated absence, the goal is a process you could explain to a tribunal, not a quick route to dismissal. A fair approach to persistent short-term absence usually runs in stages:

Informal chat first. Raise the pattern, listen, and agree what improvement looks like. Often this is enough.
Formal review meetings. If it continues, move to formal stages, each with notes, clear expectations, and a review period.
Written warnings. Issued only after the employee has had a genuine chance to improve and understands the consequences.
Capability dismissal as a last resort. Only after the earlier stages, with everything documented.

Two rules sit over all of it. Apply the same process to everyone, and always consider whether absence is linked to a disability, in which case you must look at reasonable adjustments before anything else. ACAS sets out what a fair process looks like, and it's worth following closely. This is general guidance, not legal advice; check with an employment specialist before any dismissal.

Audit your sickness absence policy in ten minutes

Most SMB policies were copied from a template years ago and quietly went out of date on 6 April 2026. Run yours through this checklist; if you can't tick every box, you've found your update list:

Sick pay section reflects day-one SSP and the removed Lower Earnings Limit (post-April 2026)
Reporting rules are specific: who to tell, how, and by when on day one
Self-certification and fit note rules are stated clearly
Absence triggers and review points are written down and applied consistently
Any scoring method (like the Bradford Factor) is framed as a flag, not an automatic penalty
Short-term and long-term absence are handled differently
Return-to-work expectations are set out
The disciplinary and capability stages are clear and fair
Disability and protected-reason absences are addressed separately
Absence records are accurate and kept in one place

Sickness absence policy audit checklist

Want this to keep on file? Grab the sickness absence policy audit checklist as a one-page PDF

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A strong sickness absence policy sets the rules; the day-to-day job is applying them without drowning in admin.

Bring your policy to life with Shiftbase

A policy only works if absence is recorded accurately and acted on quickly. Shiftbase keeps absence management, employee scheduling, and time tracking in one platform: log a sick day and the schedule updates instantly, the gap is visible, and an open shift can go out to cover it. Balances and approvals stay in sync, so your records are payroll-ready and your triggers are based on real data, not guesswork. See the plans on the pricing page, or try Shiftbase free for 14 days.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Not exactly. No law forces you to have a standalone policy, but you must give employees written terms covering sickness and sick pay, and you need a fair, consistent process to manage absence and defend any decisions. A written sickness absence policy is simply the practical way to meet both. Without one, decisions look arbitrary and are harder to justify if challenged.
Yes. Since 6 April 2026, SSP is payable from the first day of sickness absence in the UK. The old three-day waiting period is gone, and the Lower Earnings Limit has been removed, so more staff qualify. Lower earners receive either the flat SSP rate (£123.25 a week) or 80% of their average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.
It's a score that weights frequent short absences more heavily than one long absence, using the formula S² × D (spells squared, times total days). It's fair as a flag for a conversation, not as an automatic trigger for discipline. Used rigidly it risks penalising disability- or pregnancy-related absence, so always review the reason before acting on a score.
There's no legal number. Most employers set absence triggers, for example three separate absences or eight days in a rolling 12 months, that prompt a review conversation, not automatic discipline. The trigger starts a fair process; it doesn't end one. Set the threshold in your policy, apply it consistently, and always look at the reason behind the pattern first.
No. Return-to-work interviews aren't required by law, but they're widely treated as best practice and form part of a fair absence process. A short, consistent conversation after every absence confirms the employee is fit to work, catches patterns early, and deters casual absence. Skipping them makes later formal action harder to justify, because you can't show you engaged with the issue.
Potentially, but only as a last resort after a fair capability process: documented review stages, warnings, and a genuine chance to improve. If the absence relates to a disability, you must consider reasonable adjustments first, and medical or occupational health input usually matters. Rushing to dismissal without a fair process is a common route to an unfair dismissal claim.