Sickness absence policy template
Also searched for as sick leave policy template UK, absence management policy, sickness policy for small business.
Sickness absence is the HR problem every employer has and few have written down. The result is that one person phones at seven, another texts at ten, nobody knows whether a fit note is needed, and the manager who wants to deal with a pattern has no policy to point to. This template sets the rules once: how to report, what evidence is needed and when, what is paid, and what happens when absence becomes a pattern or a long stretch.
It is written for the rules as they stand after 6 April 2026, when statutory sick pay became payable from the first day of sickness to every employee.
What is in this template
- Reporting: by phone, before a set time, to a named person, on the first day and at agreed intervals after.
- Certifying: self-certification for the first seven calendar days, a fit note from the eighth, and how a "may be fit for work" note is handled.
- Pay: statutory sick pay and any company sick pay, and how the two interact.
- A return-to-work conversation after every absence, however short.
- Long-term absence: contact, medical advice, occupational health referral, the capability route.
- Persistent short-term absence: trigger points, review meetings, the formal stages.
- Reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010, and why disability-related absence is counted separately.
- Confidentiality and health data under UK GDPR.
- Holiday during sickness and carry-over.
- Work-related illness and RIDDOR reporting.
How to use it
- Set the reporting time and the named person for your business; the template uses nine in the morning and the line manager.
- Decide your company sick pay, if any, and write it in. The template describes the statutory scheme and leaves the enhanced terms to you.
- Choose your trigger points. Three occasions or eight working days in a rolling twelve months is common; what matters is applying them to everyone.
- Issue it with the handbook, and log every absence and every return-to-work conversation. Work-Lynx records absences, flags triggers and tracks SSP weeks across linked absences.
Questions people ask
Can I require a doctor's note for a two-day absence?
No. Employees self-certify for the first seven calendar days of any absence and a fit note is required from the eighth. You can require notification in line with your procedure, and you can hold a return-to-work conversation about any absence.
What changed about statutory sick pay in April 2026?
The three unpaid waiting days and the lower earnings limit were removed, so SSP is payable from the first qualifying day of sickness to every employee regardless of earnings. The template reflects that.
Can I discipline someone for sickness absence?
Not for being genuinely ill. Your policy can lead to warnings for a level of attendance the business cannot sustain where there is no underlying condition, for failing to follow the reporting procedure, or for dishonesty about an absence, after a fair review process. Disability-related absence is treated separately.
When you outgrow Word documents
Work-Lynx holds this and 48 other UK policies, records who has acknowledged each one, tracks holiday, absence and training, and answers the questions in between with Employ AI. £2.50 a month plus £1 per employee, 14 days free, no card. The template works without it.
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