NHS sick pay by length of service

Paragraph 14.2 of the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook sets the "scale of allowances" for sick pay. The wording is the same in the England, Wales and Scotland and Northern Ireland editions. This is the table the calculator is built on, and it is also used by the NHS Sick Pay Calculator.

Any paid sick pay you took in the 12 months before a new absence starts is deducted from the entitlement (paragraph 14.7), so repeat absences can have less than the full scale. The first field under "Your details" that says paid sick weeks in the last 12 months handles this. For a detailed look at one planned absence, including that deduction week by week, use the NHS Sick Pay Calculator, and for the policy itself read NHS sick pay policy explained.

Do you get Statutory Sick Pay on top of NHS half pay?

Yes, for part of the time. The Handbook says full pay is inclusive of statutory benefits and that Statutory Sick Pay added to half pay must not exceed full pay (paragraph 14.6). So while you are on half pay and still have SSP weeks left, you receive half pay plus SSP, topped up no higher than your normal pay. SSP is £123 a week (or 80% of normal weekly earnings if lower) for up to 28 weeks, according to gov.uk, checked 7 October 2026. The 28 weeks are counted from the start of the absence, not from when half pay begins, so the top-up is short for people with long full-pay periods.

Take someone with six years' service. Full pay lasts about 26 weeks. Half pay then starts, and only about two SSP weeks remain, so they receive about £1,709 a month for those two weeks, then £1,351 a month on half pay alone. Someone in their first year, whose one month of full pay and two months of half pay all fall inside the first 28 weeks, gets SSP on top of every week of half pay. The calculator handles both cases automatically.

Worked example: six years' service on £38,000

These figures come from the same engine as the calculator above. Salary £38,000, six years' continuous service, in the NHS Pension Scheme, England tax, no sick pay in the last 12 months, essential outgoings of £1,900 a month, savings of £3,000 and no other income.

Full pay covers the £1,900 of outgoings comfortably, so there is no gap in the first six months. On half pay the income drops below outgoings, with a shortfall of about £549 a month that the savings cover for a while. After about month 12 the NHS pays nothing, the full £1,900 is uncovered, and the £3,000 of savings runs out in month 14. In the first 12 months the total shortfall is £3,136. This is why the gap that matters is not the early months but the period after contractual sick pay ends.

Worked example: in your second year of service

With £32,000 salary, one and a half years' service (two months' full pay, two months' half pay), £1,700 of outgoings and £1,000 of savings, take-home is about £2,036 a month on full pay and about £0 on half pay alone. NHS sick pay ends around week 17 (month 4), SSP is used up by week 28, and the savings run out in month 6. A shorter scale brings the gap forward by months, which is why length of service matters more than salary when you are working out how exposed you are.

How much difference does other household income make?

A lot. Adding £1,100 a month of take-home income from a partner to the first example changes the result: the savings last the whole 24 months instead of running out in month 14, and the biggest monthly shortfall falls from £1,900 to £800. Use the "Other monthly income while off" field to see your own household version. Include only money you can rely on, and remember that some benefits are affected by a partner's income.

What happens when NHS sick pay runs out?

When the scale for your service is used up, contractual sick pay stops. If you still have SSP weeks left you may receive SSP, but it ends after 28 weeks. What can change the picture:

• Reinstated half pay (paragraph 14.10). After 12 months of continuous absence, half pay should be reinstated where a final review meeting for long-term absence has not happened because of employer delay. The rules differ for staff with more or fewer than five years' service.
• Employer discretion (paragraph 14.13). Employers can extend sick pay beyond the scale where a return to work is expected in the short term and an extension would help, or in any other circumstance they consider reasonable.
• Injury Allowance (Section 22). If your absence is attributable to your NHS work, you may be eligible for a top-up that this calculator does not model.
• Ill-health retirement. For a permanent condition that stops you doing your job, the NHS Pension Scheme has early-retirement routes. See NHS ill-health retirement explained.
• Benefits. Universal Credit or New Style ESA may be available depending on your circumstances. Check eligibility on gov.uk before relying on them.
• Your job. Sick pay entitlement stops from your last day of employment (paragraph 14.3). Long-term absence is managed under your trust's sickness policy, so see long-term sickness and Long Covid support and speak to occupational health and your union early.

Does the NHS offer income protection insurance?

No. NHS contractual sick pay is an employment benefit, not insurance, and it ends when the scale is used up. Commercial income protection insurance is a separate private policy that pays a regular income if illness or injury stops you working, after a waiting period you choose when you buy it. Cost, the waiting period, how long payments continue and how "unable to work" is defined all vary by insurer and by person. Our NHS income protection insurance explained guide covers how these policies work and what to check, and the NHS insurance hub covers life cover, death in service and critical illness.

Do NHS staff need income protection insurance?

There is no single right answer, and this page does not tell you to buy or avoid anything. NHS staff start with a much better sick pay scale than most private-sector employees, so the question is usually about the period after it ends. Questions worth asking of your own results:

• • When does my NHS sick pay end, and how big is the monthly gap after that, once other income is counted?
• • How many months would my savings cover, and would I be comfortable with that margin?
• • Do I have commitments, such as a mortgage or dependants, that would be hard to meet on much less income?
• • Could a partner's income, ill-health retirement or benefits realistically change the picture?
• • Am I early in my NHS service, with a short scale, or recently off sick, with less entitlement left than the full scale?

How the calculator works and what it assumes

• Sick pay phases come from Handbook version 63 (amendment 63, England edition) Section 14: the paragraph 14.2 scale, the 14.6 and 14.8 rule that SSP plus sick pay cannot exceed full pay, and the 14.7 rolling 12-month deduction.
• SSP is £123 a week or 80% of normal weekly earnings if lower, for up to 28 weeks, assumed to start on day one of the absence (gov.uk, checked 7 October 2026). Earlier linked absences are not modelled.
• Full pay is your salary as entered. If your pay includes unsocial hours enhancements, note that the Handbook defines full pay for sick pay more narrowly for most staff (paragraphs 14.4 and 14.5), so your real drop may be larger than shown.
• Take-home pay at each phase is estimated with the site's shared pay engine, treating each pay rate on its own annualised basis. SSP alone is treated as paid in full with no deductions because it falls below the tax and National Insurance thresholds. Actual PAYE during a long absence will differ a little.
• The chart shows 24 months. After NHS and statutory pay stop, income is only whatever you enter as other monthly income.
• It is a planning aid and does not replace advice from HR, occupational health, your union or a financial adviser.

Handbook source: NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, amendment 63. SSP: gov.uk Statutory Sick Pay. Benefits: gov.uk Employment and Support Allowance. How we check our work: editorial policy. Last updated October 2026.