NHS Sick Pay Calculator
See your Section 14 Occupational Sick Pay entitlement by length of service, apply the rolling 12-month rule correctly, and find out what a period of sickness absence is really worth.
New to how NHS sick pay works? Read NHS Sick Pay Explained for the wider picture — attendance management, your pension, and returning to work.
Your details
Section 14 sick pay tiers are identical across all four nations — this only changes the income tax bands used for the £ estimates below.
With one or more NHS employers — moving trusts doesn't usually reset this, provided there's no significant break in service.
Enter your real current pay (already part-time if applicable), not a full-time-equivalent figure. Not sure of your salary? Check the NHS Pay Calculator first.
Sick pay already used in the last 12 months
Under the rolling 12-month rule, any PAID sickness absence you've already had in the 12 months before a new absence starts is deducted from your entitlement for that new absence — it doesn't reset just because a new episode has started. Enter 0 for both if you haven't had any paid sickness absence in the last 12 months.
Model a period of sickness absence
SSP is a flat UK-wide statutory rate that HMRC/DWP usually revise every April — check the current figure at gov.uk/statutory-sick-pay and enter it here rather than trusting a hardcoded number.
Your current tier
During your fourth and fifth years of service
Full pay entitlement
5 months (~21.73 weeks)
Half pay entitlement
5 months (~21.73 weeks)
Remaining today, after the rolling 12-month deduction
Modelling 4 weeks of sickness absence, starting today
A week's take-home, at a glance
Full pay
£456
Half pay
£266
SSP only
£113
Illustrative net weekly figures — each rate is annualised on its own and taxed once, so treat these as "what a typical week at that rate is worth", not a full-year prediction.
The more accurate figure: real annual net cost
This combines the rest of your year's normal pay with the absence period into ONE annual gross figure, then runs tax, National Insurance and pension against that total once — the same combine-then-tax-once approach used across FrontlinePay's calculators — so it correctly reflects how the absence moves through your real personal allowance and NI thresholds for the year, not just a simple weekly-rate subtraction.
Short answer
NHS Occupational Sick Pay, under Section 14 of the AfC Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, runs from 1 month's full pay + 2 months' half pay in your first year of service, up to 6 months' full pay + 6 months' half pay after 5 years — with three confirmed tiers in between. Crucially, entitlement is worked out on a rolling 12-month basis: any paid sickness absence you've already had in the 12 months before a new absence starts is deducted from what's available now, rather than your entitlement simply refilling. This calculator applies that rule properly and estimates what a period of absence is actually worth at full pay, half pay and SSP. Figures sourced directly from the current Handbook (Amendment 62) — always confirm your own exact position with your trust's HR team.
The full Section 14 tier table
Paragraph 14.2 of the Handbook sets out the "scale of allowances" for Occupational Sick Pay. Every tier below — not just the shortest and the longest — comes directly from that paragraph, read from the current Handbook edition (NHS Employers, Amendment 62). The wording is identical across the Handbook's England, Wales, and Scotland/Northern Ireland sections.
| Length of service | Full pay | Half pay | ≈ in weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| During your first year of service | 1 month | 2 months | 4.35 + 8.69 wks |
| During your second year of service | 2 months | 2 months | 8.69 + 8.69 wks |
| During your third year of service | 4 months | 4 months | 17.38 + 17.38 wks |
| During your fourth and fifth years of service | 5 months | 5 months | 21.73 + 21.73 wks |
| After completing five years of service | 6 months | 6 months | 26.07 + 26.07 wks |
The week figures in the last column are an illustrative conversion (using the same weeks-per-year convention as FrontlinePay's other calculators), not a contractual day-count — your trust's payroll system may calculate the exact number of calendar days slightly differently. The Handbook states entitlement in whole months, not days or weeks, so treat the week figures as a helpful approximation rather than the literal legal wording.
The rolling 12-month rule, in plain English
This is the single most misunderstood part of NHS sick pay, and it's worth getting right. Paragraph 14.7 of the Handbook (14.6 in the Scotland/Northern Ireland edition) says the period and rate of sick pay for a new absence is calculated "by deducting from the employee's entitlement on the first day of sickness, the aggregate periods of paid sickness absence during the 12 months immediately preceding that day."
In practice, that means your entitlement doesn't work like an annual leave allowance that refills on a fixed date. Instead, picture it as a rolling balance: every time you start a new episode of sickness, your employer looks back exactly 12 months from that first day, adds up how much PAID sick pay (full or half rate) you've already had in that window, and subtracts it from your tier's full entitlement before working out what you get for the new absence. Only once a full 12 months have passed without any paid sickness absence does your entitlement return to the full scale for your tier.
ℹWhat doesn't count against you
Paragraph 14.7 specifically disregards certain absences when adding up your past 12 months — including unpaid sick absence, and absence from an injury, disease or health condition sustained in the course of your NHS duties (the same paragraph 22.3 definition used for Injury Allowance). This calculator assumes ordinary sickness absence and doesn't model those exclusions, so if either applies to you, your real remaining entitlement may be higher than this tool shows — check with your trust's HR team.
Worked example: 2.5 years' service, £31,000 salary, 2 weeks already used, modelling a 6-week absence
Take someone 2.5 years into their NHS career — so in their during your third year of service tier (4 months' full pay + the same months' half pay), on a £31,000 salary. They've already had 2 weeks of full-pay sickness absence in the last rolling 12 months, and want to know what a fresh 6-week absence starting today would look like. Using an illustrative SSP figure of £118.75/week (check the real current rate at gov.uk before relying on your own numbers):
| Entitlement check | Amount |
|---|---|
| Full tier entitlement (full pay) | 17.38 weeks |
| Already used (full pay, last 12 months) | 2 weeks |
| Remaining full-pay weeks today | 15.38 weeks |
| Full tier entitlement (half pay) | 17.38 weeks |
| Remaining half-pay weeks today | 17.38 weeks |
Modelling their 6-week absence against that remaining balance: 6 weeks land at full pay, 0 weeks at half pay, and 0 weeks at SSP only — a gross value of £3,567.12 for the 6 weeks. Looked at across the whole year, the calculator's combine-then-tax-once method estimates this absence actually costs them £0 in net income for the year, compared with a normal year on full pay throughout.
Why "months of full pay" isn't the same as "months of your full salary for the year"
It's tempting to read "6 months' full pay" as meaning your salary is unaffected for half the year. In reality, those months only apply to genuine sickness absence — they don't add to your normal working pay, they replace what you'd have lost by not being at work. The real financial question most people actually want answered isn't "how many months am I covered for", it's "what would this specific absence actually cost me" — which depends on your remaining entitlement (after the rolling 12-month deduction), your actual salary, and how the absence period interacts with your tax-free personal allowance and NI thresholds for the year as a whole. That's exactly what the calculator's "real annual net cost" figure is built to answer, rather than a flat "6 months full pay" headline that doesn't account for what you might have already used.
Why trust this calculator
- ✓ Every tier in the table — not just the shortest and longest — was read directly from paragraph 14.2 of the current NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook (NHS Employers, Amendment 62), not a secondary summary
- ✓ The rolling 12-month rule is modelled properly: entitlement doesn't reset on a new episode, it's a running balance reduced by paid sick pay already used in the last 12 months
- ✓ The current SSP rate is never hardcoded — you enter it from gov.uk, so figures stay accurate as the rate changes each tax year
- ✓ The 'real annual net cost' figure combines your full year's income into one gross total and taxes it once, the same combine-then-tax-once approach used across FrontlinePay's calculators, rather than a naive weekly-rate subtraction
- ✓ Honest about what it doesn't model — injury-at-work exclusions, SSP's own eligibility rules and maximum duration, and pension accrual nuances are all flagged rather than silently assumed away
- ✓ Runs entirely in your browser — your figures are calculated locally, not sent to a server or stored against your name
⚠Source and accuracy
The tier table above is sourced directly from paragraph 14.2 of the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook (NHS Employers, Amendment 62, TCS Advisory Notice 03/2026), and the rolling 12-month rule from paragraph 14.7 (England edition) / 14.6 (Scotland and Northern Ireland edition) of the same document — read directly, not taken from a secondary summary. Correct as of September 2026 — Section 14 is set by national negotiation and can be revisited, so always confirm your exact entitlement with your trust's HR or payroll team before making financial decisions around a period of sickness absence. FrontlinePay is an independent site with no affiliation to the NHS or the Department of Health and Social Care.
More tools & guides
NHS Sick Pay Explained
Attendance management, disciplinary vs capability, and your pension.
NHS Pay Calculator
Band, point & region → exact take-home pay, today.
NHS Maternity Pay Calculator
The same full-pay/half-pay/SMP-only structure, for maternity leave.
NHS Annual Leave Calculator
Your days by length of service — the same service-tiered structure.
NHS Pension Scheme (2015) Explained
How pensionable pay generally works during sickness absence.
NHS Ill Health Retirement Explained
What happens if long-term sickness means you can't return.
Frequently asked questions
What is NHS Occupational Sick Pay, exactly? +
It's the enhanced sick pay NHS employers provide on top of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), set out in Section 14 of the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook (the Agenda for Change Handbook). Unlike SSP, which is a flat weekly amount for everyone, Occupational Sick Pay (OSP) pays your NORMAL pay in full for part of an absence, then half your normal pay for a further period, with the length of both periods scaling up the longer you've worked continuously in the NHS.
What's the full table of sick pay entitlement by length of service? +
Direct from paragraph 14.2 of the Handbook: during your first year of service, 1 month's full pay and 2 months' half pay; during your second year, 2 months' full pay and 2 months' half pay; during your third year, 4 months' full pay and 4 months' half pay; during your fourth and fifth years, 5 months' full pay and 5 months' half pay; and after completing 5 years' service, 6 months' full pay and 6 months' half pay. This table is identical across the Handbook's England, Wales, and Scotland/Northern Ireland editions.
How does the rolling 12-month rule actually work? +
On the first day of a new sickness absence, your employer works out how much of your current tier's entitlement is still available by deducting any PAID sickness absence you've already had in the 12 months immediately before that day — it doesn't matter that a new sickness episode has technically started; your entitlement is a rolling balance, not something that refills just because you've come back to work and gone off again. Only once you've gone a full 12 months without any paid sickness absence does your entitlement return to the full scale for your tier. This calculator models exactly that: enter how many weeks of full pay and half pay you've already used in the last 12 months, and it works out what's genuinely left.
Does continuous service reset if I move to a different NHS trust? +
Generally, no — continuous NHS service for sick pay purposes is usually recognised across different NHS employers (a different trust, a different health board), not just your current one, provided there isn't a significant break in service. If you've moved employers recently and aren't certain where that leaves you on the tier table, ask your current trust's HR or payroll team to confirm your reckonable continuous service rather than guessing.
What happens once I've used up all my full pay and half pay entitlement? +
You move to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) only, for as long as you remain eligible for it — SSP has its own separate eligibility rules (including a minimum average weekly earnings threshold) and its own maximum duration, which this calculator doesn't model in detail. If SSP also runs out or you're not eligible, and you're still off sick, you'd receive no pay for that period, though your job and other entitlements are handled separately under your trust's sickness absence and capability process.
Is the entitlement really the same for full-time and part-time staff? +
The NUMBER OF MONTHS at full pay and half pay is the same regardless of your contracted hours — what differs is the cash value, because "full pay" and "half pay" mean your own actual pay, which already reflects your part-time hours if that's your contract. Enter your real current salary (not a full-time-equivalent figure) into this calculator for an accurate £ estimate.
Why do I have to enter the SSP rate myself instead of the calculator just knowing it? +
Because the statutory weekly SSP rate is a flat, UK-wide figure that HMRC and DWP typically revise every tax year (usually each April), and hardcoding a specific number into a calculator risks it going stale within months — showing you a confidently wrong figure once the rate changes. We ask you to check the current rate at gov.uk/statutory-sick-pay and enter it yourself, exactly like FrontlinePay's Maternity Pay Calculator does for the separate SMP rate, so what you see is always based on the real current figure.
What's the difference between the two net figures shown — the 'week at a glance' one and the 'real annual net cost' one? +
The at-a-glance weekly figures (full pay / half pay / SSP-only) each annualise that one flat rate on its own and tax it once — useful for a quick, intuitive comparison of what a typical week at each rate is worth. The 'real annual net cost' figure is more accurate: it builds ONE combined annual gross figure for your whole year — the weeks you're not off sick at your normal pay, plus the modelled absence weeks at whatever rate actually applies — and runs tax, National Insurance and pension against that total once, the same combine-then-tax-once approach FrontlinePay's Rota Calculator uses for a mixed month. That second figure is the one to trust if you want to know what a period of sickness genuinely costs you over the year, because it correctly reflects how the absence moves through your real personal allowance and NI thresholds.
Does this calculator account for injury-at-work or Criminal Injuries Compensation exclusions? +
No — Section 14 disregards certain absences when calculating the rolling 12-month deduction, including sickness absence from an injury, disease or health condition sustained in the course of your NHS duties (under paragraph 22.3), and some absences linked to criminal injury compensation. This calculator assumes ordinary sickness absence throughout and doesn't model those exclusions; if either applies to you, your actual remaining entitlement may be higher than this tool shows, so check with your trust's HR team.
Where does this calculator's data actually come from? +
Every tier in the table above — not just the shortest and longest — was read directly from paragraph 14.2 of the current NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook (NHS Employers, Amendment 62), and the rolling 12-month rule is taken directly from paragraph 14.7 (England edition) / 14.6 (Scotland and Northern Ireland edition) of the same document. We deliberately didn't rely on secondary summaries for the tier table itself — see the sourcing note below for the exact document.