NHS Long-Term Sick Pay Runway Calculator

See what your pay looks like for every month you are off sick: full pay, half pay, Statutory Sick Pay and what happens after, including the half-pay reinstatement rule and injury allowance.

Just want the entitlement for a short absence? Use the NHS Sick Pay Calculator.

Your absence

Whole years, counting service with any NHS employer (Handbook Section 12). Use 0 in your first year.

For most staff this is your pay point plus any high cost area supplement. Unsocial hours enhancements are not included (Handbook 14.5). Part-time staff: enter your actual pay.

Today, or the date you went off sick. Use the first day of this continuous absence.

Weeks of paid sickness absence (full or half pay) in the 12 months before this absence began. These are deducted from your entitlement (Handbook 14.7). Leave at 0 if none.

Adds the injury allowance route (Handbook Section 22): a top-up to 85% of pay for up to 12 months, if your employer accepts the claim. It is not automatic.

Display and tax options+

Used only for the take-home estimate.

Pre-filled with the gov.uk rate of £123.25 a week (or 80% of your earnings if lower), paid for up to 28 weeks.

Your month-by-month runway appears here

Enter your years of service, your annual pay and the date you went off sick. The tool works through full pay, half pay, Statutory Sick Pay and the Handbook 14.10 half-pay reinstatement after 12 months. Nothing is sent anywhere: it runs in your browser.

Short answer

On the NHS sick pay scale (Handbook paragraph 14.2) you get between one month's full pay and two months' half pay in your first year of service and six months' full pay and six months' half pay after five years. When it runs out, Statutory Sick Pay can continue for up to 28 weeks in total, and half pay is reinstated after 12 months of continuous absence if you are still waiting for a final review meeting (paragraph 14.10). Enter your service and pay above for your own month-by-month runway.

⚠A planning tool, not HR or legal advice

This models the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook (England wording) with standard assumptions. Your trust's sickness absence policy, any extension your employer agrees and your own contract decide what you are actually paid. Check with HR, payroll or your union rep before relying on a date.

How long does NHS sick pay last?

Contractual sick pay on Agenda for Change terms follows a scale based on your service on the first day of sickness (Handbook paragraph 14.2). Full pay is followed by half pay:

Your serviceFull payHalf pay
first year of service 1 month 2 months
second year of service 2 months 2 months
third year of service 4 months 4 months
fourth and fifth years of service 5 months 5 months
After completing five years of service 6 months 6 months

Sick pay already paid in the 12 months before the new absence is deducted from the entitlement (paragraph 14.7), so a second absence soon after a first can start with less than the full scale. Our NHS sick pay guide explains the scale in more detail.

What happens when your NHS sick pay runs out?

Here is a worked example from the calculator for someone on £32,000 a year with six years of service, whose absence starts on 1 Feb 2027, and another on £24,000 a year in their second year of service. Both are England, in the NHS Pension Scheme, with no earlier sick pay and no final review meeting yet.

Month off6 years, £32,0002nd year, £24,000
1 Full pay: £2,455 gross Full pay: £1,841 gross
3 Full pay: £2,630 gross Half pay plus SSP: £1,515 gross
4 Full pay: £2,718 gross Half pay plus SSP: £1,565 gross
6 Full pay: £2,718 gross SSP only: £546 gross
7 Half pay: £1,623 gross No pay: £264 gross
12 Half pay: £1,359 gross No pay: £33 gross
13 Half pay (reinstated, 14.10): £1,271 gross Half pay (reinstated, 14.10): £953 gross

The shorter scale shows the cliff most people are not warned about. After full and half pay end, SSP alone is paid until week 28, then nothing at all until half pay is reinstated after 12 months of continuous absence, if that rule applies to you. Over the first 12 months the second example receives about £8,330 gross against £24,000 at full pay.

Half pay plus SSP: how the two combine

Full pay is inclusive of any statutory benefits, and the combined addition of Statutory Sick Pay to half pay must not exceed full pay (paragraph 14.6; see also 14.8). So in months on half pay you get half pay plus SSP, capped at full pay, until SSP ends. SSP is currently up to £123.25 a week or 80% of your normal weekly earnings, whichever is lower, for up to 28 weeks (gov.uk). Once SSP stops, half pay is paid on its own, which is why take-home often falls again in the later half-pay months.

Half pay reinstated after 12 months (paragraph 14.10)

The Handbook says sick pay should be reinstated at half pay after 12 months of continuous sickness absence for staff who have exhausted their entitlement, in two situations:

  • More than five years' reckonable service: if the entitlement is exhausted before a final review meeting for long-term absence has taken place.
  • Less than five years: if the entitlement is exhausted and a final review does not take place within 12 months of the start of the absence.

It continues until the final review meeting has taken place, it is not backdated for any period of zero pay in the first 12 months (paragraph 14.11), and it only applies where the failure to hold the meeting is due to delay by the employer, not for other reasons (14.12). In our second example, month 13 is the first month of reinstated half pay at £953 gross, after months of SSP only and then no pay. The runway shows this only if you say no final review is booked, or it is booked after the point reinstatement would start.

Can the NHS dismiss you while you are on long-term sick leave?

Section 14 says that, after investigation, consultation and consideration of other alternative posts, and where there is no reasonable prospect of you returning to work, an employer has the option to end employment before the contractual paid sick period runs out, subject to its agreed sickness absence procedures (paragraph 14.18). Sick pay ceases from your last day of employment (14.3). Dismissal for long-term ill health is a capability issue, and it must be fair. A final review meeting is often the point where the employer decides between a return to work, redeployment, ill-health retirement or dismissal. Read what happens if you are dismissed from the NHS and, if you need a plan, try the dismissal guidance advisor. For a long-term absence review meeting, the sickness absence meeting pack has a questions checklist that covers a final review and paragraph 14.10.

Injury allowance: when work caused your illness or injury

If your illness, injury or health condition is wholly or mainly attributable to your NHS employment, you may be entitled to injury allowance, a top-up of sick pay or reduced pay to 85% of pay (paragraph 22.8), for up to 12 months per episode (22.12), with no minimum length of service (22.6). Tick the work-related box in the calculator to see it month by month. In the second example above, the top-up is worth about £12,652 gross in the first 12 months. Work-related absence is also disregarded in the 12-month look-back for future sick pay (14.7). Use the injury allowance checker for the eligibility questions and the claim steps.

What to do when sick pay and SSP end

  • ✓ Ask HR in writing when your final review meeting will be held, and whether paragraph 14.10 applies to you.
  • ✓ Ask whether your employer will extend full or half pay under paragraph 14.13, and explain how the time would help you return.
  • ✓ Check whether you can claim Employment and Support Allowance or Universal Credit on gov.uk once SSP ends.
  • ✓ Ask occupational health and your GP whether ill-health retirement is an option; see our ill-health retirement guide and pension and long-term sickness guide.
  • ✓ If you have income protection, check when it starts paying; our income protection gap calculator shows the monthly shortfall.
  • ✓ Take a union rep or colleague to any absence review meeting, and keep a written record of what is agreed.

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How we calculate this and where the rules come from

  • ✓ The sick pay scale, the SSP figures and the rolling 12-month look-back come from the same engine as our NHS Sick Pay Calculator.
  • ✓ Half pay reinstatement (14.10 to 14.12) and injury allowance (Section 22) are read directly from the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, amendment 63 (published 1 October 2026) by NHS Employers.
  • ✓ SSP rates and the 28-week limit are from gov.uk, checked October 2026.
  • ✓ Months run from your first day off. Each month's pay is built day by day, with full pay, half pay plus SSP, half pay and SSP only applied in order.
  • ✓ It does not model SSP used earlier in a linked absence, pay protection, local policy or any discretion your employer exercises.
  • ✓ Runs entirely in your browser: nothing you enter is sent or saved. See our editorial policy. Last updated October 2026.

Related guides & tools

NHS Sick Pay Calculator

Entitlement, remaining weeks and the cost of a period of absence.

NHS Sick Pay Explained

The scale, the rolling 12 months and what counts as pay.

When NHS Sick Pay Runs Out

Half pay reinstatement, SSP, ESA and what comes next.

NHS Injury Allowance Checker

Eligibility questions and an 85% top-up estimate.

Ill-Health Retirement Explained

Tier 1 and Tier 2 benefits and how to apply.

Long-Term Sickness and Long Covid Support

Support, adjustments and phased returns.

Frequently asked questions

How long do I get full pay and half pay when I am off sick in the NHS? +
It depends on your length of service on the first day of sickness (Handbook paragraph 14.2). In your first year of service it is one month's full pay and two months' half pay. In the second year it is two months' full and two months' half. In the third year it is four and four. In the fourth and fifth years it is five and five. After five years it is six months' full pay and six months' half pay.
What happens when my NHS sick pay runs out? +
Contractual sick pay stops, but Statutory Sick Pay can carry on for up to 28 weeks in total (£123.25 a week or 80% of normal weekly earnings, whichever is lower, according to gov.uk). After that you may be able to claim Employment and Support Allowance or Universal Credit, so check gov.uk. Your employer may also use its discretion to extend sick pay (paragraph 14.13), and half pay can be reinstated after 12 months of continuous absence in the circumstances in paragraph 14.10.
Do I get half pay plus Statutory Sick Pay? +
Yes, while you are on the half pay part of the scale and SSP is still payable, the two are added together, but the total must not exceed your full pay (paragraphs 14.6 and 14.8). In full pay months SSP is counted inside your full pay, not added on top. The calculator applies this cap each month.
What is the NHS sick pay reinstatement rule (paragraph 14.10)? +
If you have used up your sick pay, half pay is reinstated after 12 months of continuous sickness absence in two cases. With more than five years' reckonable service, it is reinstated if your entitlement ran out before a final review meeting for long-term absence has taken place. With less than five years, it is reinstated if the entitlement has run out and a final review does not take place within 12 months of the start of your absence. It continues until the final review meeting (14.11), is not backdated for any period of zero pay (14.11), and only applies where the missed meeting is the employer's delay (14.12).
Does sick pay I have already had reduce my entitlement? +
Yes. Paragraph 14.7 says your entitlement on the first day of a new absence is reduced by the paid sickness absence (full or half pay) in the 12 months immediately before it. Unpaid sick absence is ignored, and so is absence caused by an injury or illness wholly or mainly attributable to your NHS employment. Enter your paid weeks in the last 12 months and the runway adjusts.
Can the NHS dismiss me while I am on long-term sick leave? +
The Handbook allows an employer, after investigation, consultation and consideration of other alternative posts, and where there is no reasonable prospect of return, to end employment before the sick pay scale has run out, subject to its own sickness absence procedures (paragraph 14.18). Sick pay then stops on your last day of employment (14.3). A dismissal for long-term ill health must still be fair and follow a proper process, so if you are heading towards a capability meeting, get advice from your union or ACAS, and see our dismissal guidance.
What is injury allowance and does it extend my sick pay? +
Injury allowance (Handbook Section 22) is a top-up that brings sick pay or reduced pay up to 85% of pay for staff whose illness or injury is wholly or mainly attributable to their NHS employment, for up to 12 months per episode, as decided by the employer on the balance of probabilities. It does not give you a longer period of sickness absence entitlement (paragraph 22.2). Use our injury allowance checker to see whether you may qualify.
Is my unsocial hours pay counted as part of full pay when I am off sick? +
Usually not. For staff whose basic pay is above £18,160, and for new starters, full pay for sick pay is the pay point plus any high cost area supplement and locally agreed pay protection (paragraph 14.5), so enhancements for unsocial hours are not included. Staff who were employed under the Handbook on 30 June 2018 with basic pay of £18,160 or less keep regularly paid supplements in their sick pay (14.4). Work-related absence that qualifies for injury allowance also uses pay including regular supplements.
Does the same scale apply in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? +
The scale of allowances in paragraph 14.2 is worded identically in the England, Wales and Scotland/Northern Ireland editions of Section 14, and the reinstatement rule is also in all three, though the paragraph numbers differ (it is 14.9 in the Scotland and Northern Ireland edition). Local policies and any local agreements can differ, so check yours.
How is the monthly take-home figure worked out? +
Each month's gross sick pay is annualised and run through the same 2026/27 tax, National Insurance and NHS Pension engine used by our NHS Pay Calculator, then scaled back to the month. Any injury allowance top-up is taxed but carries no pension contribution (paragraph 22.9). It is an estimate for planning, and your payslip will differ if you have a different tax code, other income or benefits.
Can my employer pay me more than the standard scale? +
Yes. Paragraph 14.13 gives employers discretion to extend the period of full or half pay where there is an expectation of a return to work in the short term and an extension would help recovery, or in any other circumstance the employer deems reasonable. It is discretionary, so ask in writing and explain how the extra time would help your return.