Teachers’ sick pay and sick leave entitlement

For most teachers, sick leave and sick pay entitlements are set out in the Burgundy Book national agreement on conditions of service

Teachers' sick leave and pay are mostly governed by the  Burgundy Book scheme, which is incorporated into teachers’ contracts of employment.

Academies, independent and free schools may set their sick pay schemes, but a number follow the provisions of the Burgundy Book sick pay scheme. Any member in doubt should request a copy of the sick pay scheme from their employer.

Sick pay

The Burgundy Book provides a sliding scale of sick pay based on the teacher's length of service:

Burgundy Book sick pay  
Length of serviceSick pay entitlements
During the first year of service:Full pay for 25 working days and, after completing four calendar months’ service, half pay for 50 working days.
During the second year of service:Full pay for 50 working days and half pay for 50 working days.
During the third year of service:Full pay for 75 working days and half pay for 75 working days.
During the fourth and successive years:Full pay for 100 working days and half pay for 100 working days
   

This sick leave sliding scale is a minimum and employers may extend it in individual cases. The Burgundy Book scheme counts only working days for sick leave entitlements, excluding holidays and weekends. Teachers can use the following as a rough guide for full and half pay, adjusted for any school closures.

Sick pay in months 
Length of service Sick pay in months
During the first year service: ofFull pay for 1½ months; and, after four calendar months’ service, half pay for 3 months.
During the second year of service: Full pay for 3 months; half pay for 3 months.
During the third year of service: Full pay for 4½ months; half pay for 4½ months.
During the fourth and successive years:Full pay for 6 months; half pay for 6 months.

Teachers covered by the Burgundy Book scheme may not be aware of statutory sick pay (SSP), which starts from the 4th day of absence and is payable for up to 28 weeks. SSP forms part of full sick pay and is added to half sick pay. After 28 weeks, teachers may claim employment and support allowance (ESA). Employers must notify employees when SSP ends and provide form SSP1 for ESA claims. SSP is particularly relevant for teachers in their first year of service with limited Burgundy Book entitlements.

 If you are receiving full sick pay before the holiday and your illness continues into the holiday, you will continue to receive full sick pay during the holiday period. The same principle applies to half-pay. Moving from one local authority to another does not affect your sick pay. 

Part-time teachers

Sick leave is based on the school’s working days, not individual workdays. Part-time teachers receive sick pay based on their actual salary for up to 100 school days. E.g. A teacher on a 0.4 contract receives their 0.4 salary for 100 working days, and then 50% of that for another 100 days.

Independent schools

 may set their sick pay schemes, but many follow the Burgundy Book sick pay scheme. academies and free schools may establish their sick pay schemes – but many follow the provisions of the Burgundy Book. 

Supply teachers

Supply teachers aren’t covered by the Burgundy Book’s sick pay provisions. 

Sick leave

Year of service and calculation

The sick leave year typically runs from 1 April to 31 March. However, teachers absent due to illness on 31 March will not be entitled to the subsequent year’s allowance until they have recovered and are back at work. 

Some academies run their sick leave year from 1 September to 31 August, but you will need to check your employer’s sick leave arrangements to see which dates apply.

To calculate a teacher’s entitlement during a year, a year is deemed to begin on 1 April and end on 31 March. Where a teacher takes up their first teaching appointment after 1 April in any year, the full entitlement that year applies.

A teacher in their first year of service who has not completed four months’ service at the start of a period of sick leave, will continue to accrue service while absent on full pay for 25 days. If by the end of that period, they have accrued four months’ service, they will then be entitled to receive half pay for 50 days.

Reporting sickness and medical certification

Your school or college policy is likely to require you to contact them by a certain time in the morning and whom to contact.  The time is likely to be before the start of the school or college day. If you do not make contact, this may be judged as an unauthorised absence, which could lead to disciplinary action against you and/or loss of pay for each day you do not inform your employer of your absence.

Teachers must self-certify sickness absences lasting 4-7 days and provide doctors’ certificates for absences over seven days. Schools may have additional absence monitoring procedures, but these do not affect teachers’ entitlement to sick pay under the Burgundy Book scheme. Frequent or prolonged absences may require earlier or more frequent doctors’ certificates.

If your sick leave extends into the school holiday, you must continue to submit doctor’s certificates, as required, even though the school is closed.

If you are absent due to illness on 31 March and continue to remain off sick into April and subsequent months, your sick leave will continue to be counted against the previous year’s entitlement.

Teachers whose sick leave extends into the school holiday must continue to submit medical certificates, as required, even though the school or academy is closed.

A long period of absence

If a teacher is absent from work due to illness on 31 March, the period of absence will continue to be counted against the previous year’s allowance and the new allowance will not start until the teacher is back at work.

Where there is concern about a prolonged period of absence or frequent spells of absence, you may be required at any time to be examined by an approved medical practitioner. The cost of such an examination is covered by the employer.

Sickness due to an accident at work or infectious diseases

Where a teacher is absent as a result of an accident arising out of, and in the course of, employment, including extra-curricular and voluntary activities, or there is evidence to show that an absence was due to an infectious or contagious disease contracted as a direct result of a teacher’s employment, the teacher will be entitled to full pay for a maximum of six calendar months which is not reckoned against the normal sliding scale entitlement to sick pay and sick leave.

NEU sick pay and sick leave calendar

The following calendar summarises the information given above and should serve as a quick guide. For the sake of simplicity, patterns of absence have been assumed to be continuous; but the guide will apply equally where this is not the case.

Teachers are advised to keep a note of the number of days that they are absent due to sickness from 1 April of any given year should problems arise in relation to sick leave and pay. All days shown are working days, unless otherwise specified. Holidays and weekends are not included. The chart assumes that the teacher remains in employment throughout the period of sickness.

Calendar
DateAction or event
Day 1:Alert school of absence and of likely duration of absence.
Calendar day 4:If you are still absent on this day, you will need to fill in a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) self-certificate form on return to work.
Calendar day 8:If you are still absent, a doctor’s certificate (‘fit note’) is now required; these will be required on a regular basis until declared fit to work.
Day 25:Full pay expires for teachers in their first year of service.
Day 50:Full pay expires for teachers in their second year of service.
Day 75:Full pay expires for teachers in their third year of service.
Half pay expires for teachers in their first year of service, with at least four calendar months’ service.
Day 100:Full pay expires for teachers in their fourth or successive years of service.
Half pay expires for teachers in their second year of service.
Day 150:Half pay expires for teachers in their third year of service.
Day 200:Half pay expires for teachers in their fourth or successive years of service.

Sickness absence asked questions

The school has told me I need to get another sick note from my GP to cover this two-week period. Is this correct?

No, you should come off sick pay when your GP says you are fit for work and should be medically suspended on full pay while the matter is resolved.

That would depend on how long you are now likely to be on sick leave for and how much of your contracted period is left. If you are likely to be on sick leave for a significant proportion of the period during which you have been contracted to work, your employer may seek to argue that the contract has been ‘frustrated’, which essentially means you are no longer able to fulfil the contract on the terms agreed.

However, if your period of absence is likely to be relatively short (e.g. six weeks) and you are able to return to work before the contract expires, it is unlikely to be reasonable to treat your period of absence on sick leave as frustrating the contract. Each case will depend on its own facts. It is important, therefore, that you seek advice as soon as possible if you are threatened with dismissal.

If you have an infectious disease you should telephone and inform your school or college and then obtain a medical certificate confirming the position. If someone in your house has an infectious disease, ring in and seek guidance, as you may be asked not to attend your workplace. You should receive full pay if you are instructed to remain off work for this reason.

No. You should not carry out any work duties while off sick and you should not be contacted without prior agreement.

Schools and colleges should have arrangements in place to provide prepared, appropriate work for pupils in the event of short-term absence as well as cover for your absence.

The answer is likely to be ‘yes’, since the referee will be under an obligation to be truthful when asked about your sickness record. Normally, the Equality Act 2010 prevents a school or college, to which an application for work is made, from asking about the health of the applicant before the applicant has been offered work.

The NEU would argue that, although the prohibition applies only to the prospective employer and not to the referee, disclosure by the referee of health information prior to a job applicant’s appointment, and in the absence of a request for the same by the prospective employer, is likely to amount to a breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In your circumstances, however, a job offer has been made and your current employer is therefore permitted to disclose your sickness absence record when asked to do so by your prospective employer.

Patient with doctor

Fit note for teachers

Fit note guide to return to work with phased return, altered hours, duties, or adaptations.

Woman teacher with female students in blue uniforms

Phased return to work

A phased return to work is a way of enabling employees to return to their duties in a gradual way following illness or injury.

Back to top