{"id":1300,"date":"2022-01-07T04:21:07","date_gmt":"2022-01-07T04:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uk.legalvision.com.au\/?p=1300"},"modified":"2026-09-01T02:40:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T01:40:51","slug":"employee-stays-away-from-work-sick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/employment\/employee-stays-away-from-work-sick\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Do When an Employee Stays Away From Work Sick?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Employers in England and Wales must give sick employees statutory sick pay and manage their absence fairly. Since 6 April 2026, statutory sick pay runs from the first day of absence. The three waiting days and the lower earnings limit have both gone. Low earners now receive the flat rate or 80% of normal weekly earnings, whichever is lower. Employees self-certify for seven days or fewer, and provide a fit note beyond that. You cannot make a sick employee take annual leave instead of sick leave. From 1 January 2027, six months’ service will support an unfair dismissal claim, and the compensation cap disappears.<\/span> This article explains an employer’s obligations when an employee is off sick in England and Wales, covering sick leave and statutory sick pay, annual leave interaction, when you can require an employee to leave work, dismissal on capability grounds, and what changes on 1 January 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking Sick Leave<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As an employer, you should know that your employees may have a right to take time off work due to being sick. This is commonly known as sickness absence or sick leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Short-Term Sick Leave and Sick Notes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Your employee only needs to provide sickness evidence after taking more than seven days off work. Statutory Sick Pay was reformed in April 2026. The reforms removed the lower earnings limit and three waiting days. This made SSP a day-one entitlement. The seven days include any non-working days when they continued to be unwell. In these cases, the employee must give you a fit note. People commonly call this a sick note. They can get one from a doctor or another registered healthcare professional. This may include a nurse, occupational therapist, pharmacist or physiotherapist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If your employee is off sick for seven days or less, this is a short-term absence. They must self-certify their sickness absence. As an employer, you will have a procedure in place regarding how your employee does this.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Long-Term Sickness and Annual Leave<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If your employee is off sick for more than four weeks, this is long-term sickness absence. Being \u2018long-term sick\u2019 may affect your employee\u2019s ability to take their full annual leave entitlement<\/a>. When this happens, you must allow the employee to carry over up to four weeks of unused annual leave. Any carried over leave must be used within 18 months of the relevant year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When employees fall sick during a time already away from work on annual leave or just before taking annual leave, they have the right to replace those days<\/a> as days taken as sick leave. Equally, where an employee is off work on sick leave, their standard annual leave entitlement builds up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forcing an Employee to Leave Work Sick<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If an employee is unwell, you cannot force them to take time off as annual leave when they <\/span>have the right to sick leave. This applies even when the employee is already off work for annual leave. However, there are instances when you can require your employee to leave work concerning sickness.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

COVID-19<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The COVID-19 pandemic led to specific legal requirements around self-isolation, but these have since been withdrawn. Employees no longer have to self-isolate by law if they test positive for COVID-19. This also applies if they have symptoms or live with someone who does. Public health guidance instead encourages employees to stay away from others while they have symptoms of a contagious illness. As an employer, you should review your COVID-19 policy regularly. This helps ensure it reflects current public health guidance, not earlier legal requirements that no longer apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an employer, you may need to ask employees to leave work after close contact with COVID-19. In this instance, you must send your employee home immediately.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dismissal Due to Time Off for Sickness<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Where an employee is off work for more than four weeks and considered as \u2018long-term sick\u2019, you may decide to dismiss them<\/a>. However, this is a last resort. You cannot treat or dismiss an employee unfairly simply because they take time off work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From January 2027, the unfair dismissal qualifying period is expected to reduce from two years to six months. This means more employees dismissed for long-term sickness may be able to bring a claim. If you decide to dismiss your employee due to them being off work for sickness, you must justify it. You must also prove it was done fairly.<\/p>\n

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If, as an employer, you do consider dismissing your employee due to sickness, you should follow the ACAS Guide to Discipline and Grievance<\/a> as part of your standard dismissal procedure. When considering dismissal due to sick leave, there are two actions you must first take. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, you should:<\/p>\n\n\n\n