Falling ill
Long term sick leave
If you are away from work due to illness, your employer will continue to pay you while you are absent within certain limits that are set out in your terms and conditions of employment. These limits will vary from department to department but here is a general guide:
First six months Full pay
You cannot have more than six months' sick absence on full pay in any 12-month period.
Next six months Half pay
You cannot have more than 12 months' sick absence on half pay in a four-year period.
Followed by Sick pay at pension rate
This means that you are paid the same amount as you would get if you retired because of ill health.
Retiring through ill health
If your health is so poor that you cannot continue working, you or your employer may suggest that you retire. Information is provided in the following booklets regarding benefits under each of the schemes:
- classic ill-health retirement pension benefits (PDF 52.1KB)
- classic plus and premium ill-health retirement pension benefits (PDF 64KB)
- partnership pension account (PDF 83.6KB)
All booklets can be found in the resources section.
If you require any further information regarding any of the above please contact the Member Administration Section. You can find their number in the contact us section.
You may be eligible for help from the State while you are too ill to work. For more information, visit the Department for Work and Pensions website at www.dwp.gov.uk
The leaflets and booklets displayed above are PDF documents. In order to view them you will need Adobe PDF reader. If it isn't already installed on your computer you can download it from here.
