Can I be disciplined for repeated absence? UK rules

You reported sick, followed the rules and came back to work. Now the manager has handed you an absence warning. A fit note does not make your job untouchable, but a points score does not make a warning fair. Before you accept it, check what they counted and why.

When a warning for absence is fair

There is no law that says five absences, or 10 days off, equals a warning. Acas says there are no legal rules about how or when absence should be reviewed. An employer should not use review points to automatically trigger disciplinary action.

A policy might, for example, start a review after two absences in three months. That is an illustrative threshold, not a legal one or permission to issue a warning. Ask to see the policy that actually applies to you, including how long warnings last and what happens if you reach the next trigger.

Some policies use the Bradford Factor. It multiplies the number of absence spells by itself, then by the total days absent. It is an attendance score, not a legal test.

A warehouse picker with recurring migraines may rack up points faster than a colleague off for a week with flu. Your employer needs to consider the cause and any legal protection. We do not think a spreadsheet should decide whose illness deserves sympathy.

Capability is not misconduct

Genuine ill health is normally a capability issue. Capability is a potentially fair reason for dismissal under section 98 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 in Great Britain. The employer still needs to act reasonably. An allegation that you faked sickness or broke a reporting rule is a conduct issue and needs its own investigation.

For sickness capability, a fair process should examine your absence history and medical position, consult you, explain what improvement is needed and warn if your job is at risk. Your employer should consider support and alternatives before dismissal, including occupational health advice where appropriate. For misconduct, it should follow the disciplinary procedure, give you the allegation and evidence, hear your response, then give a decision and an appeal route.

Following the reporting rules does not prevent a capability warning. Equally, calling genuine flu “misconduct” does not turn it into wrongdoing. If you are accused of dishonesty, ask what evidence supports that allegation. Give your response and relevant medical evidence before the employer decides.

In Great Britain, the right to be accompanied applies to qualifying disciplinary and grievance hearings when you request it, including a hearing that could give you a formal warning. You can choose a colleague or an eligible trade union representative. It does not automatically cover an informal return-to-work chat or an investigation meeting. Your policy may allow more, and a support person may be a reasonable disability adjustment. Northern Ireland has its own legal framework and Labour Relations Agency guidance.

Absences your employer must treat differently

Do not let every day away from work go into a single sickness total. The rights below differ, and statutory dependant leave is for employees. The Equality Act rules described here apply in England, Wales and Scotland; Northern Ireland has separate discrimination legislation.

Disability does not mean every absence is exempt

A disability under the Equality Act is a physical or mental impairment with a substantial, long-term adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities. Long-term generally means lasting, or likely to last, at least 12 months; recurring effects can count. Cancer, HIV and multiple sclerosis count from diagnosis. For other conditions, including depression, long Covid and back conditions, the effects determine coverage. The diagnosis alone does not settle it.

Acas gives absence-specific adjustment examples: discount disability-related days, raise a trigger or record the absence separately. These are possibilities, not a right to unlimited absence. Tell your employer how the condition affects you and what change would help, so it can assess reasonable adjustments.

A warning or dismissal because of disability-related absence can also be discrimination arising from disability. The employer can defend that treatment if it proves it was a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. There is also a defence where it neither knew nor could reasonably have been expected to know you had the disability. “Everyone gets the same trigger” is not, by itself, an answer to an adjustment request.

Pregnancy and a dependant’s emergency

Pregnancy-related sickness should be recorded separately and kept out of ordinary absence triggers. Antenatal appointments are a separate time-off right, not sickness. A pregnancy-related warning can be discrimination, and dismissal because of pregnancy can be automatically unfair without qualifying service.

If nursery calls because your child is suddenly ill, or your partner needs urgent hospital care, an employee can take reasonable time off for a dependant’s emergency. Tell your employer the reason and expected duration as soon as possible. This is usually unpaid unless your contract or policy provides pay. It covers dealing with the emergency and arranging care, not an unlimited period of ongoing care. Planned appointments need a different leave arrangement. See our family emergency guide.

What you are paid and what proof you need

For 2026/27, Statutory Sick Pay is £123.25 a week or 80% of your average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. Since 6 April 2026, eligible people receive it from the first qualifying sickness day, without waiting days or a lower earnings limit. It is paid for the days you normally work, so one day off does not earn the full weekly rate. Your contract may provide better sick pay.

The maximum is 28 weeks, not a fresh 28 weeks every time you get sick. GOV.UK says periods can link if they each last more than one full working day and are eight weeks or less apart. Those linked periods share the allowance. Tell your employer you are sick by its reporting deadline, or within seven days if it has not set one. Late notification can reduce SSP.

You self-certify for the first seven calendar days. A fit note is needed if you are off for more than seven days in a row, including non-working days. Doctors, registered nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists and physiotherapists can issue one. Keep copies and proof of when you sent them.

If SSP is refused, ask for the reasons in writing and contact HMRC about a statutory payment dispute. Your employer must send form SSP1 within seven days of your first sick day if you do not qualify. If it expects SSP to run out while you remain sick, it must send SSP1 on or before the beginning of week 23. If SSP ends unexpectedly while you are still sick, the deadline is within seven days of it ending. The form can support a Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance application; benefit eligibility is separate. See our SSP guide.

Zero-hours and agency staff may qualify for SSP even when they are not employees for unfair-dismissal purposes. They still need to meet the sick-pay rules, including having done some work. The contract label alone does not settle entitlement. Genuinely self-employed people do not get SSP.

At the meeting: how to protect yourself

For a cleaner with a bad back or a care worker whose asthma flares on night shifts, “improve attendance” is not a plan. Ask what support will make attendance possible. Keep the discussion focused on the work you can do and the changes you need.

1. Check each absence. Get the dates, reasons and trigger calculation. Point out pregnancy sickness or qualifying dependant leave that has been wrongly counted. For disability days, ask which reasonable adjustments were considered.
2. Give relevant evidence. Bring fit notes, appointment letters and your sickness-reporting messages. You do not need to hand over your entire medical history. Explain what the evidence says about your ability to work and likely return.
3. Request practical support. Ask about adjusted triggers, different shifts, lighter duties, a phased return or occupational health advice. A warehouse picker might need changes to lifting duties; a checkout worker might need seating. What is reasonable depends on the job and your circumstances.
4. Get the decision in writing. Ask what must improve, by when, what help will be provided, how long any warning lasts and what the next stage could mean. Send a short email correcting anything inaccurate in the meeting record.
5. Appeal a warning you dispute. Use the deadline in the letter and explain the errors, missing evidence or ignored adjustments. If you need more time, ask promptly. Do not assume an internal appeal stops a tribunal deadline.

If work caused or worsened the illness, say so. Record unsafe lifting, burns or threats from customers through the workplace accident or hazard-reporting process. Ask your union for help and consider a health and safety complaint to the relevant regulator. Work-caused illness is not automatically immune from capability dismissal, but your employer cannot ignore unsafe work.

Can they sack you for being off sick?

Yes, genuine sickness can ultimately justify dismissal. That does not make it misconduct. In an ordinary unfair-dismissal claim, a tribunal considers whether the employer had a potentially fair reason and acted reasonably in dismissing you. The GOV.UK dismissal guidance says employers should consider medical evidence and ways to help you return before dismissing for long-term illness.

Challenge a decision that relies only on a score, ignores pregnancy protections or reasonable adjustments, uses stale medical evidence, or gives you no meaningful chance to respond. Being too ill to work does not always mean being too ill to attend a hearing. Ask for a suitable arrangement rather than assuming the employer must wait indefinitely.

Ordinary unfair-dismissal protection is normally for employees with two years’ continuous service in Great Britain. The usual qualifying period in Northern Ireland is one year. A zero-hours or agency contract does not tell you whether you are an employee; that depends on the actual relationship. Non-employee workers generally cannot claim ordinary unfair dismissal, but may have discrimination or other specific protections. See unfair dismissal eligibility.

Employees need no qualifying service for certain automatically unfair reasons, including pregnancy, exercising dependant-leave rights, protected whistleblowing or union reasons. Relevant health and safety action and asserting specified statutory rights can also qualify. A warning is not a dismissal, so it may instead need a discrimination or detriment claim. There is no single protection against retaliation for asserting any right; get advice on the particular legal route.

For an employee dismissed on capability grounds, statutory minimum notice is one week after one month’s service and before two years. From two years, it is one week per completed year, capped at 12 weeks. Your contract may give more. In Great Britain, employees with two years’ service can request written reasons for dismissal, which must be supplied within 14 days. Special rules apply to pregnancy and maternity cases. See dismissal because you are ill.

Deadlines and how to challenge

For GB unfair-dismissal claims with an effective termination date on or after 1 October 2026, section 111 now gives a six-month period beginning with that date, subject to the early conciliation rules. The basic deadline is usually described as six months less a day. Under the transitional rules, the change does not apply where the relevant date was before 1 October. For unfair dismissal that date is when the employment legally ended, not when the absence or disciplinary process began.

For discrimination and detriment claims about a warning, identify the relevant act or failure and its date. Continuing conduct and missed adjustments can complicate that calculation. Contact Acas for early conciliation before the applicable limit expires. Do not wait for an internal appeal, and do not assume the new six-month limit revives an expired claim.

Scotland follows the Great Britain rules, but the six-month limit for Scottish employment tribunal breach-of-contract claims is scheduled for 9 November 2026. Northern Ireland has a separate system, including Industrial Tribunals, the Labour Relations Agency and its own discrimination laws. Do not use the GB six-month rule for a Northern Ireland claim. Ask the LRA promptly about the applicable time limit and early conciliation.

Get someone on your side

Speak to your union representative before the hearing. Usdaw organises retail staff, UNISON and GMB cover many care and NHS support jobs, and Unite represents workers in hospitality and logistics. Ask about representation and legal support; joining after a dispute starts does not guarantee help with that existing case.

If you are not represented, ask Acas, Citizens Advice or a local law centre for advice. Raise a grievance about ignored adjustments or wrongly counted protected leave, and appeal a formal warning or dismissal. For unpaid SSP, use the statutory payment dispute route through HMRC. For a possible discrimination, detriment or unfair-dismissal claim, ask an adviser to identify the claim and deadline while you pursue the workplace process. In Northern Ireland, contact the LRA rather than Acas.

If you are disciplined while actually off sick, the rules on contact, meetings and pay interact. See discipline while off sick. If you get a formal warning, check what makes a procedure fair and how to appeal before the deadline passes.