Income protection for NHS staff, teachers, police officers and civil servants sits on top of the sick pay their employer already gives: the policy's waiting period, called the deferred period, can be set to start when that sick pay runs out. Each scale quoted below pays a stretch of full pay and then half pay, so the useful question is what happens after it ends.

Our form on this page carries your details to a broker regulated by the FCA, and you can then ask how a waiting period would fit your own contract. There is no charge and no obligation.

Do public-sector workers need income protection as well as sick pay?

That depends on how long your sick pay lasts, what you would need to live on afterwards, and what other help you have; this is general information, not a recommendation. Income protection is a separate product that pays a regular income when illness or injury stops you working (how it works). Critical illness cover pays a lump sum on a defined diagnosis instead, as is critical illness cover the same as income protection explains, and waiver of premium only pays your premiums (more in the critical illness and income guides).

How long does sick pay last for NHS staff, teachers, police and civil servants?

Your contract, employer and length of service decide which scale applies to you.

NHS Agenda for Change

Section 14 of the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook (amendment 63, TCS Advisory Notice 04/2026) has separate sections for England, for Wales, and for Scotland and Northern Ireland, and all three carry the same scale. The handbook applies "to all staff directly employed by NHS organisations, except very senior managers and staff within the remit of the Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body", so doctors' and dentists' sick pay is set elsewhere. The scale is:

  • first year of service: one month's full pay and two months' half pay;
  • second year: two months' full pay and two months' half pay;
  • third year: four months' full pay and four months' half pay;
  • fourth and fifth years: five months' full pay and five months' half pay;
  • after completing five years: six months' full pay and six months' half pay.

The handbook counts back, "by deducting from the employee's entitlement on the first day of sickness, the aggregate periods of paid sickness absence during the 12 months immediately preceding that day."

Teachers under the Burgundy Book

The Burgundy Book, the national Conditions of Service for School Teachers in England and Wales (revised edition, June 2023), sets this scale for each sick leave year:

  • first year of service: full pay for 25 working days and, after completing four calendar months' service, half pay for 50 working days;
  • second year: full pay for 50 working days and half pay for 50 working days;
  • third year: 75 working days of each;
  • fourth and subsequent years: 100 working days of each.

The year runs from 1 April to 31 March, and "each employer has discretion to exceed the minimum entitlement for sick leave". The NASUWT teachers' union notes that some academies and free schools "may operate terms and conditions which do not adhere to the Burgundy Book" on sick pay. Because the scale counts working days, your employer can confirm the date your full pay ends.

Police officers

Under regulation 28 of the Police Regulations 2003 (England and Wales), the Secretary of State's determination (Annex K, 2003, on GOV.UK) says a member on sick leave "shall be entitled to full pay for six months in any one year period. Thereafter, the member becomes entitled to half pay for six months in any one year period." The Police Federation of England and Wales's February 2023 guide gives the same scale, and the chief officer may decide "in a particular case" that a member on half pay receives full pay for a specified period.

Civil servants

This is one department's policy, not a civil service rule: Defra's Sick Pay Policy (April 2014), released under freedom of information on GOV.UK. Staff appointed before 28 April 2014 "will receive occupational sick pay of, 6 months full pay and 6 months half pay up to a maximum of 12 months sick pay in a 4 year rolling period." Those appointed on or after that date receive pay "increasing by length of service", from one month of each in the first year to five months of each after four years. Other departments' staff should check their own policy.

How do you set the deferred period to start when sick pay runs out?

The deferred period is the wait between becoming unable to work and the first payment. Aviva's Living Costs Protection policy summary (AL19001, October 2024) says the period you choose "could take into account things like how long you'd expect to get sick pay and how long you're prepared to live on your savings". How much income protection you need covers sizing the monthly amount.

Two things follow. First, full pay and all sick pay end on different dates, so it matters which one a policy's wait is meant to meet. Second, the NHS, teacher and Defra scales grow with length of service, so a wait that matched in year two may not match in year six.

Aviva's summary says: "You can choose a deferred period of 4, 8, 13 or 26 consecutive weeks." The same document says "we could pay your benefit for a maximum of 12 months each time you're incapacitated", so it is a shorter-term design. The scales above are in months or working days and the deferred periods in weeks, so lining them up means working from your own dates.

Royal London's plan details for its Personal Menu Plan Income Protection (July 2026, linked from its income protection page) go further for one group. They define an NHS medical professional as "someone who: is employed as a medical professional in the UK and whose sick pay arrangements match the NHS sick pay arrangements, and is registered (or provisionally registered) with the General Medical Council, General Dental Council or the Nursing & Midwifery Council, and if a doctor or surgeon, has a current licence to practise in the UK". For that group, with a 52-week deferred period, "the deferred period ends when their earnings reduce in accordance with their length of service", for earnings under an NHS-matching sick pay structure.

Its own example: "if the person covered has been working for the NHS for 2 and a half years, we'll start paying your claim after 4 months", because payment starts "when the person covered's pay first reduces to half pay". That is how this plan sets the wait, not a discount, and whether your role fits its definition is for the insurer to decide.

Those are two insurers' documents; our income protection comparison sets out more. If you would like your own sick pay dates set against several insurers' deferred periods in one conversation, the form on this page passes them, at no cost to you, to an FCA-authorised adviser.

Does income protection pay while sick pay is still coming in?

It depends on the policy. Aviva's summary lists sick pay as an example of income you might carry on getting, and says: "We won't reduce your benefit if you are receiving other income." It adds: "However, benefit we pay you may affect a claim on other income protection policies you or your employer has." Given the deferred period options in that summary, a claim could start while sick pay on the longer scales above is still being paid.

Royal London's plan details work differently. If the person covered "continues to receive income from any form of employment or self-employment" while incapacitated, and "the income from this cover together with the income from those other sources, would exceed the maximum annual benefit available based on the person covered's pre-incapacity earnings", it will reduce what it pays. In other words, continuing sick pay cuts the benefit only where the two together would go over that maximum. It also warns that "if the person covered is continuing to receive income at the end of the chosen deferred period this could affect your claim."

For any other insurer, its own policy wording says how sick pay is treated.

Where does ill-health retirement fit in?

Ill-health retirement is a pension matter, not sick pay. The NHS Business Services Authority says "if you become too ill to work, you may be able to retire and take your pension benefits". For teachers in England, the NASUWT says "ill-health retirement is available to teachers who are permanently unfit to teach". GOV.UK's police pensions scheme 2015 member's guide, for England and Wales, covers compulsory ill-health retirement. Each scheme sets its own conditions.

Once your employer has confirmed when your full and half pay would end, one way to get a quote with a deferred period set to match is to pass them, with your job, to an FCA-authorised broker using the form on this page.

Frequently asked questions

Do NHS staff, teachers, police officers and civil servants get income protection or critical illness cover through work?

The arrangements above give sick pay and, through the pension schemes, ill-health retirement; none of that is an income protection or critical illness policy. Anything more your employer offers is in your contract or staff benefits information.

Does Royal London's NHS option apply to nurses?

Its definition includes people registered with the Nursing & Midwifery Council whose sick pay arrangements match the NHS ones. Whether a particular nurse's job meets it is for Royal London to confirm.

Is there an NHS discount on income protection?

The Royal London feature above changes when payment starts, not the price. How an insurer prices your job is a question for that insurer or a broker.

Sources

  • NHS Employers, NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, section 14 (amendment number 63, TCS Advisory Notice 04/2026), read 18 October 2026. nhsemployers.org
  • Conditions of Service for School Teachers in England and Wales (Burgundy Book, June 2023; Oxfordshire County Council copy), read 18 October 2026. schools.oxfordshire.gov.uk
  • NASUWT, Sick leave and pay entitlement for teachers (England and Wales), read 18 October 2026. nasuwt.org.uk
  • NASUWT, Ill-health Retirement (England), read 18 October 2026. nasuwt.org.uk
  • legislation.gov.uk, The Police Regulations 2003, regulation 28, read 18 October 2026. legislation.gov.uk
  • Home Office, Police Regulations 2003 and Secretary of State determinations (Circular 023/2003), Annex K, read 18 October 2026. gov.uk
  • Police Federation of England and Wales, Quick Reference Guide (February 2023), read 18 October 2026. polfed.org
  • Defra, Sick Pay Policy (April 2014), one department's policy released under FOI2022/26662 on GOV.UK, read 18 October 2026. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
  • Aviva, Policy Summary of Living Costs Protection (AL19001, October 2024), read 18 October 2026. static.aviva.io
  • Royal London, Plan details for The Personal Menu Plan Income Protection (July 2026, PCP8P10012/13), read 18 October 2026. royallondon.com
  • NHS Business Services Authority, Applying for ill health pension benefits, read 18 October 2026. nhsbsa.nhs.uk
  • GOV.UK, The police pensions scheme 2015: member's guide, read 18 October 2026. gov.uk