Leave of absence (LOA): meaning, types and UK rules

LOA stands for leave of absence. The acronym is widely used in HR and business contexts as shorthand for any period of extended time away from work. In UK HR practice, the full term 'leave of absence' is more commonly used than the abbreviation, but both refer to the same thing. You'll often see LOA in internal policies, HR software and workforce planning discussions.

UK leaves of absence fall into two broad categories: statutory leave, which employees are legally entitled to, and contractual or discretionary leave, which employers choose to offer. Understanding the distinction matters, statutory leave comes with legal protections, while discretionary leave is governed by your company's own policies.

The table below summarises the main types of leave of absence available in the UK.

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Employees who are pregnant are entitled to up to 52 weeks of maternity leave, regardless of how long they've worked for their employer. The first 26 weeks are known as Ordinary Maternity Leave, and the second 26 weeks as Additional Maternity Leave.

A minimum of two weeks must be taken after the birth (four weeks if the employee works in a factory). During this period, Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is available for up to 39 weeks for those who qualify: 90% of average weekly earnings (AWE) for the first six weeks, followed by £194.32 per week or 90% of AWE (whichever is lower) for the remaining 33 weeks. These rates apply from 6 April 2026.

Eligible employees can take one or two weeks of paternity leave. Since the Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024, these weeks no longer need to be taken consecutively and can be used at any point within the first 52 weeks following the birth or adoption.

Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) is paid at £194.32 per week or 90% of AWE, whichever is lower (from 6 April 2026). To qualify, employees need at least 26 weeks' continuous service by the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth.

Shared parental leave (SPL) allows eligible parents to share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) between them. ShPP is paid at £194.32 per week or 90% of AWE, whichever is lower (from 6 April 2026).

Both parents must meet eligibility requirements, and the mother or primary adopter must curtail their maternity or adoption leave to create the shared entitlement. SPL offers flexibility — parents can take leave in up to three separate blocks, rather than in one continuous period.

Adoption leave mirrors maternity leave in structure. One member of a couple (or a single adopter) can take up to 52 weeks of leave. Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) follows the same pattern: 90% of AWE for the first six weeks, then £194.32 per week or 90% of AWE (whichever is lower) for the next 33 weeks (from 6 April 2026).

The employee must have at least 26 weeks' continuous service by the week they're matched with a child.

Employees who lose a child under the age of 18, or who suffer a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy, have a statutory right to two weeks of parental bereavement leave. This can be taken as a single two-week block or as two separate weeks, at any point within 56 weeks of the child's death.

Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (SPBP) is paid at £194.32 per week or 90% of AWE, whichever is lower (from 6 April 2026). Employees need 26 weeks' continuous service to qualify for pay, but the right to leave itself is a day-one entitlement.

Employees with at least one year of continuous service are entitled to up to 18 weeks of unpaid parental leave per child, up to the child's 18th birthday. In most cases, a maximum of four weeks can be taken per child per year.

This leave is separate from shared parental leave and carries no statutory pay entitlement. It's designed for employees who need time to care for or spend time with their child.

Sick leave is a distinct category of leave of absence. From 6 April 2026, significant changes to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) took effect under the Employment Rights Act 2025:

• Day-one entitlement: SSP is now payable from the first qualifying day of sickness absence. The previous three-day waiting period has been removed.

• No earnings threshold: The Lower Earnings Limit has been abolished, meaning more employees now qualify.

• Rate: SSP is paid at the lower of £123.25 per week or 80% of the employee's average weekly earnings (2026/27 rate).

• Duration: SSP can be paid for up to 28 weeks.

Since 6 April 2024, employees in the UK have a statutory right to one week of unpaid carer's leave per 12-month period, under the Carer's Leave Act 2023. This is a day-one right — no minimum length of service is required.

Carer's leave can be taken to provide or arrange care for a dependant with a long-term care need, including physical or mental illness, injury, disability, or issues related to old age. The leave can be taken as a full week, individual days or half days.

Employees have a statutory right to take a reasonable amount of unpaid time off to deal with an emergency involving a dependant — for example, if a dependant falls ill, is injured or dies. There's no set statutory duration; the law requires only that the time off is 'reasonable'.

Compassionate leave beyond this (for example, following the death of a non-dependant family member) is not a statutory entitlement. Whether it's paid or unpaid depends on the employer's policy.

Employees have a legal right to time off for jury service, and employers cannot dismiss someone for attending. There's no statutory requirement for employers to pay employees during jury service, though many choose to do so. Employees can claim a loss-of-earnings allowance from the court.

Similar protections apply to other public duties, such as serving as a magistrate, school governor or local councillor.

Sabbaticals and career breaks are not statutory entitlements, they're entirely at the employer's discretion. If your organisation offers them, the terms should be set out clearly in a policy covering eligibility criteria, maximum duration, whether the leave is paid or unpaid, and the return-to-work process.

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These terms are related but cover different situations. Understanding the distinctions helps HR teams apply the right policies and ensures employees know what they're entitled to.

A leave of absence is usually longer and tied to a specific circumstance, whereas holiday is a general entitlement to paid rest. Sick leave covers health-related absences and carries its own statutory pay framework. 'Time off' is the broadest term and can refer to any of the above.

Eligibility depends on the type of leave, the employee's length of service and, in some cases, their employment status. Here's what to consider:

• Statutory leave: Each type has its own eligibility rules set by UK law. For example, maternity leave is available to all employees from day one, while Statutory Maternity Pay requires 26 weeks' continuous service.

• Length of service: Some entitlements (such as unpaid parental leave) require a minimum period of continuous employment.

• Employment status: Statutory rights generally apply to employees, not all workers. However, from April 2026, SSP eligibility has been extended by removing the Lower Earnings Limit.

• Employer policy: Discretionary leave types (sabbaticals, enhanced compassionate leave) are governed by your organisation's own policies.

Managing leaves of absence consistently and compliantly is one of HR's core responsibilities. Getting it right protects both the employee and the organisation. Here are the key actions to focus on:

• Receive and record requests properly. Establish a clear process for employees to submit leave requests, including what documentation is needed and how far in advance notice should be given.

• Apply policies consistently. Treat all requests in line with your organisation's leave of absence policy and statutory requirements. Inconsistency creates legal risk and damages trust.

• Ensure statutory compliance. Confirm that the leave type, duration and pay align with current UK employment law. Statutory rates and rules change — the April 2026 SSP reforms are a recent example.

• Manage handovers and workload. Work with the employee and their manager to plan cover during the absence, ensuring continuity without overburdening the rest of the team.

• Maintain confidentiality. Share details of an employee's leave only with those who need to know. This is particularly important for medical, bereavement or family-related absences.

• Plan the return to work. Arrange a return-to-work conversation to support the employee's transition back. For longer absences, consider whether a phased return is appropriate.

• Keep records for reporting. Accurate absence records support workforce planning, help identify patterns and ensure you can meet HMRC reporting obligations.

For detailed guidance on managing specific leave types, ACAS provides practical resources for UK employers.

A clear, well-structured leave of absence policy helps employees understand their options and gives HR a consistent framework to work from. At a minimum, your policy should cover:

• A definition of what constitutes a leave of absence within your organisation

• The types of leave covered (statutory and discretionary)

• Eligibility criteria for each leave type

• The request and approval process, including notice periods

• Documentation requirements (e.g. medical certificates, adoption matching certificates)

• Whether each leave type is paid, unpaid or partly paid

• How statutory pay interacts with any enhanced company pay

• Communication expectations during the leave period

• The return-to-work process, including phased returns where appropriate

• Impact on benefits, pension contributions and continuous service

• How the policy aligns with UK employment law and will be kept up to date

For more on building an effective policy framework, see our guide to creating an employee handbook.

If you’re still tracking leave in spreadsheets or email threads, you’ve likely seen the same problems: requests get missed, policies get applied inconsistently, and it’s hard to spot trends or compliance risks. When statutory rules change, manual processes make it even harder to keep up.

Personio brings absence management into one place, so you don’t have to piece updates together across multiple tools. In practice, that means:

• One place for every request: Employees submit leave requests in Personio, and approvals follow your workflow—no chasing managers or searching inboxes.

• Policies that match your rules: Configure absence policies for UK statutory entitlements and your own company policies, such as enhanced maternity pay or sabbaticals.

• Real-time visibility: HR and managers can see who’s off, who’s due back, and team availability at a glance.

• Reporting you can act on: Track absence trends by team, department, or across the company to support workforce planning and inform leadership conversations.

Instead of chasing updates across systems, your team can focus on supporting employees during leave and staying compliant. Book a demo to see how Personio simplifies absence management.

LOA stands for leave of absence, an extended period of time off work during which the employee remains employed. The term is used across HR and business contexts in the UK, though the full phrase 'leave of absence' is more common in formal policies and employment law.

A leave of absence is a period of time away from work, agreed between an employee and their employer, during which the employment relationship continues. It can be statutory (such as maternity or paternity leave) or discretionary (such as a sabbatical or career break). Whether it's paid or unpaid depends on the type of leave and the employer's policy.

It depends on the type. Statutory leaves such as maternity, paternity and adoption leave come with statutory pay entitlements. Others (like unpaid parental leave, carer's leave and most sabbaticals) are unpaid unless the employer offers enhanced terms. Some employers also offer occupational or contractual pay that tops up statutory rates.

Annual leave (holiday) is a statutory entitlement to paid time off, 5.6 weeks per year for full-time employees in the UK. A leave of absence, by contrast, is typically longer, tied to a specific reason (such as parental responsibilities, illness or caring duties) and may or may not be paid. The two are governed by different rules and policies.

There's no single answer, it depends on the type. Maternity and adoption leave can last up to 52 weeks. Unpaid parental leave allows up to 18 weeks per child. SSP covers up to 28 weeks. Discretionary leave types like sabbaticals have no statutory limit and are set by the employer's policy.

Employers cannot refuse statutory leave entitlements, provided the employee meets the eligibility criteria. For discretionary leave — such as sabbaticals or extended compassionate leave — the employer has the right to decline or defer the request. Even for statutory leave, employers can postpone unpaid parental leave by up to six months if the business would be significantly disrupted, but they cannot refuse it outright.

During statutory leave, most employment rights and benefits continue — including pension contributions (for paid leave periods), the right to return to the same or a similar role, and protection from unfair dismissal. For unpaid or discretionary leave, the position depends on the employer's policy and the terms of the employment contract. It's good practice to set this out clearly in your leave of absence policy.

Sources:

• GOV.UK – HMRC internal manual

• GOV.UK — Maternity pay and leave: Pay 

• GOV.UK — Statutory Maternity Pay tables 2026 

• ACAS — Statutory sick pay

• ACAS — Carer's leave

• UK Parliament — The Carer's Leave Regulations 2024 

• Baker McKenzie — United Kingdom: April 2026 Increases to Statutory Payments and New Rights

• VWV — New statutory payment rates announced for 2026–27 

• DavidsonMorris — SSP 2026: Increase from 6 April

Sources last checked on: 28 June 2026