Sick pay airline by airline: what you are paid when you call sick, the waiting days, the doctor's note rules and the airlines where sickness costs the month

easyJet Gatwick, and the sick pay question comes up in the first payslip threads and the rights threads and the agency contract thread, always in fragments. Here it is consolidated, airline type by airline type, because the difference between 'basic plus average' and 'nothing after three days' is the difference between a bad week and a bad month.

The legacy European carriers

Under the collective agreements (BA, Lufthansa, Air France, KLM, SAS, SWISS, Iberia, TAP and the rest): sick pay at full or near full pay for a defined period (weeks to months depending on the agreement and the years of service), then a reduced rate, then the national sick benefit. The variable pay element is usually paid at an average during sickness. A doctor's note after a few days. The sickness is a health matter and the pay is protected. The absence management process exists and is separate from the pay.

The UK and Irish low cost carriers on direct contracts

easyJet, Jet2, TUI, Ryanair DAC and UK on the direct contracts: a company sick pay scheme above the UK statutory sick pay, typically basic pay for a period with the sector pay lost (which is the real cost: a week sick in July is a week of sector pay gone), a doctor's note after the self certification days, and an absence trigger system that counts the occasions. The sickness costs the variable pay and the pay is otherwise protected for a period.

The agency contracts

Crewlink, Workforce and the others in year one: often statutory sick pay only or close to it, after the waiting days, which in the UK means a small amount from day four and nothing before. A week sick on an agency contract is a week without income. This is the thing Kate's agency contract questions thread asks about and it is the question to ask before signing.

The US carriers

Sick banks: hours accrued per month into a sick bank, used when sick, paid at the hourly rate. No bank, no pay. The new hires have small banks and a sick week in year one is unpaid beyond the bank. The contracts (and Delta's policy) set the accrual and the use rules, and the attendance points systems sit alongside. Sickness costs the bank and, in a points system, the record.

The Gulf carriers

Sick leave under UAE and Qatar labour law and the airline's policy: full pay for a period, then half, then unpaid, per year. A doctor's note from the airline's clinic or an approved one. The sickness is counted in the probation and the promotion record, as Omar's probation thread describes. The pay is protected for a period; the record is the cost.

The Asian carriers

Varies: SIA and Cathay with company schemes and the local statutory, the Japanese and Korean carriers with the local systems and a cultural expectation about sick calls that is stricter than anywhere. The pay is generally protected; the culture is the cost.

The honest summary

At a legacy carrier, sickness costs little. At a direct low cost contract, it costs the sector pay. On an agency contract, it costs the income. At a US carrier, it costs the bank. In the Gulf and Asia, it costs the record. Know which you are on before the first winter, and know that the airlines where sickness costs the month are the ones where crew fly sick, which is the safety problem the fatigue threads describe.