There is no requirement to refer to cosmetic surgery within a company's sickness policy or staff handbook, so it is for the employer to decide whether to include it at its own discretion. However, there are benefits for employers providing clarity on how they will deal with time off for cosmetic surgery regarding company sick in those circumstances.

Since there is no statutory definition of sickness, one of the factors in determining an employee's eligibility for SSP is whether they are deemed incapable of working. Technically, an employee can legitimately be off sick for the purposes of SSP where cosmetic surgery is undertaken. Regarding company sick pay policy, an employer can choose to word this as it likes, it would be particularly helpful to provide examples of the types of surgery that would be excluded.

Concerning annual leave, an employee always has the option of choosing to take holiday rather than sick leave. It would be possible for an employee to do this for a doctor-referred operation and recovery that is borne out of medical necessity as well as a cosmetic one.