The 48-hour rule: when food handlers must stay off work

Every kitchen has had the conversation. A chef texts at 7am: "Was ill last night but I'm fine now, I'll be in." You're short for lunch and they sound fine. This is exactly the moment the 48-hour rule exists for, because someone can carry and spread harmful bacteria and viruses for 48 hours after the diarrhoea and vomiting stop.

Here's what the rule says, where it comes from, how it works in each UK nation, and what to do on the day.

The short answer

• Who: anyone who works with or around open food, or touches surfaces in rooms where open food is handled.
• What: if they've had diarrhoea or vomiting, they stay away from food handling.
• How long: until they've had no symptoms for 48 hours, counted from when the symptoms stopped naturally.
• Their duty: report symptoms to their manager immediately.
• Your duty: keep them out of food-handling areas if there's any likelihood they could contaminate food.

Where the rule comes from

Food hygiene law (Regulation (EC) 852/2004, which both the FSA and Food Standards Scotland base their guidance on) covers personal hygiene. In plain English it says:

• No one suffering from, or carrying, a disease likely to be passed on through food, or with infected wounds, skin infections, sores or diarrhoea, may handle food or go into a food-handling area if there's any likelihood of direct or indirect contamination.
• Anyone working in a food business who is affected and likely to come into contact with food must report the illness or symptoms, and if possible the cause, to their manager immediately.

The law doesn't print the number 48. The 48-hour exclusion comes from the FSA's fitness to work guidance (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) and Food Standards Scotland's equivalent. Both say exclusion is normally 48 hours from when symptoms stop naturally. GOV.UK's guidance for food businesses puts it plainly: staff with diarrhoea or vomiting must not return to work until they've had no symptoms for 48 hours.

The rule across the UK

What food handlers must report

Make sure every member of staff knows they must tell you if they have:

• diarrhoea or vomiting
• stomach pain, nausea, fever or jaundice
• someone living with them who has diarrhoea or vomiting
• infected skin, nose or throat

Food Standards Scotland's poster adds one more worth copying: tell the manager if you were ill and they don't know, for example if you were ill on holiday.

Who counts as a food handler is wider than the kitchen. Food Standards Scotland includes anyone who touches open food or food-contact surfaces, front-of-house staff serving food, maintenance contractors working in food areas, and visitors such as delivery drivers.

Counting the 48 hours

The clock starts when symptoms stop naturally, not when the person feels better.

If someone isn't sure when symptoms ended, Food Standards Scotland suggests counting from their first normal stool.

Anti-diarrhoeal medicine. If they've been taking it, Food Standards Scotland advises they shouldn't return until they've been symptom-free for at least 48 hours after stopping the medication.

When 48 hours isn't enough: medical clearance

Some infections need formal exclusion and medical clearance before the person goes back to handling food. Food Standards Scotland lists these, including:

• Salmonella Typhi and Paratyphi (enteric fever)
• Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), including E. coli O157
• Hepatitis A
• amoebic dysentery and Shigella dysentery
• cholera

If a member of staff has been diagnosed with a specific infection by their doctor, exclude them and get advice on the right exclusion from your council's environmental health team (or, in Scotland, the NHS Board health protection team).

Cuts, sores and skin infections

Staff must tell you about cuts or sores. Cover them completely with a brightly coloured waterproof dressing, which is easy to spot if it falls into food. If an infected area can't be covered (for example, weeping eyes or mouth), the person should be kept away from food until it's healed.

When exclusion may not be needed

Not every bout of diarrhoea is infectious. Food Standards Scotland says exclusion isn't required where there's good evidence of a non-infective cause, such as morning sickness in pregnancy, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn's disease or a known side effect of medication. If there's any doubt, assume it's an infection and exclude.

Someone with a sickness bug at home doesn't always need excluding, but they must tell you, and go home straight away if they start to feel unwell. If the household member has a serious infection such as STEC, they should be excluded.

What to do on the day

If someone reports symptoms before their shift: tell them not to come in. Note when their symptoms stopped so you can work out when they can return.

If someone falls ill during service:

1. Move them out of food-handling areas, or send them home straight away.
2. Throw away any unwrapped food they've handled (the FSA's SFBB advice).
3. Clean and disinfect the areas and equipment they've touched. Clean any area where someone has been sick as soon as possible.
4. Write down what happened and what you did.

When they come back: have a short return-to-work chat. Food Standards Scotland's guidance includes a return-to-work questionnaire that asks about diarrhoea, vomiting, discharges, sore throat with fever, recurring bowel or skin problems, and any anti-diarrhoeal medicine. Remind them to be extra careful with handwashing, because bacteria and viruses can still be shed for weeks after recovery.

Don't make it costly to be honest

The FSA is direct about this: penalising staff for illness, for example by not paying them when they're excluded, could lead to them working while ill. Incentives to limit sick days can have the same effect. The 48-hour rule only works if people feel able to text you at 7am and tell the truth. For the employment side, see sickness absence for hospitality staff.

Build it into your routine

• Induction: explain the reporting rules on day one. See the staff induction checklist.
• Opening checks: the FSA's SFBB opening checks include "staff are fit for work and wearing clean work clothes". Ask, don't assume.
• Training records: note when each person was trained on fitness to work. See hospitality staff training records.
• Poster: put the reporting list up by the staff entrance.

How ShiftComplete helps

When someone has to stay off for 48 hours, the hard part is usually the rota, not the rule. ShiftComplete helps with both sides:

• Rotas: drag the excluded person's shifts to someone else and republish, and the change appears on every affected phone. Staff availability is already there, so you can see who can cover.
• Team announcements so the whole team gets the "if you're ill, tell us, don't come in" message, rather than it getting lost in a WhatsApp group.
• Opening checklists with "staff fit for work" as a named, timestamped tick that differs by weekday if you need it to.
• Incidents: log a mid-service illness with severity, notes on what was thrown away and cleaned, and mark it resolved.

It helps you keep the records an EHO asks to see. Free for 60 days, no card needed.