Sick Leave Rights: 10 Days, Proof & Casuals

Under the National Employment Standards (NES), all full-time employees are entitled to 10 days of paid personal/carer's leave per year. Part-time employees receive this on a pro-rata basis — for example, someone working 3 days a week accrues 6 days per year. The leave accrues progressively throughout the year from the very first day of employment and is based on an employee's ordinary hours of work.

A 'day' means the number of hours the employee would have ordinarily worked on that day. So if you normally work a 10-hour shift on a Wednesday, one day of sick leave covers that full 10 hours.

Unlike annual leave, there is no cap on how much personal/carer's leave you can accumulate. Any unused leave rolls over from year to year indefinitely. If you've worked for the same employer for five years without taking much sick leave, you could have 40 or more days banked.

This accumulated balance provides a safety net for serious illness or injury. Your accrued balance should be shown on every pay slip — if it's not there, that's a breach of pay slip requirements under the Fair Work Act.

Quick version: When your employment ends, unused personal leave isn't paid out, unlike annual leave.

Personal/carer's leave covers two situations. First, when you aren't fit for work because of a personal illness, injury, or an unexpected emergency. Second, when you need to provide care or support to an immediate family member or household member who is ill, injured, or affected by an unexpected emergency. 'Immediate family' includes your spouse or de facto partner, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling — and the same relatives of your spouse or de facto partner.

This means you can use your sick leave balance to stay home and care for a sick child or elderly parent.

Your employer can request evidence that your absence was genuine. Under section 107 of the Fair Work Act, an employee must provide evidence if required by the employer and the period of absence is more than one day (or a single day if the employee has already been warned about the pattern of their absences). Acceptable evidence includes a medical certificate from a registered health practitioner or a statutory declaration.

Your employer cannot specify which doctor you must see. Some enterprise agreements or awards may have additional requirements — always check your specific instrument for any stricter notification or evidence rules.

Casual employees do not receive paid personal/carer's leave — this is one of the entitlements the 25% casual loading is intended to compensate for. However, casuals are entitled to 2 days of unpaid carer's leave per occasion when they need to care for an immediate family or household member. Casuals also receive 2 days of unpaid compassionate leave per occasion.

Since August 2022, all employees including casuals are entitled to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave per year. If you're a long-term casual working regular hours, you may be eligible to convert to permanent employment and gain access to paid leave.

Under the NES, personal/carer's leave generally can't be cashed out. The only exception is if a Modern Award or enterprise agreement contains a specific cashing-out provision. Even then, strict rules apply: the employee must retain a balance of at least 15 days after the cash-out, each cash-out must be by separate written agreement, and the payment must be at the employee's full rate of pay.

Most awards do not allow cashing out of personal leave at all. When employment ends, unlike annual leave, accumulated sick leave is simply forfeited — it isn't included in your final pay.

If your employer refuses to grant personal/carer's leave you're entitled to, or penalises you for taking it, they may be breaching the Fair Work Act. Start by checking your leave balance on your pay slip and reviewing your award or agreement. Put your leave request in writing and keep a copy.

If your employer still refuses, contact the Fair Work Ombudsman (13 13 94) for free advice. You can also lodge a formal complaint online.

It's unlawful for an employer to take adverse action against an employee for exercising a workplace right, including taking personal leave — this is a general protections breach and can result in significant penalties.

Understanding the dollar value of your sick leave entitlement helps illustrate why it matters and what casuals miss out on. At a salary of $55,000 per year ($28.95/hr), 10 days of personal leave is worth $2,195. At $70,000 ($36.84/hr), those 10 days are worth $2,800 annually.

At $85,000 ($44.74/hr), the value is $3,400. At $100,000 ($52.63/hr), 10 days of sick leave is worth $4,000 per year.

For part-time employees, the value is proportional — a worker doing 3 days per week (22.8 hours) at $35/hr accrues 6 days of personal leave per year, worth approximately $1,596. Over a 10-year career with one employer, if you take an average of 5 sick days per year, you would have 50 unused days banked — worth $10,000 to $20,000 depending on your salary. While this balance isn't paid out on termination (unlike annual leave), it provides crucial income protection during serious illness. Without it, casual workers who get sick simply lose income.

A casual worker earning $30/hr who takes a week off sick loses approximately $1,140 in gross pay — money that the 25% loading may not adequately cover over time. The accumulating nature of personal leave is one of the strongest financial arguments for permanent over casual employment for workers in ongoing roles.

A frequently asked question is whether you can use personal leave for mental health reasons. The answer is clearly yes. Under the Fair Work Act, personal leave can be taken when an employee is 'not fit for work because of a personal illness or injury.' Mental health conditions — including anxiety, depression, burnout, stress, and other psychological conditions — are personal illnesses for the purposes of the Act.

You're entitled to take sick leave for a mental health day just as you would for a physical illness. Your employer cannot refuse a genuine claim for personal leave on the basis that it relates to mental health rather than physical health.

For evidence, the same rules apply: your employer can request a medical certificate for absences of more than one day (or a single day if it falls on a pattern). A certificate from a GP, psychologist, or other registered health practitioner confirming you weren't fit for work due to a mental health condition is sufficient. You don't need to disclose the specific diagnosis to your employer — the certificate simply needs to state that you were unfit for work on the relevant dates. If your employer pressures you to disclose details beyond what appears on a medical certificate, this may constitute a breach of privacy obligations.

Workers experiencing ongoing mental health issues should also be aware of their rights under workplace health and safety legislation, which requires employers to provide a psychologically safe work environment.

In addition to the 10 days of paid personal/carer's leave, all employees (including casuals) have separate entitlements to unpaid carer's leave and compassionate leave under the NES. Unpaid carer's leave is available when an employee needs to provide care or support to a member of their immediate family or household who requires care because of a personal illness, injury, or an unexpected emergency. Employees can take up to 2 days of unpaid carer's leave per occasion.

This is in addition to, not instead of, paid personal/carer's leave — meaning a permanent employee with a paid leave balance should use their paid leave first, and the unpaid carer's leave is available when the paid balance is exhausted or for casuals who have no paid balance. Compassionate leave is a separate entitlement of 2 days per occasion, available when a member of the employee's immediate family or household dies, or contracts or develops a life-threatening illness or injury.

Permanent employees receive compassionate leave as paid leave; casual employees receive it unpaid. 'Per occasion' means each separate event triggers a fresh entitlement — there's no annual cap. An 'occasion' for compassionate leave is each individual family member's death or life-threatening condition. The employee must provide evidence if reasonably requested by the employer, such as a death certificate, funeral notice, or medical documentation.

Since 1 February 2023, all employees — including casuals and part-time workers — are entitled to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave per year. This entitlement was introduced by the Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Act 2022 and is separate from personal/carer's leave. The leave is available in full from the start of each 12-month period of employment (it does not accrue progressively like personal leave) and doesn't accumulate from year to year.

The leave can be taken if the employee is experiencing family and domestic violence and needs to do something to deal with the impact — for example, attending court hearings, accessing support services, making safety arrangements, or relocating. Payment is at the employee's full rate of pay for the hours they would have ordinarily worked.

For casual employees, the rate is based on the hours they were rostered or regularly worked. This leave type has strong confidentiality protections. Employers must take steps to keep information about an employee's use of family and domestic violence leave confidential, and the leave must not appear on payslips as 'DV leave' — it should be indistinguishable from other leave types to protect the employee's privacy.

Evidence requirements are flexible — an employee can provide a statutory declaration, court document, family violence support service document, or police report, but the employer must accept reasonable evidence.

Several employer practices around sick leave are widespread but unlawful.

Blanket policies requiring certificates for all absences, including single days, may not be enforceable unless the employee has been given a prior warning.

Several employer practices around sick leave are widespread but unlawful.

• requiring a medical certificate for every single absence regardless of duration. Under the Fair Work Act, an employer can only require evidence for absences longer than one day, or for a single day if the employee has been previously warned about a pattern of absences
• deducting sick leave in minimum increments (such as half-day blocks)
• not accruing personal leave during paid leave periods. Personal leave accrues on all ordinary hours including when the employee is on annual leave, long service leave, or other paid leave
• refusing to allow carer's leave for family members

An employee who needs 2 hours off for a medical appointment should only have 2 hours deducted from their balance, not half a day or a full day — unless the award or agreement specifies otherwise.

Some employers incorrectly believe carer's leave only covers caring for a sick child — it covers any immediate family member or household member. Fifth, treating frequent sick leave as a performance issue.

While genuine concerns about attendance can be addressed through performance management, taking personal leave is a workplace right, and adverse action taken because an employee exercises that right is a general protections breach under section 340 of the Fair Work Act. Penalties for general protections breaches can be up to $19,800 for an individual and $99,000 for a body corporate per contravention (check your payslip).