Employees
Taking sick leave
Eligible employees are entitled to 10 days of paid sick leave each year, to care for themselves, their partners and children, or other dependants.
What you’re entitled to
Whether you are full-time, part-time or Not defined in employment law, but usually refers to a situation where an employee works on an as-and-when-required basis and has no guaranteed hours of work, no regular pattern of work, and no ongoing expectation of employment. Paid time away from work that eligible employees can take to care for themselves, their partners or children, or other dependants.
- you have been working for the same employer continuously for 6 months, or
- you have worked for the same employer for a period of 6 months for:
- an average of 10 hours per week, and
- at least 1 hour in every week or 40 hours in every month.
You can accumulate up to 20 days of sick leave, which means you can carry over 10 days of unused sick leave into the next year.
Your employer:
- cannot give you less sick leave than this, but can offer you more
- can, unless agreed otherwise, deduct a full day of sick leave entitlement even if you were only off for part of the day
- can ask for a medical certificate or other proof that you are sick or injured and cannot work
- is not legally required to give you additional time off work to visit the doctor or dentist for routine appointments unless your
employment agreement says so.A written document setting out the terms and conditions of employment agreed by the employer and employee (also known as a ‘contract of service’). It can include other contractual documents and agreements made by the employer and employee. Every employee must have a written employment agreement.
If, in any year, you do not meet the criteria:
- you do not get any new sick leave entitlement
- you can still use any sick leave balance that has been carried over from the previous year.
You should tell your employer as soon as possible if you need to take sick leave.
Chart for Employees to work out if they qualify for sick leave and bereavement leave [PDF, 600 KB]
Pay for sick, bereavement and family violence leave
If you get sick before or during your annual holiday
Stress leave
Stress leave is not an entitlement under the law, but some employers offer it in their workplace policies or employment agreements. Stress leave can help manage the impact of work-related stress on your health.
If stress is making you mentally or physically unwell, you can use sick leave just like you would for any illness or injury.
Workplace stress is a health and safety issue. For more information about dealing with stress at work visit:
Carrying over unused sick leave
If you have unused sick leave at the end of a 12-month period, it will be carried over and added to next year's entitlement – up to a maximum of 20 days of sick leave.
You and your employer can agree that sick leave can accumulate to more than 20 days – either in your A written document setting out the terms and conditions of employment agreed by the employer and employee (also known as a ‘contract of service’). It can include other contractual documents and agreements made by the employer and employee. Every employee must have a written employment agreement. Workplace policies and procedures explain the rules and expectations in the workplace.
Unused sick leave cannot be cashed up or be part of any final payment when you leave your job.
Taking sick leave for appointments
If you have a medical appointment (for example, to go to a doctor or dentist), you may be able to use sick leave for your appointment. It depends if it's a routine appointment or not.
A routine appointment is one where you do not have to be diagnosed or treated for an illness, injury or condition. For example, getting a repeat prescription or getting a check-up at the dentist.
An appointment that is not routine is one where you need to be diagnosed or treated for an illness, injury or condition. For example, you need to go to:
- the doctor because you are sick or injured
- hospital to have surgery
- physio.
If it is a routine appointment
Your employer is not legally required to give you leave unless your employment agreement says so.
If there is nothing specified in the employment agreement, you and your employer can negotiate. For example, you could agree to use paid leave or unpaid leave. If you cannot agree, you can schedule these appointments for a time outside of work hours.
If it is not a routine appointment
If it is not a routine appointment, you can use sick leave to attend the appointment.
Taking part-days sick
The Holidays Act 2003 describes sick leave entitlement in days and does not divide it into part-days or hours. This means that if you work for part of the day and then go home sick, this can be counted as using a whole day of sick leave – no matter how much of the day you worked before going home.
However, you and your employer can agree to describe your entitlement as hours or part-days if you want to. If you do agree to this, the number of hours or part-days must be equivalent to at least 10 full days a year.
For example, if you worked a half day and then went home sick, your employer could deduct only a half day of sick leave.
If you have no sick leave left
Coming to work when you're sick can endanger the health or safety of other workers. If you have used up all your sick leave, you can ask to take:
- sick leave in advance
annual holidays , orPaid time away from work for rest and recreation.
- unpaid leave
- paid
special leave , either as provided for in your employment agreement orUnpaid leave of up to 10 days that a pregnant employee can take for pregnancy-related reasons, like attending antenatal classes, scans or appointments. Also sometimes used to describe other types of leave that an employer can choose to give an employee, for example, birthday leave or leave in lieu of notice.
workplace policies or by agreement between the employer and you.Workplace policies and procedures explain the rules and expectations in the workplace.
Your employer does not have to agree to the request unless your employment agreement says they do.
Providing proof of illness or injury
If you request sick leave, your employer can ask you for proof of sickness or injury. This is usually a medical certificate from a doctor saying that you (or your spouse, partner, child, or other dependant) are sick or injured and cannot work. Your employer cannot tell you which doctor to go to.
If your employer asks for proof, it could be you or your employer who pays for these costs. It depends how many days you've been sick.
Sick for less than 3 days
If you've been sick for less than 3 days, your employer must:
- ask for proof as soon as possible, and
- pay you back for any costs, for example, the cost of your doctor's visit.
Sick for 3 or more days in a row
If your employer knows you've been sick for 3 or more days in a row, you must pay for any costs yourself.
The 3 days are counted as calendar days, not just workdays. This means it includes days you would not otherwise have worked. For example, a Saturday or Sunday, or another day you were already scheduled to have off.
Jennifer works on Monday and takes a day's sick leave on Tuesday. She then has a one-day scheduled break on Wednesday (during which she is still sick), and takes another day’s sick leave on Thursday.
Her employer can ask for proof at Jennifer’s expense as she has been sick for 3 days in a row.
Holly is sick on Monday and Tuesday, and on Wednesday she phones her employer to tell them that she will be off sick again. Holly’s employer tells her that:
- she will need to bring a medical certificate to work on her return to prove that she was genuinely ill, and
- she will need to pay for the costs of getting the medical certificate herself, as she will have been sick for 3 days.
If Holly’s employer had asked for the certificate when she phoned in sick on Tuesday, her employer would have had to cover the cost.
Holly’s workplace policies state that sick leave is recorded and deducted in half-days. If Holly had come to work at lunchtime on Wednesday (and taken only a half day’s sick leave), she would have been sick for less than 3 days. This means her employer would have had to cover the cost of the medical certificate.
Getting paid for sick leave
You must be paid for sick leave:
- in the payment that relates to the period in which the leave is taken
- what you would have been paid if you had worked that day – either your
relevant daily pay orThe amount an employee would have been paid if they’d worked on a public holiday, alternative holiday, or on a day they took sick leave, family violence leave or bereavement leave.
average daily pay .The daily average of the employee’s total gross earnings over the past 52 weeks.
You only get paid sick leave for days you would have worked if you had not been sick, known as A day that the employee would have worked had it not been a public holiday, sick leave, bereavement leave, family violence leave, annual holiday or an alternative holiday for that employee.
If you are sick on a day that is not an otherwise working day, you are not entitled to paid sick leave – for example, if you were already on unpaid leave or you fell sick on a day you were not rostered to work.
If your employer has asked you for proof of sickness or injury and you do not provide it and do not have a reasonable excuse for not providing it, they do not have to pay you for the sick leave until you do so.
If you have an ongoing illness or injury
If you are sick or injured for a reasonable period of time and can no longer do your job, your employer needs to know:
- how long you are likely to be off work, and
- whether you'll be able to do your job again.
For more information, see:
When you are on ACC
If you have an accident or injury covered by the Accident Compensation (ACC) scheme, your employer has payment responsibilities for the first week of your injury. ACC will pay you from the second week onwards.
If you are receiving weekly ACC compensation, your employer cannot make you take time off in the form of sick leave or Paid time away from work for rest and recreation.
The first week after your injury
If your injury happened at work, your employer must pay you compensation of 80% of your usual earnings for that first week.
If the injury did not happen at work, you can use sick leave or other paid leave (for example, annual holidays), if you have any. If you do not have any paid leave available, you will not be paid for that first week.
If you are on ACC for more than 5 days
If you are on ACC for more than 5 days, you and your employer can agree that your ACC payment is topped up. It can be topped up from 80% to 100% by using 1 day of your sick leave for every 5 days you are on ACC.
- If the injury happened at work, your employer can top up your payment in the first week and every week after this.
- If the injury did not happen at work, your employer can only top up your payment from the second week onwards.
If you leave your job after being on ACC
When you end a job after an extended period of being on ACC, this can affect your final holiday pay.
Your final pay must include your final wages, all the holiday pay you're entitled to and any other payments owing.
If you are unsure about your rights or responsibilities or need advice, call us on 0800 20 90 20 or email us your query.