Please don’t come in to work if you are unwell!
When can you use sick leave?
Fairwork says:
An employee may have to take time off if they are unfit for work because of their own personal illness or injury (including pregnancy-related illness)
or to care for an immediate family or household member who is sick or injured or help during a family emergency. This is known as carer’s leave.
A medical appointment generally isn’t sick leave, going to the doctor or medical specialist during work hours doesn’t make you unfit for work.
Sick/personal/carers leave can be paid or unpaid. The National Employment Standards set out the minimum entitlements for employees.
An employee’s entitlement to paid sick and carer’s leave accumulates progressively during a year of service, based on their ordinary hours of work. The entitlement to 10 days of sick and carer’s leave can be calculated as 1/26th of an employee’s ordinary hours of work in a year.
Sick and carer’s leave accumulates from year to year.
For all periods of sick and carer’s leave or compassionate leave, an employee must give their employer notice of the taking of the leave.
The notice must be given to the employer as soon as practicable (which may be at a time after the leave has started), and must advise the employer of the period, or expected period, of the leave.
An employer is entitled to request evidence that would substantiate the reason for leave. A failure to provide notice or evidence that would satisfy a reasonable person to substantiate the reasons for the leave, means the employee is not entitled to the leave.
An employee’s medical certificate doesn’t have to give exact details about the injury or illness.
An employee can take an extended period of unpaid sick leave.
An employee can take as much paid sick or carer’s leave as they have accumulated. There is no minimum or maximum amount of paid sick or carer’s leave that can be taken at a time.
More info can be found here: https://www.fairwork.gov.au/leave/sick-and-carers-leave
Load up on chicken soup, and we’ll see you again when you are well.
