How much sick leave do you get in Australia?

How many sick days do full-time employees get?

Full-time employees get 10 days of paid sick and carer’s leave a year under the National Employment Standards. It’s one shared balance, often called personal/carer’s leave, so one balance covers both your own illness and time spent caring for an immediate family or household member. Our guide to personal leave vs sick leave vs carer’s leave explains the overlap.

The entitlement is based on your ordinary hours of work rather than a fixed count of calendar days, so it’s measured in hours.

How is sick leave calculated?

Paid sick and carer’s leave equals 1/26 of your ordinary hours of work in a year.

For a full-time employee working 38 ordinary hours a week, the Fair Work Ombudsman gives the result as 76 hours a year. That matches the formula: 38 hours over 52 weeks is 1,976 hours, and 1/26 of that is 76 hours.

How much sick leave do part-time employees get?

Part-time employees get the same entitlement on a pro rata basis, worked out from their ordinary hours.

The Fair Work Ombudsman’s example compares two employees. Suzanne works full-time, 38 hours over five days a week, and gets 76 hours of paid sick and carer’s leave a year. Rebecca is part-time, averaging 19 hours a week across a five-day fortnight. Because she works half Suzanne’s hours, she gets half the leave: 38 hours a year.

If you’re casual, the rules are different. See sick and carer’s leave for casual and part-time workers.

Does it matter how many days a week you work?

No. The amount you accrue depends on your ordinary hours, not how they’re spread across the week.

In another Fair Work Ombudsman example, Suzanne works 38 ordinary hours over five days and Jango works 38 ordinary hours over four days. They both accrue the same amount: 76 hours of paid sick and carer’s leave over a year.

Employee	Ordinary hours	Days worked	Paid sick and carer’s leave a year
Suzanne (full-time)	38 a week	5 a week	76 hours
Jango	38 a week	4 a week	76 hours
Rebecca (part-time)	Average of 19 a week	5 a fortnight	38 hours

When does sick leave start accruing?

Sick and carer’s leave starts building up from your first day of work and accrues gradually throughout each year of employment. You don’t have to wait until you’ve worked a full year to use what you’ve accrued.

It keeps accruing while you’re on:

• paid leave, such as annual leave or sick and carer’s leave
• community service leave, including jury duty
• long service leave.

It doesn’t accrue while you’re on:

• unpaid annual leave
• unpaid sick or carer’s leave
• unpaid parental leave
• unpaid family and domestic violence leave.

Any balance you haven’t used at the end of a year carries over to the next. Our guide on whether sick leave rolls over covers what happens to that balance over time and when you leave a job.

How much sick leave can you take at once?

You can take as much paid sick or carer’s leave as you’ve accumulated. There’s no minimum or maximum amount you have to take at a time, so it can be part of a day or several weeks.

When paid leave runs out, full-time and part-time employees can take 2 days of unpaid carer’s leave each time an immediate family or household member needs care. There are also protections if you’re away sick for a long time.

How much are you paid when you’re on sick leave?

Paid sick and carer’s leave is paid at your base pay rate for the hours you would normally have worked during the leave. Base pay doesn’t include:

• overtime
• penalty rates
• loadings
• allowances
• bonuses
• incentive-based payments.

The Fair Work Ombudsman’s example: Steve normally works 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. For the past six months he’s also been doing overtime until 7pm on Wednesdays. If he’s sick on a Wednesday, he’s paid sick leave for his normal 9am to 5pm hours, not the overtime.

Can your award or agreement give you more?

Yes. A registered agreement, award or contract can set different sick and carer’s leave entitlements, but they can’t be less than the National Employment Standards minimum. It’s worth checking yours. The Fair Work Ombudsman has a leave calculator on its website and can help on 13 13 94. This guide is general information, not legal advice.

Your employer can also ask for evidence when you take sick leave, even for one day. Read when you legally need a medical certificate for work for how that works.

If you’re unwell now and need evidence for work, you can request an online assessment. It costs $35, a registered practitioner reviews your request, typically within 48 hours, and a certificate is issued only when clinically appropriate.