Personal leave vs sick leave vs carer’s leave: what’s the difference?

Are personal leave and sick leave the same thing?

Yes. The Fair Work Ombudsman describes sick and carer’s leave as one entitlement that’s also known as personal leave or personal/carer’s leave. Your payslip, award or HR system might use any of these names.

What changes is the reason you’re taking the leave, not where it comes from. That reason decides whether it’s called sick leave or carer’s leave.

What’s the difference between sick leave and carer’s leave?

Sick leave is for when you can’t work because of your own personal illness or injury. The Fair Work Ombudsman notes this can include stress and pregnancy-related illnesses.

Carer’s leave is for when you need to care for or support a member of your immediate family or household who is sick, injured or affected by an unexpected emergency.

	Sick leave	Carer’s leave
Reason	Your own illness or injury stops you working	Caring for or supporting an immediate family or household member
Which balance	Shared personal/carer’s balance	The same shared balance
Paid amount	10 days a year full-time, pro rata part-time	Same
Casual employees	No paid leave	No paid leave, but 2 days unpaid each time
Evidence	Can be requested	Can be requested

For the full rules on who you can care for, see our guide to carer’s leave in Australia.

Do sick and carer’s leave come out of the same balance?

Yes. Because they’re one entitlement, every day you take as carer’s leave reduces what’s left for sick leave, and the other way around. If you take two days to look after a partner after an injury, you’ll have two fewer days available if you get sick yourself later on.

The balance builds up gradually from your first day of work, at 1/26 of your ordinary hours in a year. For a full-time employee that’s 10 days a year. Anything you don’t use carries over to the next year. Our guide to how much sick leave you get walks through the calculation.

What is unpaid carer’s leave?

Unpaid carer’s leave is a separate entitlement that sits alongside the paid balance. All employees, including casuals, can take 2 days of unpaid carer’s leave each time an immediate family or household member needs care because of an illness, injury or unexpected emergency.

Full-time and part-time employees can only take it once their paid sick and carer’s leave has run out. Casuals, who don’t get paid personal leave, can use it from the start.

How is compassionate leave different?

Compassionate leave, also known as bereavement leave, isn’t part of personal/carer’s leave. It’s its own entitlement under the National Employment Standards, and all employees, including casuals, get it. Casual employees get 2 days of unpaid compassionate leave per occasion. Awards and registered agreements can provide more.

How is annual leave different?

Annual leave is a separate paid entitlement for time off work, and it works differently in a few ways:

• You generally request annual leave before taking it, and your employer can only refuse if the refusal is reasonable.
• Unused annual leave is paid out when your employment ends. Unused sick and carer’s leave isn’t. See does sick leave roll over, and is it paid out.

If you get sick while you’re on annual leave, our guide to being sick on annual leave explains what to check.

Do the same notice and evidence rules apply?

Yes. For both sick and carer’s leave, you need to tell your employer as soon as possible, which can be after the leave has started, and say how long you expect to be away.

Your employer can ask for evidence for as little as one day or less off work. The evidence has to convince a reasonable person that you were genuinely entitled to the leave. Medical certificates and statutory declarations are both examples. Your award or registered agreement can set when evidence is needed and what type, as long as the requirement is reasonable.

Where can the rules be different?

An award, registered agreement or contract can give you more sick and carer’s leave than the National Employment Standards, but not less. Check yours if you’re unsure, or call the Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94. This guide is general information, not legal advice.

If you need evidence for either kind of leave, you can request an online assessment. A registered practitioner reviews each request. Certificates are issued only when clinically appropriate and aren’t backdated.