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Sick leave is paid leave for employees in the event their sickness or injury, or of the sickness, injury, or death of certain other persons. Sick leave is covered by sections 62 to 71 of the Holidays Act 2003. 

An employee is not entitled to sick leave within the first 6 months of employment, however, sick leave can be paid in advance and deducted from future entitlements at the employer's discretion.

After six months service an employee is entitled to five days sick leave, then another five days every twelve months thereafter.

An employee is required to notify their employer as soon as possible if sick.

Sick leave can be used for the sickness or injury of an employee, their spouse, or a dependent.

Unused sick leave accumulates to a maximum of twenty days.

Unused sick leave does not have to be paid out on termination.

A medical certificate is required if the sick leave is for three or more calendar days, even if some of those days were not working days.

The employer can require a medical certificate for shorter periods if they have reasonable grounds to suspect the sick leave is not genuine, and the employer pays any reasonable expenses the employee incurs in obtaining that proof.

For each day of sick leave taken, an employer is required to pay the employee's relevant daily pay - that is, what the employee would probably have earned had they been at work. 

 

 

  FAQs


Can an employee use sick leave during their first week of ACC payment if their injury is not work related?

Yes, injury is specifically included as a purpose of sick leave by section 62 of the Holidays Act 2003.

When an employee is off work on ACC they receive 80% of their usual wages from either their employer or the ACC. Section 71 says that the employee and the employer can agree that the employer will top up that payment to 100% of usual wages by deducting one day of sick leave entitlement for every five whole days of leave.

In my employment contracts, I currently specify that a medical certificate is needed for sick leave to be taken. I understand that section 68, subsection 1 specifies that a medical certificate is required after 3 consecutive days of illness, but, subsection 2 of section 68 seems to suggest that if I specify something else in an employment contract, it overrides Section 1 - is this correct?

That is not our understanding of section 68 (Proof of sickness or injury).

Section 65 requires you to allow five days per year of sick leave. Our understanding of section 68(2) is that if you allow more than five days per year of sick leave, your employment agreement can require a medical certificate for all absences that are in addition to the legal minimum.