Sick leave

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What is sick leave?

Sick leave is paid leave granted by an employer to an employee for a period of time during which the employee is unable to attend work due to any illness or incapacity.

Sick leave eligibility

Since the commencement of the Industrial Relations Act 1999 (PDF, 1.9MB) on 1 July 1999 all employees in Queensland, except casuals, pieceworkers and school-based apprentices or trainees are entitled to sick leave. Before the commencement of the Act sick leave was an entitlement only within awards and agreements (industrial instruments) or an entitlement negotiated between employees and employers.

Employees whose employment is not covered by an industrial instrument do not gain any entitlement for service before 1 July 1999. Employees who had negotiated an entitlement prior to 1 July 1999 retain that entitlement, and gain an entitlement under the Act from 1 July 1999.

Minimum sick leave entitlements

Under the Act all eligible employees are entitled to be paid:

for each period of employment of less than a year - at least one ordinary working day sick leave for each completed 6 weeks of employment; or
at least eight ordinary working days (or the equivalent number of working hours) sick leave for each completed year of employment.

Some industrial instruments provide for a greater period of sick leave. Employees covered by such industrial instruments are entitled to the amount of sick leave in the industrial instruments.

Sick leave conditions

An employee's entitlement to sick leave depends on the following conditions being met:

An employee must promptly notify their employer of the illness or incapacity and of the estimated duration of the absence.
Where the absence extends more than two days, the employee is required to give the employer a doctor's certificate outlining the nature of the illness and the approximate period of absence.

Failure to comply with these conditions can jeopardise an employee's entitlement to sick leave

The impact of sick leave on notice of termination

Normally an employer is not required to pay out accumulated sick leave entitlements to an employee on termination of employment. However there are a small number of awards and agreements where such an entitlement exists.

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Employment conditions