An employee may carry over unused sick leave up to 15 days so that it accumulates to a maximum of 20 days current entitlement in any one year. This is non negotiable and the employer has to allow this to happen. This is the minimum employee entitlement, and many employers provide (substantially) more sick leave.
You get five days leave after six months service with the employer. However, the employer and the employee can agree to have the employee take sick leave in advance but if this happens, the sick leave taken in advance is to be deducted from the employee’s entitlement, when it falls due.
The employee who intends to take sick leave must notify the employer of their intention to take sick leave as early as possible before they start that sick leave or let the employer know as soon as possible after that time that they are taking sick leave.
Employees, if asked by an employer, must provide proof of the need to take sick leave where the sick leave is for three or more calendar days, whether or not those days are or are not working days for the employee. So remember the effect of the weekend on this calculation – eg. if you are sick on Friday and then a Monday, you could be asked to provide proof of sickness or injury.
The employer can also require proof of the need to take sick leave where they believe, on reasonable grounds, that the need for sick leave is not genuine. If this is the case, the employer must let the employee know as early as possible about their suspicions and agree to meet the employee’s reasonable expenses in providing the proof – in other words, pay for the medical certificate.
An employee is entitled to be paid when they, their spouse (this includes partner) or a person dependant on them is sick or injured. Employers should note that sickness now includes injury, which wasn’t the case previously.
The reader is correct in that the Act does allow an employer to grant sick leave instead of annual leave where the employee becomes sick whilst on annual leave, but this is discretionary and not compulsory.
It does become compulsory for an employer to allow annual leave as sick leave when the employee, their spouse or their dependant become sick before they are due to take annual leave and this carries over into what would have been the scheduled annual leave.
There is also a provision that requires a person who is sick on a public holiday they were scheduled to work on, to be granted the day as a public holiday, not as sick leave.
