No. Casual employees get no paid sick leave under the National Employment Standards, however regular their hours. What they do get is unpaid carer's leave and unpaid compassionate leave, 2 days each per occasion, plus 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave a year.
Below is what a casual can actually use when illness hits, what the casual loading is worth next to the sick leave a permanent employee builds, the dismissal protection that still applies, why Victoria's casual sick pay scheme no longer helps, and when sick leave starts if you become permanent.
Key takeaways
- The paid personal/carer's leave rules in the Fair Work Act apply to "employees, other than casual employees" (s 95). Years of regular shifts do not change that.
- Casuals get unpaid carer's and compassionate leave (2 days per occasion each), 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave a year, and unpaid community service leave.
- The NES list for casuals contains no leave for your own illness, paid or unpaid. A missed shift is simply unpaid.
- The casual loading, 25% in the Fair Work Ombudsman's example, is paid instead of paid leave, notice and redundancy pay, not instead of sick leave alone.
- Victoria's Sick Pay Guarantee ran from 14 March 2022 to 30 June 2024 and is closed.
- Sick leave starts accruing on the day you become permanent. Your casual years add nothing to it.
What casuals get when they are sick or caring
| Entitlement | Casuals? | Paid or unpaid | How much | More detail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sick leave for your own illness or injury | No | Not applicable | None | This page |
| Carer's leave, when someone in your immediate family or household needs your care | Yes | Unpaid | 2 days per occasion | Carer's leave |
| Compassionate leave | Yes | Unpaid | 2 days per occasion | Compassionate and bereavement leave |
| Family and domestic violence leave | Yes | Paid | 10 days a year | Paid family and domestic violence leave |
| Community service leave, such as jury duty | Yes | Unpaid | As needed | Community service and jury duty leave |
The evidence rule still applies to both kinds of unpaid leave. When your employer asks, you need evidence a reasonable person would accept that the occasion qualified. A missing certificate does not cost you pay here, because the leave is unpaid, but s 107 still says you are not entitled to the leave without it. Which of these covers a family emergency is set out in emergency leave in Australia.
"Under the National Employment Standards (NES), casual employees get: access to a pathway to become a permanent employee; 2 days unpaid carer's leave per occasion; 2 days unpaid compassionate leave per occasion; 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave per year; unpaid community service leave." fairwork.gov.au. Fair Work Act 2009 s 107(3)(b) and (c): evidence that the leave "is taken for a permissible occasion". Retrieved 7 October 2026.
Why casuals miss out: the loading
The exclusion is written into the Act twice. Section 95 limits the paid personal/carer's leave subdivision to non-casual employees, and s 96 leaves "periods of employment as a casual employee" out of both the 10-day entitlement and the accrual. In exchange, casuals are paid a casual loading or a specific casual pay rate. The Fair Work Ombudsman's example uses a 25% loading.
The table sets a year of 25% loading beside the paid sick leave a permanent employee on the same hours would accrue (1/26 of ordinary hours, paid at the base rate without loadings).
| Base rate | Hours a week | 25% loading over a year | A permanent employee's paid sick leave for a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| $25 | 38 | $12,350 | 76 hours, worth $1,900 |
| $30 | 38 | $14,820 | 76 hours, worth $2,280 |
| $30 | 25 | $9,750 | 50 hours, worth $1,500 |
| $30 | 15 | $5,850 | 30 hours, worth $900 |
| $35 | 38 | $17,290 | 76 hours, worth $2,660 |
Read the table with care. The loading is not a sick leave substitute on its own: the Fair Work Ombudsman says casuals miss out on most types of paid leave, notice of termination and redundancy pay, and the loading stands in for all of them. Sick leave is only one slice. The annual leave side is covered in do casuals get annual leave? To see the loading on your own rate, use the casual loading calculator.
Fair Work Act 2009 s 95: "This Subdivision applies to employees, other than casual employees." s 96(1): "For each year of service with an employer (other than periods of employment as a casual employee of the employer), an employee is entitled to 10 days of paid personal/carer's leave." Fair Work Ombudsman, Casual employees: "Casuals don't get most types of paid leave, notice of termination or redundancy pay, even if they work regularly for a long time." "Josh gets paid a casual loading of 25%." Paid sick and carer's leave: "This can be calculated as 1/26 of an employee's ordinary hours of work in a year." Payment for sick and carer's leave: paid "at an employee's base pay rate", which excludes loadings. All retrieved 7 October 2026.
If you are too sick to work a shift
The NES list for casuals has no entry for your own illness, so there is no paid sick leave and no set entitlement to unpaid sick leave either. In practice you tell your employer as early as you can that you cannot work the shift, and you are not paid for it. Any arrangement beyond that, such as agreed time off, is between you and your employer.
A certificate or statutory declaration is still worth getting even though the shift is unpaid. It is what brings the dismissal protection in the next section into play. What a valid certificate looks like is covered in doctor's certificate for sick leave.
Can a casual be sacked for being sick?
Section 352 protects any "employee" who is temporarily absent with a prescribed illness or injury, and the regulation's first two evidence routes, a certificate or stat dec within 24 hours or following your award's notify-and-substantiate terms, are open to casuals. What a casual cannot use is the extension for paid sick leave, because there is none. On the wording of reg 3.01(5), the 3-month limit is therefore the outer edge of the protection. The dates and the routes are set out in can you get fired for too many sick days.
s 352: "An employer must not dismiss an employee because the employee is temporarily absent from work because of illness or injury of a kind prescribed by the regulations." (AustLII.) reg 3.01(2): a prescribed kind of illness exists "if the employee provides a medical certificate for the illness or injury, or a statutory declaration about the illness or injury, within: (a) 24 hours after the commencement of the absence; or (b) such longer period as is reasonable in the circumstances." (AustLII.) Retrieved 7 October 2026.
Victoria's Sick Pay Guarantee ended on 30 June 2024
Victoria's Sick Pay Guarantee paid eligible casual and contract workers in certain occupations up to 38 hours (five days) of sick and carer's pay a year, at the national minimum wage, with the state rather than the employer paying. It ran from 14 March 2022 and closed on 30 June 2024.
The government's program page now redirects to the vic.gov.au home page, and the Service Victoria claim service returns a 404 (both checked on 6 October 2026). Older pages that still say "apply now" are out of date. A casual in Victoria today has the national entitlements in the table at the top of this page, and nothing extra from the state.
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| November 2020 | Pilot announced |
| 14 March 2022 | Pilot starts |
| May 2024 | The 2024/25 Victorian Budget says it will conclude on 30 June 2024 |
| 30 June 2024 | Scheme ends |
| 6 October 2026 | Program page redirects; claim page returns 404 |
Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions, Employment and small business (updated 5 October 2026): "The Victorian Sick Pay Guarantee was a pilot program that ran from 14 March 2022 to 30 June 2024." Victorian Budget 2024/25, Sensible and disciplined decisions (updated 4 May 2024): "the Sick Pay Guarantee will conclude on 30 June 2024." Engage Victoria, Secure Work Pilot Scheme (undated): "provide five days a year of sick and carer's pay; at the national minimum wage; to eligible casual and contract workers; in certain occupations", with the timeline "Pilot announced (November 2020)". Parliament of Victoria, Hansard, 21 June 2022: "giving eligible casual and contract workers 38 hours sick or carers pay ... with all the admin work done by the state government". Retrieved 6 and 7 October 2026.
Getting sick leave by becoming permanent
Because casual periods are excluded, paid sick leave starts on the day you become full-time or part-time and builds at 1/26 of your ordinary hours a year. Under the employee choice pathway you can give written notice once you have been employed for at least 6 months (12 months with a small business), if you believe your job no longer fits the casual definition. A regular roster on its own does not show that. Employment before 26 August 2024 does not count towards eligibility. Your employer must respond in writing within 21 days, and the change starts from the first full pay period after the response unless you agree another day.
Tara has been a casual with a large retailer since March 2025, working 25 hours a week. She gives written notice on Monday 2 November 2026, well past 6 months. Her employer has until Monday 23 November 2026 to respond, and accepts on Friday 13 November. Pay periods start on Mondays, so she is part-time from Monday 16 November 2026.
From that day she accrues 25 / 26 = 0.96 hours of paid sick leave a week, or 50 hours a year. After 13 weeks, on Monday 15 February 2027, she has 12.5 hours banked. Her 20 months as a casual add nothing.
The sick leave calculator works out your accrual if you enter the conversion date as your start date. If your employer refuses, the permitted grounds are in casual conversion, and the wider differences are in casual vs permanent.
Casuals in WA's state system
Casuals working for a non-national employer in WA's state system are in the same position. They get no paid personal leave. Up to 2 days of unpaid caring leave per occasion is open to every employee, casuals included. For your own illness there is no minimum entitlement to unpaid leave, though you and your employer can agree to leave without pay.
Do casuals get sick leave: questions
Do casual employees get paid sick leave?
No. The paid personal/carer's leave entitlement does not apply to casual employees, however long or regular the work.
What leave do casuals get?
Unpaid carer's leave and unpaid compassionate leave of 2 days per occasion each, 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave a year, and unpaid community service leave.
Can I take unpaid sick leave as a casual?
There is no NES entitlement to unpaid leave for your own illness. You can tell your employer you cannot work a shift and agree on the time off, and the time is unpaid.
Can I still claim the Victorian Sick Pay Guarantee?
No. It closed on 30 June 2024 and the claim service no longer exists, so casuals in Victoria now have the same national entitlements as casuals everywhere else.
Can a casual be dismissed for being sick?
Not because of a temporary absence through illness, if you give a certificate or statutory declaration within 24 hours or follow your award's evidence terms. With no paid sick leave to extend it, the regulation's 3-month limit is where the protection stops.
Do casuals need a medical certificate?
For unpaid carer's or compassionate leave, your employer can ask for evidence. The rules on what counts are in sick leave evidence.
If I become permanent, do I get back-dated sick leave?
No. Accrual starts on the date you become full-time or part-time. Time spent as a casual does not count towards paid sick leave.
How is the casual loading meant to cover sick days?
It is paid in place of paid leave, notice and redundancy pay together. At $30 an hour and 38 hours a week, a 25% loading comes to $14,820 a year, against 76 hours ($2,280) of sick leave a permanent employee would accrue.
Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) s 95, s 96, s 107, s 352; Fair Work Regulations 2009 reg 3.01 (AustLII consolidations). Fair Work Ombudsman: Casual employees; Paid sick and carer's leave; Payment for sick and carer's leave; Becoming a permanent employee. WA Government, Personal leave. Victorian Government: DJSIR; Budget 2024/25; Engage Victoria; Hansard. Retrieved 6 and 7 October 2026.
Author & reviewer
Sarah has spent over a decade advising Australian SMBs on Fair Work, NES compliance, and payroll. Based in Sydney, she has worked across hospitality, retail and professional services.