Full-time employees in Australia are entitled to 10 days of paid sick and carer's leave a year, which is 76 hours on a 38 hour week. Part-time employees get the same entitlement pro rata to their ordinary hours, and casual employees get no paid sick leave. The leave builds up from your first day, and whatever you do not use carries over to the next year.
The entitlement comes from the National Employment Standards in the Fair Work Act 2009, sections 95 to 107. The Act calls it paid personal/carer's leave. Sick leave and carer's leave come out of the same balance, as our guide to personal leave vs sick leave explains.
Key takeaways
- 10 days a year for full-time employees, pro rata for part-time (1/26 of your ordinary hours).
- Accrues each pay period: 1.462 hours a week, or 2.923 hours a fortnight, on a 38 hour week.
- Carries over from year to year with no cap, and is not paid out when you leave.
- Casuals get no paid sick leave, but get 2 days of unpaid carer's leave per occasion.
- An award, enterprise agreement or contract can give you more, never less.
How many sick days you get a year
For each year of service, a full-time or part-time employee is entitled to 10 days of paid personal/carer's leave. The Fair Work Ombudsman says the yearly amount can be worked out as 1/26 of your ordinary hours of work in a year, so the entitlement is measured in hours. A full-time employee on 38 hours a week gets 76 hours, which is 10 days of 7.6 hours.
| Employment type | Paid sick and carer's leave a year | Accrues per week | Accrues per fortnight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full-time, 38 hours a week | 76 hours (10 days) | 1.462 hours | 2.923 hours |
| Full-time, 40 hours a week | 80 hours (10 days) | 1.538 hours | 3.077 hours |
| Part-time, 30 hours a week | 60 hours | 1.154 hours | 2.308 hours |
| Part-time, 19 hours a week | 38 hours | 0.731 hours | 1.462 hours |
| Casual | No paid sick leave. 2 days of unpaid carer's leave per occasion. | ||
The 19 hour row is the Fair Work Ombudsman's own example: half the hours of a 38 hour employee, so half the leave. For any other roster, the part-time sick leave calculator converts the hours into your own shifts.
Fair Work Act 2009 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, Paid sick and carer's leave (updated 10 August 2026): "The yearly entitlement is based on an employee's ordinary hours of work and is 10 days for full-time employees, and pro-rata for part-time employees. This can be calculated as 1/26 of an employee's ordinary hours of work in a year." "Suzanne gets 76 hours of paid sick and carer's leave per year. Rebecca gets half of Suzanne's paid sick and carer's leave (38 hours) per year as she works half the hours Suzanne works." Retrieved 10 November 2026. Weekly and fortnightly figures are our calculation from the 1/26 rule.
How much sick leave accrues each week
You do not get the 10 days in one lump at the start of the year. The leave accrues progressively from your first day of work, according to your ordinary hours. Each week you build up 1/26 of the ordinary hours you work that week: 1.462 hours a week on 38 hours, which is 2.923 hours a fortnight.
How your hours are spread does not change the total. Someone working 38 hours over four days accrues the same 76 hours a year as someone working 38 hours over five. To see your balance to date, use the sick leave calculator, or accrued sick days if you want the total since you started, after leave taken. The full-time pattern is set out week by week in personal leave on a 38-hour week.
Fair Work Act 2009 s 96(2): "An employee's entitlement to paid personal/carer's leave accrues progressively during a year of service (other than periods of employment as a casual employee of the employer) according to the employee's ordinary hours of work, and accumulates from year to year." Fair Work Ombudsman, Paid sick and carer's leave: "It starts accumulating from an employee's first day of work and is based on their ordinary hours of work." "The amount of paid sick and carer's leave accumulated over a period isn't affected by differences in the spread of an employee's ordinary hours of work in a week."
Carry-over, payout and cashing out
Unused sick leave accumulates from year to year. There is no cap and no reset date, so a long-serving employee can hold several years of leave.
When your job ends, the balance is not paid out under the National Employment Standards. Unlike annual leave, it simply lapses. An award or enterprise agreement can allow you to cash out some sick leave while you are still employed, but only if at least 15 days stay in your balance and each cash-out is agreed in writing. The exceptions are covered in is sick leave paid out.
Fair Work Ombudsman, Paid sick and carer's leave: "The balance at the end of each year carries over to the next year." Fair Work Ombudsman, Final pay (updated 28 September 2026): "Sick and carer's leave isn't paid out when employment ends." Fair Work Act 2009 s 101: "A modern award or enterprise agreement may include terms providing for the cashing out of paid personal/carer's leave by an employee." The terms must require that leave "must not be cashed out if the cashing out would result in the employee's remaining accrued entitlement to paid personal/carer's leave being less than 15 days". Retrieved 10 November 2026.
Casual employees
The paid sick leave rules apply to employees other than casuals, so a casual does not accrue paid sick leave, however regular the shifts. A casual is entitled to 2 days of unpaid carer's leave and 2 days of unpaid compassionate leave per occasion, plus 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave a year. The casual loading and what happens if you convert to permanent are covered in do casuals get sick leave.
Fair Work Act 2009 s 95: "This Subdivision applies to employees, other than casual employees." Fair Work Ombudsman, Casual employees (updated 9 November 2026): under the NES casual employees get "2 days unpaid carer's leave per occasion", "2 days unpaid compassionate leave per occasion" and "10 days paid family and domestic violence leave per year". Retrieved 10 November 2026.
What it covers and how it is paid
You can take paid personal/carer's leave when you are not fit for work because of your own illness or injury, or to care for or support a member of your immediate family or household who is ill, injured or affected by an unexpected emergency. Which reasons count, from stress to appointments, is covered in sick day reasons.
There is no minimum or maximum you can take at one time, up to your balance. Your employer must pay you at your base rate of pay for the ordinary hours you would have worked. If your balance runs out, see unpaid sick leave. How long a sick absence protects your job is in can you get fired for too many sick days.
Fair Work Act 2009 s 97: leave may be taken "because the employee is not fit for work because of a personal illness, or personal injury, affecting the employee" or "to provide care or support to a member of the employee's immediate family, or a member of the employee's household". s 99: "the employer must pay the employee at the employee's base rate of pay for the employee's ordinary hours of work in the period." Fair Work Ombudsman, Paid sick and carer's leave: "There is no minimum or maximum amount of paid sick or carer's leave that can be taken at a time."
Notice and evidence
Tell your employer as soon as practicable, which can be after the leave has started, and say how long you expect to be off. If your employer asks, you must give evidence that would satisfy a reasonable person, such as a medical certificate or a statutory declaration. Without it you are not entitled to the leave. The Act sets no minimum number of days before evidence can be asked for: see sick leave for 1 day or 2 days and doctor's certificate for sick leave.
Fair Work Act 2009 s 107: notice "must be given to the employer as soon as practicable (which may be a time after the leave has started)"; an employee "must, if required by the employer, give the employer evidence that would satisfy a reasonable person"; "An employee is not entitled to take leave under this Division unless the employee complies with this section."
Related leave entitlements
These sit next to sick leave in the National Employment Standards and have their own rules:
- Unpaid carer's leave: 2 days per occasion when someone in your immediate family or household needs care. Permanent employees use it only once their paid balance is gone.
- Compassionate leave: 2 days per occasion, for example when a family or household member dies or has a life-threatening illness or injury.
- Family and domestic violence leave: 10 days of paid leave a year for all employees, including casuals. It is a separate balance and does not carry over.
Fair Work Act 2009 s 102: "An employee is entitled to 2 days of unpaid carer's leave for each occasion". s 103(3): "An employee cannot take unpaid carer's leave during a particular period if the employee could instead take paid personal/carer's leave." s 104(1): "An employee is entitled to 2 days of compassionate leave for each occasion". Fair Work Ombudsman, Family and domestic violence leave (updated 10 August 2026): "All employees are entitled to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave each year. This includes full-time, part-time and casual employees." "It doesn't accumulate from year to year." Retrieved 10 November 2026.
When your award or agreement gives more
The 10 days is a minimum. A registered agreement, award or employment contract can give you more paid sick leave, but it cannot give you less than the National Employment Standards. An award or agreement can also set out what kind of evidence you need to provide. Sick leave is one of the 12 National Employment Standards. To check your award, start at our modern awards pages.
Fair Work Ombudsman, Paid sick and carer's leave: "A registered agreement, award or contract can set out different entitlements to paid sick and carer's leave, but they can't be less than the minimum in the National Employment Standards." Fair Work Act 2009 s 107(5): "A modern award or enterprise agreement may include terms relating to the kind of evidence that an employee must provide".
Worked example
Mia works part-time, 24 hours a week as three 8 hour shifts. Her yearly entitlement is 24 x 52 / 26 = 48 hours, which covers 6 of her shifts. A full-time colleague on 38 hours gets 76 hours, or 10 days of 7.6 hours.
- After 26 weeks Mia has accrued 24 x 26 / 26 = 24 hours.
- She takes one 8 hour shift off with the flu, leaving 16 hours.
- By the end of her first year her balance is 40 hours. All of it carries into year two.
- If she takes no sick leave in year two, she ends it with 88 hours.
If Mia resigns, none of that balance is paid out. Enter your own hours and start date in the sick leave calculator to get your figures.
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.