Stress leave in Australia is paid personal (sick) leave. The National Employment Standards create no separate stress leave: when stress leaves you unfit for work, the time comes out of your personal/carer's leave balance at your base pay rate, and one absence can use all of it.
Because that entitlement comes from the Fair Work Act, the leave rules are the same in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane. What changes between states is workers compensation, which only comes into it when work caused a diagnosed psychological injury. This guide covers the leave and pay side: how far your balance goes, what your employer can ask you to prove, what happens once the paid days are used, and how long your job is safe. The state claim rules are in stress leave in NSW, stress leave in Victoria and stress leave in QLD.
Key takeaways
- Stress that makes you unfit for work is covered by paid personal/carer's leave, the same balance as any other sick day. Casuals have no paid sick leave.
- Full-time employees accrue 10 days a year (76 hours on a 38-hour week) and keep what they do not use. Each year of unused accrual pays for 2 weeks off at your usual hours.
- There is no minimum or maximum per absence, so one stretch of stress leave can use your whole balance.
- Evidence is due only if your employer asks. A certificate does not have to name your condition, and one given within 24 hours secures your dismissal protection.
- Once the balance is gone, the time off is unpaid, unless you and your employer agree that you use annual leave.
- You cannot be dismissed for the absence while you are on paid sick leave, or while your time away stays at 3 months or less over 12 months.
- A claim for a work-caused psychological injury goes through your state's workers compensation scheme, not the Fair Work system.
Is stress leave paid?
Yes, for every permanent employee with leave in the bank. Time off for stress is paid as personal/carer's leave at your base pay rate, for each hour or part of an hour you are away, until your balance is used. An award, enterprise agreement or contract can give you more paid sick leave than the NES minimum, never less, so your own instrument may stretch further than the figures below.
Casual employees are the exception. They get a casual loading instead of paid sick leave, so a shift missed through stress is not paid; the details are in do casuals get sick leave. Employees of WA sole traders and partnerships sit in the WA state system, which has its own personal leave rules.
Paid sick and carer's leave (content last updated 10 August 2026): "All employees except casuals are entitled to 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." Payment for sick and carer's leave (content last updated 10 August 2026): "Sick and carer's leave is paid at an employee's base pay rate for each hour or part of an hour of leave they take." Both retrieved 7 October 2026.
Does stress leave count as sick leave?
Yes. In law, stress leave is sick leave, and sick leave is one of the two uses of the personal/carer's leave balance (the other is caring for a sick family or household member). Section 97(a) of the Fair Work Act allows the leave when you are not fit for work because of a personal illness or injury, and the Fair Work Ombudsman says that can include stress.
The Ombudsman names stress and not other conditions. Section 97(a) does not say the illness has to be physical, so on our reading anxiety, depression or burnout that stops you working meets the same test. The test is about the day itself: whether you can do your job. A day off to recover your energy while you are well is not sick leave, and annual leave is the right way to book it. The line between the two is drawn in mental health days and stress.
Where the stress came from does not change the leave either. Section 97 says nothing about cause, so stress from your job is personal leave in the same way as stress from home. A workers compensation claim is a separate route that sits alongside the leave, covered in the state section below.
Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) s 97: "An employee may take paid personal/carer's leave if the leave is taken: (a) because the employee is not fit for work because of a personal illness, or personal injury, affecting the employee; or (b) to provide care or support to a member of the employee's immediate family, or a member of the employee's household" who needs it. Compilation No. 73 (7 July 2026), verified 14 September 2026. Fair Work Ombudsman, Paid sick and carer's leave: "An employee can take paid sick leave when they can't work because of a personal illness or injury. This can include stress and pregnancy related illnesses." Retrieved 7 October 2026.
How much stress leave can you take?
As much as your personal leave balance holds. The Fair Work Ombudsman says there is no minimum or maximum amount of paid sick leave per absence, so a doctor can sign you off for 2 days or 2 months and the whole balance is available to you.
The balance grows by 1/26 of your ordinary hours each year: 10 days, or 76 hours, for a full-time employee on 38 hours a week, and a pro-rata share for part-time staff. Whatever you do not use carries over. Because 1/26 of a 52-week year is exactly 2 weeks, every year of unused accrual pays for 2 weeks off at your usual hours, whether you work 38 hours a week or 15.
| Years of unused accrual | Full-time balance (38-hour week) | Weeks of stress leave it pays for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 76 hours | 2 weeks |
| 2 | 152 hours | 4 weeks |
| 3 | 228 hours | 6 weeks |
| 5 | 380 hours | 10 weeks |
| 10 | 760 hours | 20 weeks |
Take off any sick or carer's days you have already used, and any unpaid periods, which add nothing. The "2 weeks of stress leave" figure that circulates online is one year of accrual for a full-time employee. It is not a limit.
Total what you have banked from your start date with accrued sick days, see your yearly accrual in the personal leave calculator, or use the part-time sick leave calculator if you work fewer hours.
"There is no minimum or maximum amount of paid sick or carer's leave that can be taken at a time." The entitlement 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." "The balance at the end of each year carries over to the next year." Content last updated 10 August 2026, retrieved 7 October 2026. The weeks column is the balance divided by 38 hours.
Stress leave in NSW, Victoria and Queensland
Everything on this page so far applies in every state, because it comes from the Fair Work Act. Workers compensation does not: each state and territory runs its own scheme, and it sits outside what the Fair Work Ombudsman can help with. A claim is only relevant to your leave if work caused a diagnosed psychological injury. If one is accepted, the scheme's weekly payments take over from your wages, and state law, not the Fair Work Act, sets the rates, the deadlines and the effect on your balances.
You can keep using personal leave while a claim is decided in each of these states. The test for a stress claim, the payment rates and the effect on your balances are set state by state:
| State | Full guide | What is different there |
|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | Stress leave in NSW | For injuries notified from 1 July 2026, a claim needs a defined relevant event, such as bullying or harassment |
| Victoria | Stress leave in Victoria | Since 31 March 2024, stress or burnout mainly caused by the usual demands of the job is excluded from WorkCover |
| Queensland | Stress leave in QLD | Work must be a significant contributing factor, and your leave keeps accruing while compensation is paid |
The other states and territories run their own schemes, which this site does not yet cover. Whichever state you are in, the personal leave rules on this page still apply.
"Workers compensation is governed by individual states and territories, and isn't an area that we can help with." Content last updated 4 September 2026, retrieved 7 October 2026. The state summaries are drawn from the three state guides, each with its own sources.
How to take stress leave
- Tell your employer as soon as practicable. That can be after the leave has started. Say how long you expect to be off. The Act does not ask you to name the condition.
- See a doctor early. Your employer may ask for evidence, and a certificate given within 24 hours is one of the ways to secure your protection from dismissal.
- Check your balance so you know the date the paid leave ends.
- Plan for the gap. If you will need more time than the balance covers, ask about annual leave before the paid days run out.
- If work caused it, decide whether to claim through your state scheme. The claim forms and certificates are different from the leave paperwork; see the state guides above.
Notice "must be given to the employer as soon as practicable (which may be a time after the leave has started); and ... must advise the employer of the period, or expected period, of the leave." AustLII consolidation, retrieved 7 October 2026.
Do you need a medical certificate for stress leave?
Only if your employer asks for evidence. Section 107 requires evidence that would satisfy a reasonable person, and only when the employer requires it. It can ask even for 1 day or less. A medical certificate and a statutory declaration are both acceptable examples. Ignore a proper request and the day may go unpaid.
It does not need a diagnosis. Guidance from the Medical Council of NSW says a diagnosis should not go on a certificate without the patient's consent, and the Fair Work test is only that you were unfit for work through illness or injury. A certificate saying you are unfit for work, with the dates, meets the legal test without naming the condition.
Who signs it matters in one place. A psychologist's letter can be evidence for paid leave if it would satisfy a reasonable person, but under s 12 only a registered medical practitioner signs a "medical certificate". The 24-hour route to dismissal protection names a medical certificate or a statutory declaration, so for that purpose use a doctor, in person or by a live phone or video consult, or a stat dec. Your award or agreement can also set what evidence it wants and when.
A workers compensation claim uses the scheme's own capacity certificate, with its own rules about how the condition is described. The certificate rules in detail, including telehealth and backdating, are in doctor's certificate for sick leave and sick leave evidence.
Fair Work Ombudsman, Notice and medical certificates (content last updated 10 August 2026): "Employers can ask employees to provide evidence for as little as 1 day or less off work." "Medical certificates or statutory declarations are examples of acceptable forms of evidence." "An employee who doesn't give their employer evidence when asked may not be entitled to be paid for their sick or carer's leave." Fair Work Act 2009 s 12: "medical certificate means a certificate signed by a medical practitioner." Medical Council of NSW, Medical certificates: what you should know (published 21 August 2017): "diagnosis or details of the illness should not be included in a medical certificate without a patient's consent." All retrieved 7 October 2026.
Does your leave keep accruing while you are off?
Yes, for as long as the leave is paid. Paid personal leave counts as service, so your annual leave and personal leave keep building while you use it. Unpaid leave does not count as service, so nothing accrues for the days after your balance runs out.
Public holidays split the same way. A public holiday inside paid sick leave is paid and is not taken from your balance. One that falls on an unpaid day is not paid.
Accrual while you are on workers compensation is a state question. Queensland's Act lets you take and accrue annual, sick and long service leave during the compensation period, while WorkSafe Victoria points employers and workers to the employment agreement and the Fair Work Act. The general rules for other kinds of leave are in accruing leave while you are on leave.
Fair Work Act 2009 s 22(2): periods of unpaid leave do not count as service, other than community service leave and stand down (Compilation No. 73, verified 14 September 2026). Fair Work Ombudsman, Paid sick and carer's leave: paid leave does not accumulate during "unpaid sick or carer's leave". Not working on public holidays (content last updated 10 August 2026): "The public holiday isn't counted as annual leave or sick leave under the NES." "An employee isn't paid for any public holiday that falls during a time when the employee is on unpaid leave." Both retrieved 7 October 2026. Queensland and Victoria: see the sources on the state guides.
When your sick leave runs out
The hours left in your balance are paid, down to the part hour, and anything beyond them is unpaid. The NES has no separate unpaid sick leave to move onto: the time off simply stops being paid. Unpaid carer's leave does not fill the gap, because it is only for looking after someone else.
Three things still matter on the unpaid days. Evidence keeps your dismissal protection alive. The 3-month count keeps running. And each unpaid day is a day of accrual and service you do not get back. What that costs by the hour, and the options for a long recovery, are set out in unpaid sick leave.
In its example, "Chas will first use up the personal leave they have accrued and will then take unpaid leave for the remaining time." Content last updated 23 October 2025, read 11 October 2026.
Using annual leave for stress
You can ask to use annual leave once your sick leave is gone, so the pay keeps coming. Annual leave needs your employer's agreement on the dates, and your employer must not unreasonably refuse a request for it. On the same wording, your employer cannot insist you use annual leave before going unpaid, and the Fair Work Ombudsman says it cannot direct you to take annual leave while you are on sick leave.
It also works in reverse. If stress leaves you unfit for work during a booked holiday, those days become sick leave and the annual leave goes back into your balance, provided you give notice and any evidence your employer asks for. How to claim it is in sick during annual leave, and what your annual leave is worth is in the annual leave calculator.
Fair Work Act 2009 s 88: "(1) Paid annual leave may be taken for a period agreed between an employee and his or her employer. (2) The employer must not unreasonably refuse to agree to a request by the employee to take paid annual leave." s 89(2): where paid annual leave includes a period of other NES leave, "the employee is taken not to be on paid annual leave for the period of that other leave". Compilation No. 73, s 88 verified 14 September 2026, s 89 retrieved 5 October 2026. Fair Work Ombudsman, Payment for annual leave (content last updated 10 August 2026): "An employer can't direct an employee to take annual leave while they're taking sick or carer's leave." Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Worked example: six weeks off with stress
Mei works full-time, 38 hours over 5 days, at an illustrative base rate of $34.00 an hour. In 3 years with her employer she has taken no unpaid leave and used 6 sick days, so her balance is 228 less 45.6: 182.4 hours. Her GP certifies her unfit for work for 6 weeks because of stress, and she emails the certificate the morning of the appointment. No public holiday falls in the 6 weeks.
| Part of the absence | Hours | Pay |
|---|---|---|
| First 24 working days: paid personal leave | 182.4 | $6,201.60 (182.4 x $34.00) |
| Last 6 working days, if she uses annual leave by agreement | 45.6 | $1,550.40 at base rate (any leave loading not included) |
| Last 6 working days, if unpaid | 45.6 | $0.00, and no accrual or service for those days |
| Job protection | Protected throughout: 6 weeks is under 3 months, and the certificate reached her employer within 24 hours |
The paid weeks count as service, so a little more personal leave builds up during them (182.4 / 26, about 7 hours). The table leaves that out to keep the split clear. If Mei had worked there 10 years without using sick leave, her 760 hours would have paid for all 6 weeks with 14 weeks to spare.
Can you be fired while on stress leave?
Not for being absent, as long as you back the illness with evidence. Section 352 stops your employer dismissing you because you are temporarily absent with an illness or injury of a prescribed kind. Under reg 3.01, stress leave is that kind if you give a medical certificate or statutory declaration within 24 hours of the absence starting (or a longer reasonable period), if you follow your award's terms on notifying and substantiating the absence, or if you gave evidence for the paid leave.
The protection lasts the whole time you are on paid sick leave, however long that is. It ends only when two things are both true: you have been away more than 3 months (in a single stretch, or added up across 12 months), and paid sick leave is not covering the absence. Time on workers compensation does not count as paid personal leave for this test, though the Fair Work Ombudsman notes that state workers compensation laws may add protection of their own.
Past that point, two other protections remain. Dismissal for reasons including mental disability is unlawful under s 772 unless the reason rests on the inherent requirements of the job, and you have 21 days from the dismissal to lodge an unfair dismissal application with the Fair Work Commission. The 3-month count with real dates is worked through in fired for too many sick days.
Fair Work Act 2009 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." s 772(2): the disability ground does not prevent termination where "the reason is based on the inherent requirements of the particular position concerned". Fair Work Regulations 2009 reg 3.01: subregs (2) to (4) set the three evidence routes; (5) removes the protection after more than 3 months away when the employee "is not on paid personal/carer's leave (however described) ... for the duration of the absence"; (6) excludes time "absent from work while receiving compensation under a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory that is about workers' compensation." Fair Work Ombudsman, Long periods of sick leave (content last updated 10 August 2026): "Employees who use paid sick leave the whole time can't be dismissed by their employer because of their absence, regardless of how long they're on leave." "additional protections may apply under state and territory workers compensation and rehabilitation laws." All retrieved 7 October 2026.
Stress leave in Australia: questions
Is stress leave paid in Australia?
Yes, as paid personal leave at your base pay rate, until your balance runs out. Casual employees are not paid for time off sick.
Does stress leave come out of sick leave?
Yes. It uses the same personal/carer's leave balance as any sick day. The NES has no separate stress leave or mental health leave.
How many days of stress leave do you get a year?
No days are set aside for stress. A full-time employee accrues 10 days of personal leave a year, keeps any unused days, and can spend all of them on one stress-related absence.
How long can you be on stress leave?
For as long as you are unfit for work. It is paid while your balance lasts and unpaid after that, and your job is protected for the whole paid period and for absences of 3 months or less.
Can I get workers compensation for stress?
Only through your state's scheme, and only where work caused a diagnosed psychological injury that meets that state's test. See the guides for NSW, Victoria and Queensland.
Do I have to tell my employer the leave is for stress?
No. Your notice only has to cover how long you expect to be away, and a doctor should put the condition on a certificate only with your consent.
Can a psychologist write my certificate for stress leave?
A psychologist's letter can count as evidence if it would satisfy a reasonable person, but it is not a medical certificate under s 12. For the 24-hour protection route, use a doctor's certificate or a statutory declaration.
Can my employer make me take annual leave instead?
No. Annual leave needs your agreement, and your employer cannot direct you onto it while you are on sick leave.
Can I be sacked while on stress leave?
Not for being away, if you give evidence and you are either still on paid sick leave or have been away 3 months or less in the past 12.
Do I get unused stress leave paid out if I resign?
No. Personal leave, stress-related or not, stays with the job: the Fair Work Ombudsman's final pay guidance (updated 28 September 2026) says it is not paid out when employment ends. For the few exceptions, see is sick leave paid out.
Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth): Compilation No. 73 for ss 22, 88, 89 and 97 (s 22, s 88 and s 97 verified 14 September 2026, s 89 retrieved 5 October 2026); AustLII consolidations of s 12, s 107, s 352 and s 772, retrieved 7 October 2026. Fair Work Regulations 2009 reg 3.01, retrieved 7 October 2026. Fair Work Ombudsman: Paid sick and carer's leave, Payment for sick and carer's leave, Notice and medical certificates, Long periods of sick leave and Not working on public holidays (all updated 10 August 2026, retrieved 7 October 2026); Payment for annual leave (updated 10 August 2026, retrieved 5 October 2026); Workers compensation (updated 4 September 2026, retrieved 7 October 2026); Unpaid leave (updated 23 October 2025, read 11 October 2026); Final pay (updated 28 September 2026, retrieved 7 October 2026). Medical Council of NSW, Medical certificates: what you should know (2017), retrieved 7 October 2026. Mei's pay rate is illustrative.
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.