In NSW, time off for stress is paid personal leave from your own balance. Workers compensation pays only when a defined event at work (bullying, harassment, excessive work demands, violence, crime or trauma) caused a diagnosed psychological injury, under rules that apply to injuries notified from 1 July 2026.
Most of what ranks for this search was written before those rules began. This guide prices each route: how far your personal leave balance stretches, the 75% interim payment while a bullying or workload claim is assessed, the 95% and 80% weekly rates with the $2,662.10 cap, and what the Act does with sick leave you used if the insurer later accepts the claim. Victoria and Queensland run different schemes with different numbers: see stress leave in Victoria and stress leave in QLD.
Key takeaways
- Stress that leaves you unfit for work is covered by paid personal leave: 10 days a year for full-time staff, carried over, with no limit on how much you use in one absence.
- From 1 July 2026, a NSW psychological injury claim needs a relevant event. SIRA says injuries caused by ordinary work stress or interpersonal conflict are generally not compensable.
- A certificate that says only "stress" cannot support a weekly payments claim. Section 11A(7) requires accepted medical terminology.
- While a bullying, harassment or workload claim is assessed (42 days), you can be paid 75% of your pre-injury average weekly earnings for up to 56 days. Acceptance brings a top-up to 95%.
- Accepted claims pay 95% for weeks 1 to 13 and 80% for weeks 14 to 130, capped at $2,662.10 a week until 31 March 2027.
- Sick leave you used for a period that is later compensated is treated by s 50 as compensation, and the leave as not taken, wholly or in proportion.
Stress leave is personal leave first
No NSW or national law creates a separate "stress leave" entitlement. When anxiety, depression or burnout makes you unfit to work, the days come out of paid personal (sick) leave under the National Employment Standards, paid at your base rate. You do not need a workers compensation claim to use it, and the leave applies whether or not work caused the illness. Casual employees have no paid personal leave to draw on.
How long your balance lasts is a division sum. Leila works full-time, 38 hours a week, on a base rate of $36.50 an hour, and has 57 hours of personal leave banked when her doctor signs her off.
| Leila's personal leave | Figure |
|---|---|
| Balance | 57 hours |
| Weeks it covers (57 / 38) | 1.5 weeks |
| Paid at base rate (57 x $36.50) | $2,080.50 |
| Paid personal leave left after that | None until more accrues |
Some NSW websites say stress leave is "generally 2 weeks". That is wrong: full-time staff accrue 10 days a year, unused days carry over, and a long-serving employee can have months banked. Find your own figure with the sick leave calculator, and see personal leave vs sick leave for how the single balance works.
"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." The yearly entitlement is "10 days for full-time employees, and pro-rata for part-time employees", and "There is no minimum or maximum amount of paid sick or carer's leave that can be taken at a time." "All employees except casuals are entitled to paid sick and carer's leave." Content last updated 10 August 2026, retrieved 7 October 2026.
When stress becomes a workers compensation claim in NSW
A claim matters for your leave because an accepted one replaces your wages with weekly payments and can hand back sick leave you have already used. The bar for psychological injury rose on 1 July 2026, when the Workers Compensation Legislation Amendment Act 2025 and the Workers Compensation Legislation Amendment (Reform and Modernisation) Act 2026 took effect. For a primary psychological injury first notified on or after that date, section 8O of the Workers Compensation Act 1987 sets three conditions, and all three must be met:
- One or more relevant events caused the injury.
- There is a real and direct connection between the event and your employment.
- Employment is the main contributing factor to the injury.
The injury must also fit the Act's definition: "a mental or psychiatric disorder that causes behavioural, cognitive or psychological dysfunction" (s 8D). That is a clinical test, which is why the wording on your certificate matters (covered below).
The relevant events, and what each pays while you wait
| Relevant event | Claim pathway | Paid during the decision |
|---|---|---|
| Bullying | Relevant conduct | Interim weekly payments at 75% of PIAWE |
| Sexual harassment | Relevant conduct | Interim weekly payments at 75% of PIAWE |
| Racial harassment | Relevant conduct | Interim weekly payments at 75% of PIAWE |
| Excessive work demands | Relevant conduct | Interim weekly payments at 75% of PIAWE |
| Violence or a threat of violence | Other relevant event | Provisional weekly payments |
| Indictable criminal conduct | Other relevant event | Provisional weekly payments |
| Witnessing a traumatic incident, or a dead or seriously injured person at the scene | Other relevant event | Provisional weekly payments |
| Vicarious trauma | Other relevant event | Provisional weekly payments |
| The death of a person in your care (listed by SIRA) | Other relevant event | Provisional weekly payments |
PIAWE means pre-injury average weekly earnings. Bullying, harassment and excessive work demands are judged by an objective test: what you perceived counts only "to the extent the worker's perception of the event is reasonable" (s 8L).
What does not count: everyday stress and reasonable management
SIRA's reform guidance is direct: "Generally, psychological injuries caused by interpersonal conflict, work stress or events that are not defined as relevant events are not compensable." For those, personal leave is the only paid time off the law gives you.
Section 11A is a second bar. No compensation is payable where the significant cause was reasonable management action, or your expectation or perception of it. Since the reforms, that defence works where the action was "the significant cause ... even if it was not the only or predominant cause". Several items on the statutory list of management action are about leave itself:
- appraisal of or feedback about your performance, and counselling (s 8F(a), (b))
- demotion, redeployment or retrenchment (s 8F(c))
- an investigation of alleged misconduct, and suspension or stand-down (s 8F(f), (k))
- the provision of leave of absence (s 8F(h))
- in SIRA's examples, managing absences from work and allocating or changing duties
So if your manager follows up a run of sick days in a reasonable way, that is management action. Where it was reasonable, done reasonably and the significant cause of the injury, s 11A rules out compensation, and your sick leave is what pays.
Who keeps the old rules
The psychological injury changes do not apply to police, paramedics, firefighters, coal miners or volunteers. Workers who notified a psychological injury before 1 July 2026 are generally assessed under the previous arrangements. If either applies to you, the eligibility test in this section does not describe your claim.
SIRA, Workers Compensation Reform FAQs ("accurate as of 1 September 2026"): "New eligibility requirements and thresholds now apply to primary psychological injury claims first notified on or after 1 July 2026"; "The psychological injury changes do not apply to exempt workers, coal miners or volunteers." Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW), current version for 1 October 2026, ss 8D, 8F, 8L, 8O and 11A(1): "No compensation is payable under this Act in relation to a psychological injury if the significant cause of the psychological injury was (a) reasonable management action taken or proposed to be taken by an employer in relation to a worker". Relevant event list: SIRA, Weekly payments (updated 1 July 2026). All retrieved 6 October 2026.
How to apply for stress leave in NSW
Applying for the leave and applying for compensation are separate steps, and most people need only the first.
- Tell your employer and use personal leave. Your employer can ask for evidence, and you must give it if asked.
- See your GP. For personal leave, ordinary sick leave evidence is enough. For a workers compensation claim, you need a SIRA Certificate of Capacity that names the condition in medical terms.
- Work out whether a relevant event is behind it. If the cause is workload you consider normal, a personality clash or a reasonable performance process, the claim route is unlikely to fit the 2026 test and your leave balance is the route.
- Bullying, harassment or excessive work demands: lodge a completed claim form with the detail it asks for in section 3A. The insurer's 42-day decision period runs from the day it receives the completed form.
- Violence, crime or trauma: notify your employer and the insurer. Provisional weekly payments should start within 7 days unless the insurer has a reasonable excuse.
- Cover any gap with personal leave until payments begin, and keep a note of the dates. If compensation is later paid for those days, s 50 deals with the sick leave (see below).
The claim rules are set out on SIRA's weekly payments page. The Fair Work Ombudsman does not handle these claims: its workers compensation page says the schemes are run by each state and territory, and "isn't an area that we can help with" (updated 4 September 2026, retrieved 7 October 2026).
What your certificate must say
The paperwork for leave and for a claim is not the same. A note reading "work stress, unfit for 2 weeks" may satisfy your employer for personal leave, but it does not meet the rule for a weekly payments claim. Section 11A(7) requires the medical certificate accompanying a psychological injury claim to use "accepted medical terminology and not only terminology such as "stress" or "stress condition"".
| Personal leave | Workers compensation claim | |
|---|---|---|
| When evidence is needed | If your employer asks for it | With the claim |
| Document | The evidence your employer asks for | SIRA Certificate of Capacity |
| How the condition is described | Enough to show you were unfit for work | Accepted medical terminology, not only "stress" (s 11A(7)) |
For what counts as evidence for the leave itself, see doctor's certificate for sick leave and the sick leave evidence guide.
Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW) s 11A(7): the certificate "must ... use, for the purpose of describing the worker's condition, accepted medical terminology and not only terminology such as "stress" or "stress condition"" (current version for 1 October 2026, retrieved 6 October 2026). SIRA, Weekly payments: "To demonstrate reduced work capacity, provide a completed SIRA Certificate of Capacity" (updated 1 July 2026, retrieved 6 October 2026). Fair Work Ombudsman, Paid sick and carer's leave: "Employees must provide evidence to their employer if requested." (updated 10 August 2026, retrieved 7 October 2026).
Pay while your claim is decided
Which pathway your event falls into decides what reaches your bank account before the insurer makes up its mind.
| Bullying, harassment, excessive work demands | Violence, crime, trauma | |
|---|---|---|
| Decision | Within 42 days of the completed claim form; no decision means the claim is deemed accepted | Provisional weekly payments start within 7 days, unless the insurer has a reasonable excuse |
| Weekly pay while waiting | Interim payments at 75% of PIAWE, for at most 56 calendar days from the claim | Provisional weekly payments for up to 12 weeks |
| Treatment while waiting | Up to $7,500 | Up to $10,000 |
| If accepted | Within 21 days, weekly payments adjusted and backpaid up to 95% of PIAWE | Weekly payments continue under the normal rules |
icare notes that provisional payments do not apply to psychological injury claims reported from 1 July 2026 that are based on bullying, harassment or excessive work demands: those claims use the interim route instead.
Tom's pre-injury average weekly earnings are $1,600. His insurer receives his completed bullying claim form on Monday 3 August 2026.
| Date | What happens | Tom's weekly pay |
|---|---|---|
| Mon 3 Aug 2026 | Completed claim form received; the 42 days start | Interim payments: $1,200 (75% of $1,600) |
| Mon 14 Sep 2026 | 42 days: decision due, or the claim is deemed accepted | Accepted that day |
| Mon 28 Sep 2026 | 56 days: the latest interim payments could have run to | Not needed, claim accepted |
| By Mon 5 Oct 2026 | 21 days to adjust and backpay | $320 top-up x 6 weeks = $1,920 |
| Rest of weeks 1 to 13 | 95% of PIAWE | $1,520 |
| Weeks 14 to 130, not working | 80% of PIAWE | $1,280 |
The interim payment comes from the claim, not from Tom's leave, so his personal leave balance is untouched for the days it covers. The backpay assumes interim payments ran for the full 6 weeks before the decision.
SIRA, Workers Compensation Reform FAQs (accurate as of 1 September 2026): "insurers have 42 days to determine liability; workers may receive interim weekly payments at 75% of their pre-injury average weekly earnings (PIAWE) while liability is being assessed; workers can access up to $7,500 for medical and related treatment during this period." "Interim weekly payments can be paid for a maximum of 56 calendar days from the date the claim was made." "If the insurer accepts a relevant conduct claim, it has 21 days to adjust and backpay weekly payments up to 95%". Other events: "it must start provisional weekly payments within 7 days, unless it has a reasonable excuse not to do so; it may also pay up to $10,000". SIRA, Weekly payments (updated 1 July 2026): "If the insurer does not make a decision within that time, the claim is deemed to have been accepted". icare, Weekly payments (modified 6 October 2026): "Provisional payments can include weekly payments for up to 12 weeks". All retrieved 6 October 2026.
Weekly payments if your claim is accepted
| Period | Not working | Working at least 15 hours a week |
|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1 to 13 | 95% of PIAWE | 95% of PIAWE less your current earnings |
| Weeks 14 to 130 | 80% of PIAWE | 95% of PIAWE less your current earnings |
| Maximum, 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 | $2,662.10 a week | $2,662.10 less your current earnings |
| After 130 weeks | Nothing, unless whole person impairment is 21% or more. From 21% to under 25%, a further 52 weeks at 60% of PIAWE less current earnings. | |
On policies issued or renewed from 4pm on 30 June 2026, your employer pays the first two weeks of weekly payments as its excess on the claim. From 1 April 2027, the maximum is indexed once a year rather than twice.
Here is how sick leave compares with the claim at four earnings levels, assuming your PIAWE equals your ordinary weekly pay:
| PIAWE | Sick leave, while it lasts | Interim, 75% | Weeks 1 to 13, 95% | Weeks 14 to 130, 80% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1,200 | $1,200 | $900 | $1,140 | $960 |
| $1,600 | $1,600 | $1,200 | $1,520 | $1,280 |
| $2,400 | $2,400 | $1,800 | $2,280 | $1,920 |
| $3,200 | $3,200 | $2,400 | $2,662.10 (capped) | $2,560 |
Priyanka earns $3,200 a week and is assaulted at work, an other relevant event, so provisional weekly payments should begin within 7 days of her notification. At the standard rates, 95% of her PIAWE is $3,040, which the cap cuts to $2,662.10 for weeks 1 to 13. From week 14, 80% is $2,560, under the cap, so she receives the full amount.
Back at work part-time, Tom does 22.8 hours a week from week 20 and earns $960. Because he works at least 15 hours, his payment is 95% of $1,600 less his earnings: $1,520 less $960 is $560, so his income stays at $1,520 a week.
SIRA, Workers compensation benefits guide (modified 3 July 2026): "Workers who have no current work capacity will receive 95 per cent of their PIAWE"; second period: "the lesser of 80 per cent of their PIAWE or the maximum weekly compensation amount"; "returned to work for at least 15 hours per week ... the lesser of 95 per cent of their PIAWE less any current weekly earnings or the maximum weekly compensation amount less any current weekly earnings"; maximum "1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 | $2,662.10" (it was $2,604.80 from 1 October 2025 to 31 March 2026); "additional 52 weeks ... at 60 per cent of PIAWE, less the worker's current weekly earnings". SIRA, Weekly payments: "Weekly payments are available for a maximum period of 130 weeks (2 1/2 years) under Section 39B of the Workers Compensation Act 1987." SIRA, Reform FAQs: "Employers must pay the first two weeks of a worker's weekly compensation payments as an excess on each claim"; "From 1 April 2027, workers compensation benefits will be indexed annually rather than twice yearly." icare, Weekly payments: "Weekly payments for the first 13 weeks" and "Weekly payments for 14 to 130 weeks". All retrieved 6 October 2026. Wage figures in the examples are illustrative.
What happens to your sick leave and annual leave
Two sections of the NSW Act answer the leave questions people ask most once a claim is running.
Annual leave and long service leave. Section 49(1) says compensation is payable for a period of incapacity "even though the worker has received or is entitled to receive in respect of the period any payment, allowance or benefit for holidays, annual holidays or long service leave". Taking holiday pay for the same weeks does not stop your weekly compensation being payable.
Sick leave you used before the claim was accepted. Section 50 covers the common case where you burned sick leave while waiting and compensation is later awarded, or agreed by your employer, for the same period.
| Step | How s 50 reads |
|---|---|
| The sick leave wages you were paid | Treated as compensation, to the extent of the compensation, and not as wages (s 50(3)(b)) |
| Your employer's liability for that period | Treated as met, to the extent of the wages already paid (s 50(3)(a)) |
| Your sick leave record, for future sick leave | Treated as if you took no sick leave for that period (s 50(4)(a)), or sick leave for a shorter period in the proportion set by s 50(5) |
In practice, list every sick day you used for the condition and ask your employer to re-credit them once the claim is accepted. This guide sets out how the Act reads, not how a given insurer processes the adjustment.
Both sections deal with pay, not with whether leave keeps accruing while you are on compensation. For how accrual works during different kinds of paid and unpaid absence, see accruing leave while you are on leave.
s 50(3): if a worker "is paid wages for sick leave by the employer and either an award is made afterwards for the payment of compensation ... or the employer agrees afterwards that compensation be paid ... (a) the employer's liability to pay compensation in respect of that period shall, to the extent of the wages paid, be deemed to have been satisfied by that payment, and (b) the wages shall, to the extent of the compensation, be deemed ... to have been paid as compensation and not as wages." s 50(4)(a): the worker shall "be deemed not to have been entitled to or granted, or to have received, any sick leave or wages for sick leave in respect of that period". s 50(5): the "lesser period ... bears to the period of incapacity of the worker the same proportion as the wages paid to the worker in respect of the period of incapacity bear to the total amount of the wages and compensation paid". Current version for 1 October 2026, retrieved 6 October 2026.
Can you be dismissed while on stress leave?
Not because of the absence, while it stays inside the national limits. The Fair Work Ombudsman says the protection holds while you are away for less than 3 consecutive months, or less than 3 months in total over the last 12 months, or for as long as you are still using paid sick leave. It adds that state workers compensation laws may give further protection; the NSW provisions are outside this guide.
For the 3-month limit worked through with dates, see whether you can be fired for too many sick days.
Protected if "away for less than 3 consecutive months or less than 3 months in total over the last 12 months, or still using their paid sick leave." And: "additional protections may apply under state and territory workers compensation and rehabilitation laws." Content last updated 10 August 2026, retrieved 7 October 2026.
NSW Health and other public sector staff
Sick leave for NSW Health and other NSW public sector staff comes from their own public sector awards and policies, which this guide does not cover. On the workers compensation side, note one carve-out that matters inside NSW Health: paramedics, along with police and firefighters, are exempt from the July 2026 psychological injury changes.
Stress leave in NSW: questions
Is stress leave paid in NSW?
Yes, as paid personal leave at your base rate, for as long as your balance lasts. The workers compensation scheme pays only where a relevant event caused a diagnosed psychological injury.
How many days of stress leave can I take in NSW?
Up to your full personal leave balance, in one go if you need it. Full-time employees build 10 days a year and keep the unused days, so the "2 weeks" figure quoted online is not a limit.
How do I apply for stress leave in NSW?
Tell your employer you are unfit for work and take personal leave, giving evidence if asked. A workers compensation claim is a separate step: a claim form plus a SIRA Certificate of Capacity.
What should my doctor write on a stress leave certificate?
For personal leave, enough to show you were unfit for work. For a weekly payments claim, the diagnosis in accepted medical terms, because a certificate that says only "stress" fails s 11A(7).
Can I get workers compensation for stress in NSW?
For injuries notified from 1 July 2026, not for ordinary work stress or interpersonal conflict. You can if bullying, sexual or racial harassment, excessive work demands, violence, crime or trauma caused the injury and work was the main contributing factor.
Does performance management count?
No, if it was reasonable, carried out reasonably and the significant cause. Appraisals, counselling, misconduct investigations and managing absences are all listed as management action.
What does workers comp pay for a psychological injury in NSW?
95% of your pre-injury average weekly earnings for 13 weeks, then 80%, never above $2,662.10 a week before 1 April 2027. Payments end at 130 weeks unless your impairment is assessed at 21% or more.
What do I get while my bullying claim is assessed?
Interim payments of 75% of your pre-injury earnings for up to 56 days, and up to $7,500 for treatment. If the claim is accepted, the insurer tops those weeks up to 95%.
What happens to the sick leave I used before my claim was accepted?
Under s 50, once compensation is awarded or agreed for that period, the sick leave wages count as compensation and the sick leave is treated as not taken, in full or in proportion.
Can I be sacked while on stress leave?
Not for being away while you are on paid sick leave, or while the absence is under 3 months in the past 12.
SIRA: Workers Compensation Reform FAQs (accurate as of 1 September 2026); Weekly payments (updated 1 July 2026); Workers compensation benefits guide (modified 3 July 2026). icare, Weekly payments (modified 6 October 2026). Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW), current version for 1 October 2026: ss 8D, 8F, 8L, 8O, 11A, 39B, 49, 50. All retrieved 6 October 2026. Fair Work Ombudsman: Paid sick and carer's leave and Long periods of sick leave (both updated 10 August 2026); Workers compensation (updated 4 September 2026). Retrieved 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.