Personal/Sick Leave Accrual Calculator
Shows how much personal and sick leave you are entitled to and how it accrues over a year.
Quick Use Samples
Employment & Leave Details
Leave Balance Summary
You accrue 76.00 hours of personal/carer's leave annually. Starting with a balance of 0.00 hours, your new estimated balance is 76.00 hours.
Leave Balance Visualization
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What is Personal/Carer's Leave?
In Australia, personal/carer's leave (often called sick leave) is an entitlement for employees to take paid time off work if they are unwell, injured, or need to care for an immediate family member. It is a safety net to ensure employees don't lose income when they or a family member are sick.
Behind the Formula
Under the National Employment Standards (NES), a full-time employee accrues 10 days of paid personal/carer's leave for each year of service. Part-time employees accrue a pro-rata amount based on their hours. The leave starts accruing from an employee's first day and accumulates from year to year.
Expert Insights
- The leave accrues based on the number of hours worked, not days. For a full-time employee, this is 76 hours per year. This means a part-time employee working half the hours accrues half the leave (38 hours).
- Personal leave is for when you are 'not fit for work'. This can include physical illness, injury, or mental health conditions. Stress can be a valid reason to take personal leave, provided a medical practitioner certifies it.
- Notice and evidence are key. You must notify your employer as soon as is reasonably practicable. An employer can request evidence for as little as one day of absence, which could be a medical certificate or a statutory declaration.
Actionable Tips
- Don't 'power through' illness at work. Personal leave is an entitlement designed to help you recover and prevent spreading illness to your colleagues. Use it when you need it.
- Know your employer's policy on providing evidence. Many workplaces only require a medical certificate after 2-3 consecutive days of absence, but they have the right to ask for it for any absence.
- Keep track of your leave balance on your payslip. This helps you know what you have available in case of a significant illness or injury.
Real-World Examples
A full-time employee with the flu
A full-time employee gets the flu and needs to take 3 days off work. They use 3 of their 10 accrued personal leave days and receive their normal pay for this period.
A part-time employee's accrual
A part-time employee works 3 days a week (22.8 hours). They accrue personal leave on a pro-rata basis, which is equivalent to 10 days of their working week, or 6 days (45.6 hours) per year.
Using a statutory declaration
An employee is unwell for one day but is unable to get a same-day doctor's appointment. They provide their employer with a statutory declaration as evidence for their absence.
Glossary of Terms
Accrual
The gradual accumulation of an entitlement over time, such as leave.
Pro-rata
A Latin term meaning 'in proportion', used to calculate leave entitlements for part-time employees.
National Employment Standards (NES)
The 11 minimum standards of employment in Australia, which include the entitlement to personal/carer's leave.