How much sick leave do you get in New Zealand, and what is changing?

Last updated: 1 November 2026 | Written by Andy Bell, Partner, Lane Neave

Most New Zealand employees get 10 days’ paid sick leave a year after six months with their employer. Unused days carry over, to a balance of 20 days unless your employer allows more. You can take it when you, your partner or someone who depends on you is sick or injured. From 6 August 2028, a new law replaces this with leave that builds up in hours from day one.

The current rules are in the Holidays Act 2003. Sections 63 and 65 set the entitlement, section 66 deals with carrying leave over, and section 68 covers proof of sickness. The minimum rose from five to 10 days from 24 July 2021, as each employee reached their next entitlement date.

The Employment Leave Act 2026 has passed but does not start until 6 August 2028. Until then, the Holidays Act applies to every employee and employer, and anything you read about sick leave “in hours” describes the future system.

The most important practical point: paid sick leave is a minimum, and your employment agreement can give you more, but never less.

When do you become entitled to sick leave?

You become entitled after six months of current continuous employment with the same employer. If your work is irregular, you can qualify through a work test instead: over six months you must average at least 10 hours a week, and work at least one hour every week or 40 hours every month.

After that, you get a fresh 10 days on each 12-month anniversary of the date you first qualified. The entitlement is not pro-rated, so a part-time employee gets 10 of their own working days.

If you have not reached six months, you have no legal entitlement yet. Your employer can agree to let you take sick leave in advance, which is then deducted when your entitlement begins.

Who can you take sick leave for?

Under section 65 of the Holidays Act 2003, you can take sick leave when you are sick or injured, when your spouse or partner is sick or injured, or when someone who depends on you for care is sick or injured. That is often a child, but the test is dependence for care, so it can include an elderly parent or anyone else who relies on you.

You must tell your employer you are taking sick leave as early as possible before you are due to start work or, if that is not possible, as early as possible afterwards. Section 64 sets this notice requirement, and your agreement or a workplace policy may say how to give notice.

Can your employer ask for a medical certificate?

Yes. Section 68 of the Holidays Act 2003 lets an employer ask for proof of sickness or injury, which is usually a medical certificate. Who pays depends on how long the sickness or injury lasts.

If it lasts three or more consecutive calendar days, your employer can ask for proof, and Employment New Zealand’s guidance is that you meet the cost. Calendar days include weekends and days you would not normally work. For a shorter illness, your employer can still ask, but must tell you as early as possible and pay your reasonable costs of getting proof.

When asking for proof of sickness, your employer cannot tell you which doctor to see. If you do not provide proof that was properly requested, and you have no reasonable excuse, your employer can hold back payment until you do.

The Privacy Commissioner says that if an employer wants more than the certificate shows, such as details of a diagnosis, it must be able to explain why it needs the information, what it will do with it and what happens if you refuse.

Can your employer refuse sick leave?

If you are entitled to sick leave and have days available, your employer cannot refuse to let you take it when you, your partner or someone who depends on you for care is sick or injured. Paid sick leave is a statutory minimum under the Holidays Act 2003, and an employer cannot contract out of it.

Missing proof does not let your employer refuse to pay altogether: under section 72, payment can be held back only until the proof is given. Under section 71, sick leave is also not payable for time covered by ACC weekly compensation, and your employer cannot make you take that time as sick leave.

Because the Holidays Act measures sick leave in days, Employment New Zealand’s view is that going home sick part way through a shift can use up a whole day of your sick leave balance. You and your employer can agree to count it in hours or part days instead.

An employer that does not pay sick leave you are entitled to can be ordered to pay the arrears, and breaches of the Holidays Act can lead to penalties in the Employment Relations Authority. Pressure not to take sick leave can also support a personal grievance for unjustified disadvantage under section 103(1)(b) of the Employment Relations Act 2000.

What happens if you run out of sick leave?

Once your balance reaches zero, there is no further right to paid sick leave until your next anniversary. You can ask your employer for one of these options:

• Sick leave in advance: taken now and deducted from your next entitlement.
• Annual holidays: paid at the higher of your ordinary weekly pay or your average weekly earnings over the past 12 months.
• Unpaid leave: time off without pay.
• Special paid leave: if your agreement or a workplace policy provides it.

Your employer cannot unreasonably refuse a request to take annual holidays you are already entitled to. It does not have to agree to the other options unless your employment agreement says so.

A long or recurring illness that uses up your leave raises a separate question: whether your employer can end your employment for medical incapacity. We cover that, including the fair process it needs, in our post on being dismissed for being sick.

“Most sick leave disputes I see are not about whether someone was unwell. They start when an employee runs out of leave and nobody has talked about what happens next. If your balance is getting low, raise it with your employer early and ask in writing for leave in advance or annual holidays. That conversation is much easier before the balance reaches zero than after.” Andy Bell, Partner, Lane Neave (Legal 500 Asia Pacific Recommended Lawyer)

Is there such a thing as stress leave in New Zealand?

There is no separate legal entitlement to stress leave or mental health days. Employment New Zealand confirms that if stress makes you unwell, you can use your ordinary sick leave in the same way as for any other illness.

Some employers offer wellbeing days, which are enforceable if they are in your agreement. If the stress comes from work itself, your employer also has duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 to manage risks to your mental health, and taking sick leave does not end those duties.

How is sick leave paid?

You are paid only for days you would otherwise have worked. Pay is your relevant daily pay: what you would have received for working that day, including overtime you would have worked, incentive payments and regular allowances. Average daily pay over the past 52 weeks can be used instead only where relevant daily pay is not possible or practicable to work out, or your daily pay varies within the pay period.

Unused sick leave is not paid out when your employment ends. This is different from annual holidays, which are paid out in your final pay. Our post on big leave balances and cashing up holidays explains the annual leave side.

What has changed recently?

The Employment Leave Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 6 August 2026. It comes into force on 6 August 2028, when it replaces the Holidays Act 2003.

Nothing about your sick leave changes before then. Employers should aim to update employment agreements by 6 August 2028, but have until 6 August 2029. During that extra year, where an agreement and the new Act say different things, the employer must follow whichever is better for the employee.

Your employer will need to convert your existing leave balance to the new system when the law starts. Employment New Zealand has said it will publish guidance on how to convert balances before then.

How will sick leave work from August 2028?

Under the Employment Leave Act 2026, sick leave builds up from the first day of employment at 0.0385 hours for every standard hour (broadly, your contracted hours). It does not build up while you are off work on ACC compensation or on unpaid leave. For someone working 40 hours a week, that is about 80 hours a year, the same as ten eight-hour days. Your balance is capped at 160 hours, and you take leave by the hour, so a two-hour appointment uses two hours.

Casual employees, and hours worked beyond your standard hours, will not build up sick leave. Instead, the employer pays a leave compensation payment of 12.5% of the ordinary hourly rate, which covers both annual and sick leave. Casual employees can still take bereavement leave and family violence leave from their first day.

	Holidays Act 2003 (now until August 2028)	Employment Leave Act 2026 (from 6 August 2028)
When it starts	After six months’ continuous employment, or the work test	Builds up from day one
How much	10 days a year	0.0385 hours per standard hour (about 80 hours a year full-time)
Maximum balance	20 days (your employer can allow more)	160 hours
Unit of leave	Whole days, unless agreed otherwise	Hours, for any part of a day
Part-time workers	Full 10 working days	Proportionate to standard hours
Casual workers	Only if they meet the work test	Leave compensation payment instead (12.5%, covering annual and sick leave)

Anyone whose working days are longer than eight hours may get fewer days’ worth of leave than they do now, because the new entitlement follows hours rather than days. Working four 10-hour days a week builds up about 80 hours a year, which is eight of those days rather than 10.

What should you do?

1. Check your employment agreement and any sick leave policy, because they may give you more than 10 days or set out how to notify absences.
2. Tell your employer you are sick as early as you can, and keep a record of when and how you told them.
3. Keep copies of medical certificates, and if your employer asks for one for a short absence, ask them to confirm they will meet the cost.
4. If your leave is running low, ask in writing for sick leave in advance, annual holidays or unpaid leave before the balance runs out.
5. If your employer refuses leave you are entitled to or pressures you to work while unwell, get advice early. You usually have 90 days from the action, or from when you learned of it if later, to raise a personal grievance, and unpaid sick pay can also be claimed separately as arrears.

Frequently asked questions

Do part-time employees get the full 10 days of sick leave?

Yes. Under the Holidays Act 2003, sick leave is not pro-rated, so an eligible part-time employee gets 10 of their own working days each year. This will change from 6 August 2028, when sick leave builds up in hours according to the employee’s standard hours.

Is unused sick leave paid out when I leave my job?

No. Section 67 of the Holidays Act 2003 means unused sick leave is not paid out when employment ends. Your employment agreement could provide for a payout, but that is rare.

Can I switch annual holidays to sick leave if I get sick on holiday?

If you become sick before your annual holidays start and you have sick leave available, your employer must let you take sick leave for that period instead. If you are already on holiday when you get sick, you can ask to swap the days to sick leave, but your employer has to agree.

Can I take sick leave in my first six months of a new job?

There is no legal right to paid sick leave until you have worked six months for the same employer or meet the work test. Your employer can agree to let you take sick leave in advance, which comes off your entitlement once it begins.

Can I be disciplined for taking too much sick leave?

Taking sick leave you are entitled to, for a genuine illness, is not misconduct. An employer can raise concerns where it has a real reason to doubt an absence was genuine, or where a long illness means you cannot do your job, but it must follow a fair process before taking any action.

Related: can my employer dismiss me for being sick too often?, big leave balances and cashing up holidays, and how to raise a personal grievance.

Andy Bell is a Partner at Lane Neave, an employment lawyer who has practised in New Zealand for over 20 years, acting for employees and employers in the Employment Relations Authority and the Employment Court. He is a Recommended Lawyer in the Legal 500 Asia Pacific and a Recommended Employment Lawyer in Doyle’s Guide 2026.

Last updated: 1 November 2026. This article is general information about New Zealand law, not legal advice on your situation.