Australia · National Employment Standards baseline

Estimate your paid sick and carer’s leave.

The NES paid personal/carer’s leave entitlement is based on ordinary hours: 10 days for a full-time employee, pro-rata for part-time employees. Fair Work describes this as 1/26 of annual ordinary hours.

Paid personal / carer’s leave

Standard NES accrual estimate

Sick leave and paid carer’s leave come from the same paid personal/carer’s leave balance.

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Ordinary hours per weekUse ordinary hours, not overtime. A 38-hour week produces 76 hours per year.Completed years of serviceUse service with this employer.Extra months of serviceApproximate partial years as completed months.Estimated non-accruing weeksMost unpaid leave does not accrue paid personal/carer’s leave; exceptions can apply.Paid sick / carer’s leave already usedEnter hours already taken from this paid leave balance.

Casual employeeCasual employees do not get the standard NES paid personal/carer’s leave entitlement, although unpaid carer’s leave rights can apply.

Annual entitlement at entered hours76.00 hours / year

Estimated accrued leave76.00 hours

Estimated balance76.00 hours

Balance in ordinary working weeks2.00 weeks

StatusNES baseline estimate

Accrual formula1/26 annual ordinary hours

Termination payoutGenerally not paid out

Important: this is a standard NES estimate using constant entered ordinary weekly hours. Awards, registered agreements or contracts can provide more than the NES. It does not decide whether a particular absence qualifies, evidence requirements, unpaid carer’s leave, compassionate leave, family and domestic violence leave or employer-specific payroll adjustments.

Why hours matter

“10 days” is based on ordinary hours

Fair Work says the yearly paid sick/carer’s leave entitlement can be calculated as 1/26 of annual ordinary hours. A 38-hour full-time employee therefore accrues 76 hours a year, while a 19-hour part-time employee accrues 38 hours.

Fair Work — paid sick and carer’s leave →

When employment ends

Unused paid sick leave is generally not cashed out

Unlike unused annual leave, paid sick and carer’s leave is generally not paid out when employment ends. Keep annual leave and personal/carer’s leave balances separate when checking final pay.

Annual leave Notice & redundancy

Carer’s leave

Paid carer’s leave uses this same balance

Eligible permanent employees can use paid personal/carer’s leave to care for or support an immediate family or household member who is sick, injured or affected by an unexpected emergency.