Australia Personal Leave Calculator (Sick & Carer’s Leave)
Estimate paid personal/carer’s leave in hours using ordinary weekly hours, the accrual period, carry-over and leave already taken. The calculator also handles casual employees and optional non-accruing unpaid leave.
Calculate your estimated personal leave balance
Uses the Fair Work 1/26 ordinary-hours method. Results update instantly.
The “days” figure is only a convenience conversion using the workday hours you entered. NES accrual is based on ordinary hours.
Informational estimate only. It does not verify your employment coverage, award, agreement, payroll record, evidence requirements, or any more generous entitlement. Not legal or payroll advice.
Quick answer: Under the National Employment Standards, full-time and part-time employees accrue paid sick and carer’s leave progressively. Fair Work says the 10-day entitlement can be calculated as 1/26 of ordinary hours worked in a year. At 38 ordinary hours a week, that equals 76 hours over a full year. Unused paid sick/carer’s leave carries over. Casual employees do not accrue paid personal leave under the NES.
Written and reviewed by Ruby Miller · HR & Employment Law Content Lead
How the Australia personal leave calculator works
This calculator estimates paid personal/carer’s leave — commonly called sick leave or carer’s leave — using ordinary hours rather than a fixed number of calendar days. That matters because Australian employees can work very different daily patterns while still having the same ordinary weekly hours.
Formula used
- Accruing weeks = weeks to calculate − non-accruing unpaid-leave weeks.
- Accrued hours = ordinary weekly hours × accruing weeks ÷ 26.
- Estimated balance = accrued hours + carried-over hours − hours already taken.
- The displayed balance is floored at zero; any excess leave entered is shown as a potential shortfall rather than a negative paid balance.
Fair Work’s current guidance says the 10-day paid sick/carer’s leave entitlement can be calculated as 1/26 of an employee’s ordinary hours of work in a year. The entitlement accrues progressively and unused leave carries over from year to year.
How much sick leave accrues in Australia?
For a standard 38-hour week, the NES formula produces 76 hours over 52 accruing weeks. That is about 1.46 hours per week or 2.92 hours per fortnight. Part-time employees use the same method with their lower ordinary weekly hours.
| Ordinary hours/week | Per week | Per fortnight | Full year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 38 hours | 1.46 hours | 2.92 hours | 76 hours |
| 30 hours | 1.15 hours | 2.31 hours | 60 hours |
| 24 hours | 0.92 hours | 1.85 hours | 48 hours |
| 19 hours | 0.73 hours | 1.46 hours | 38 hours |
| 15 hours | 0.58 hours | 1.15 hours | 30 hours |
The distribution of those ordinary hours across the week does not change the total accrual. A 38-hour employee working four longer days and a 38-hour employee working five shorter days each accrue 76 hours over a full accruing year. Their balance may represent a different number of rostered workdays because their ordinary daily hours differ.
Paid leave, unpaid leave and when accrual can pause
Paid sick and carer’s leave continues to accrue while an employee is on paid leave, including paid annual leave and paid sick/carer’s leave. Fair Work also says it generally does not accrue while an employee is on unpaid annual leave, unpaid sick/carer’s leave, unpaid parental leave or unpaid family and domestic violence leave.
That is why this calculator includes an optional field for non-accruing unpaid leave. Enter only unpaid weeks that should be excluded from the accrual period. Community service leave and any more generous rule in an award or agreement can change the position, so payroll records remain the better source for a final balance.
Do not double-count carry-over: if your payroll already shows 60 carried-over hours from earlier service, enter those 60 hours and calculate only the new period that is not already included in that balance.
Who gets paid personal or carer’s leave?
Under the NES, paid sick and carer’s leave applies to full-time and part-time employees. Casual employees do not accrue paid personal/carer’s leave under the NES.
- Full-time employees: accrue paid personal/carer’s leave progressively using ordinary hours.
- Part-time employees: accrue a pro-rata amount because their ordinary hours are lower.
- Casual employees: do not accrue paid sick/carer’s leave under the NES, but can access 2 days of unpaid carer’s leave per permissible occasion.
Paid sick leave can be used when an employee cannot work because of their own illness or injury. Paid carer’s leave can be used to care for or support an immediate family or household member because of illness, injury or an unexpected emergency.
Worked examples
38 ordinary hours × 26 accruing weeks ÷ 26 = 38 hours accrued.
19 ordinary hours × 52 accruing weeks ÷ 26 = 38 hours accrued.
38 ordinary hours × 52 ÷ 26 = 76 hours. If each rostered day is 9.5 hours, that is about 8 rostered workdays, not 10 days of 7.6 hours.
38 newly accrued hours + 20 carried over − 12 taken = 46 hours remaining.
38 hours × (52 − 4 unpaid weeks) ÷ 26 = 70.15 hours accrued, before carry-over or leave taken.
The NES paid balance is 0 hours. Separate unpaid carer’s leave may still be available for an eligible caring occasion.
Evidence, medical certificates and appointments
An employer can ask for evidence that would satisfy a reasonable person that the employee was entitled to take sick or carer’s leave. Fair Work says evidence can be requested for as little as one day or less. A medical certificate or statutory declaration can be acceptable forms of evidence, but the exact requirement can also be affected by an award or agreement.
A pre-arranged medical appointment is not automatically sick leave. It can be covered where the employee is unable to work because of a personal illness or injury; the facts of the individual situation matter.
Common personal leave calculation mistakes
- ✕Using “10 × 7.6 hours” for everyone. The NES calculation follows ordinary hours. A different ordinary-hours pattern can produce a different number of rostered days even when the annual hours entitlement is equivalent.
- ✕Counting overtime as ordinary hours. The calculator is designed around ordinary hours, not overtime hours.
- ✕Accruing through every unpaid absence. Several types of unpaid leave do not accrue sick/carer’s leave under the NES.
- ✕Adding old service and a payroll carry-over covering the same period. That double-counts entitlement.
- ✕Giving casual employees a pro-rata paid balance. Casuals do not accrue paid sick/carer’s leave under the NES.
- ✕Assuming evidence can only be requested after several days off. Fair Work says an employer can ask for evidence even for one day or less.
What this calculator does not cover
- It does not verify whether the national workplace relations system or a particular award, enterprise agreement or contract applies to you.
- It does not model irregular changes in ordinary hours at payroll-period level.
- It does not determine whether a specific absence qualifies as sick leave, carer’s leave, compassionate leave or another entitlement.
- It does not calculate the payment amount for leave, which depends on the applicable base rate and the ordinary hours that would have been worked.
- It does not replace the employer’s leave record, payslip or payroll system.
For annual leave rather than sick/carer’s leave, use the Australia Annual Leave Calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Does unused sick or personal leave carry over?
Yes. Unused paid sick and carer’s leave carries over from year to year under the NES.
Is unused personal leave paid out when employment ends?
No. Fair Work states that sick and carer’s leave is not paid out when employment ends.
Can personal or sick leave be cashed out?
Usually not, but there are limited exceptions. Fair Work says most awards do not allow cashing out; certain registered agreements and a small number of awards can permit it if strict conditions are met.
Can sick leave cover mental health?
It can where the employee is unfit for work because of a personal illness or injury. Fair Work’s guidance expressly includes stress among examples of personal illness.
Do medical appointments automatically count as sick leave?
No. A pre-arranged medical appointment can be covered if the employee is unable to work because of a personal illness or injury. The circumstances determine whether paid sick leave applies.
Can my employer ask for a medical certificate for one day off?
An employer can ask for evidence for as little as one day or less. A medical certificate or statutory declaration can be acceptable evidence, subject to the workplace rules that apply.
What happens when paid carer’s leave runs out?
Full-time and part-time employees can access 2 days of unpaid carer’s leave per permissible occasion when they have no paid sick/carer’s leave left. Casual employees can also access 2 days of unpaid carer’s leave per occasion.