Sick Leave Entitlements

June 15th 2021

Big news for Employers – from 24 July 2021, minimum sick leave entitlements will increase from 5 to 10 days per year.

The cycle for entitlement remains the same so this change will come into effect for each of your employees at a different time.  You still have to be employed for six months before you become entitled to sick leave, but once that entitlement is due it is now double what it was!

So how does this work in practice? Here’s how….

Example for existing employees: Becky started working on 1^st September 2020. After 6 months of continuous employment, on 1^st March 2020 Becky was entitled to 5 days sick leave. This is her entitlement date (1^st March). Following legislation, Becky’s next entitlement date is 12 months after her entitlement date. So, on 1^st March 2022, Becky will be entitled to 10 days sick leave to use until 1^st March 2023.

Example for new employees: John starts his new job on 1^st August 2021. After 6 months continuous employment, on 1^st February 2022 (his entitlement date) John will be entitled to 10 days of sick leave available to use across the following 12 months before 1^st February 2023.

Early in 2022 we expect another change to be announced, which will shift entitlement to commencement of employment, rather than having to wait six months. 

For more details on Sick Leave Entitlements check out Employment New Zealand’s latest article.

For tips to employers for controlling sick leave, have a read through this blog post.

Tags: legal entitlements, sick leave