Under the current Holidays Act 2003, employees are entitled to sick leave once they have worked with the same employer for six months. This includes employees who have worked continuously as well as those who have worked an average of at least 10 hours per week, including at least one hour a week or 40 hours a month.
The Holidays (Increasing Sick Leave) Amendment Act 2021 comes into effect on 24 July 2021. From 24 July 2021, minimum sick leave entitlements will increase from 5 to 10 days. Employees will get the extra 5 days when they reach their next entitlement date after 24 July, either after reaching 6 months’ employment or on their sick leave entitlement anniversary (12 months after they were last entitled to sick leave).
Businesses should make sure they are ready for the change by being aware of their obligations and ensuring their payroll systems are up to date. (provided by MBIE)
Other key aspects of minimum sick leave rights remain the same:
Employees can still accumulate up to 20 days of unused sick leave. This means employees can now carry over up to 10 days of unused sick leave each year instead of 15.
The employer and employee can agree to more sick leave rights than the legal minimums. For example, give unlimited sick leave, or the option to accrue all unused sick leave.
Employees who have already agreed to 10 or more days of sick leave per year in their employment agreement will see no change.
For more details about sick leave entitlements and examples go to the following website MBIE