Can You Use Annual Leave When You Have No Sick Leave Left?

An Australian employee who has no paid personal or sick leave left can ask to use accrued annual leave for time away caused by illness or injury. The annual leave is not automatic: its timing normally needs employer approval under the National Employment Standards and any applicable award or agreement.

The employee may still have a right to unpaid personal leave or another entitlement in limited circumstances, and casual employees have different rules because they do not accrue paid annual or personal leave under the federal minimum.

Evidence of illness and approval of annual leave answer different questions. A medical certificate can support why the employee could not work, but it does not itself require the employer to deduct annual leave.

This article explains the practical options after the paid balance reaches zero. For the core minimums, read Sick Leave Entitlements in Australia.

This is general workplace information, not legal or financial advice. Awards, enterprise agreements, contracts, policies, workers compensation laws and state employment systems may change the position.

Key Points

• You can request annual leave when paid sick leave is exhausted.
• The employer should consider the request but approval is not automatic.
• A medical certificate does not convert an absence into annual leave by itself.
• Unpaid leave may be available by entitlement or agreement, depending on the reason.
• Annual leave and personal leave should be recorded as separate balances.
• Illness during approved annual leave may allow personal leave substitution if accrued.
• Employees should notify the employer promptly even when no paid sick leave remains.
• Casual employees do not accrue either paid leave type under the federal minimum.

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Annual Leave Is a Separate Entitlement

Paid personal or carer's leave protects eligible employees when they cannot work because of personal illness or injury or need to provide qualifying care. Annual leave provides paid time away for rest and recreation.

Using one balance after the other is exhausted does not merge their legal purposes. Payroll should deduct the category that was requested and approved.

Full-time employees generally accrue four weeks of annual leave for each year of service, with an additional week for certain shiftworkers. Part-time employees accrue proportionately.

Read Difference Between Sick Leave and Personal Leave for how the health-related terminology fits together.

How to Request Annual Leave

Tell the employer as soon as practicable that illness or injury prevents work, that the paid personal leave balance is exhausted and that you request annual leave for specified dates or hours.

Follow the ordinary leave process where possible, but do not wait for a portal approval if the workplace also requires immediate absence notification by telephone or message.

Section 88 of the Fair Work Act 2009 says paid annual leave is taken for a period agreed between employer and employee and an employer must not unreasonably refuse a request.

Provide enough information for the employer to assess staffing, timing and the applicable instrument. An unexpected illness may justify short notice even though annual leave is often planned.

Can the Employer Refuse?

The employer can refuse a particular annual leave request where the refusal is reasonable. Operational needs, critical staffing, the amount of leave, timing, notice and the award or agreement process may be relevant.

A refusal should not be arbitrary. The Fair Work Ombudsman guidance on taking annual leave explains agreement, requests and unreasonable refusal.

Where illness makes attendance impossible, refusing annual leave does not make the employee fit to work. The parties still need to clarify whether the absence will be unpaid or covered by another entitlement.

Ask for the reason and discuss alternatives, such as part-day annual leave, a roster swap, working from home where genuinely fit, or unpaid leave.

Do You Still Need a Medical Certificate?

An employer can require reasonable evidence for a personal leave absence even when the paid balance is zero. The evidence can establish that illness or injury prevented work and explain why attendance obligations could not be met.

If annual leave is approved instead, the employer may still request evidence under policy or to understand the unplanned absence, particularly where notice was short or the employee seeks another statutory protection.

A certificate does not guarantee annual leave approval, restore a paid personal leave balance or prove entitlement to wages beyond the chosen leave category.

See When Is a Medical Certificate Required in Australia? for one-day and policy-based evidence requests.

Unpaid Sick Leave Is Not a General NES Balance

The federal National Employment Standards do not create an unlimited bank of unpaid sick leave for an employee's own illness after paid leave is exhausted. An employer may agree to unpaid leave, and other instruments or protections may apply.

This differs from unpaid carer's leave, which provides two days for each permissible occasion when an immediate family or household member needs care or support and paid carer's leave cannot be taken.

Long-term illness can also engage temporary-absence, disability, workers compensation and unfair dismissal protections, but those do not automatically create paid leave.

Read Sick Leave Without a Medical Certificate for the difference between having an entitlement and proving it.

Other Options When Annual Leave Is Refused

Ask whether the employer will approve unpaid leave, annual leave in advance, time off in lieu, a roster change or another arrangement available under the award, agreement or policy.

Working from home is not a substitute for sick leave when the employee is genuinely unfit. It may be suitable only if the employee can safely perform duties and both parties agree or an applicable right supports it.

Income protection insurance, workers compensation or a separate employer benefit may apply to longer incapacity, subject to eligibility and waiting periods.

Do not misclassify the absence as carer's leave or compassionate leave unless its specific legal conditions are met.

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Illness During Approved Annual Leave

If an employee becomes ill or injured while already on annual leave, they may use paid personal leave for the qualifying period if they have an accrued balance and meet notice and evidence requirements.

The Fair Work Ombudsman paid sick leave guidance explains that personal leave can be taken while on annual leave, and the corresponding annual leave should be recredited.

That substitution is of limited help when the personal leave balance is already zero. The employee may remain on annual leave as originally approved.

Notify the employer during the leave rather than waiting until return, and obtain evidence where requested.

Can an Employer Force Annual Leave?

An employer cannot simply deduct annual leave from every unauthorised or unpaid sick absence. A direction to take annual leave must be reasonable and authorised by an applicable award, enterprise agreement or, for award-free employees, the statutory framework.

Common authorised situations can include excessive accruals or a shutdown, subject to detailed requirements. An unexpected illness does not automatically create a power to force annual leave.

The employee and employer can agree to annual leave after the absence begins, provided records and pay are accurate. The agreement should be documented.

Ask payroll to correct the balance if annual leave was deducted without request, agreement or a valid direction.

Part-Days and Hours

Annual leave can generally be taken for an agreed period, including part of a day, subject to the award or agreement and payroll system. This may help when an employee worked some hours before becoming unwell.

Personal leave can also be taken for the portion of ordinary hours the employee was unfit, while a balance remains. Records should not deduct a full day automatically where fewer ordinary hours were missed.

When the personal balance is zero, the employee can request annual leave for the missed portion rather than the whole shift.

See Can Personal Leave Be Taken in Hours or Part-Days? for the health-leave calculation.

Casual Employees

Casual employees do not accrue paid annual leave or paid personal or carer's leave under the National Employment Standards. Their casual loading compensates for specified entitlements, but does not create a paid balance for missed shifts.

A casual may have unpaid carer's leave, compassionate leave, family and domestic violence leave or another entitlement if the relevant conditions are met.

They should still notify the employer and may need evidence for an illness-related absence. The practical effect on future rosters must be considered separately from payment.

Review Medical Certificates for Casual Employees for casual evidence issues.

Long-Term Illness and Exhausted Leave

When both personal and annual leave are exhausted, identify whether the employee is temporarily absent, has a disability requiring adjustments, has an occupational injury or qualifies for insurance benefits.

The Fair Work Ombudsman long sick leave guidance explains protection from dismissal for specified temporary absences and notes that other protections may remain relevant.

Employees should maintain current medical evidence and communicate expected duration and capacity. Employers should consider inherent requirements and reasonable adjustments before making long-term decisions.

Neither an exhausted balance nor a medical certificate alone determines whether employment can lawfully end.

Pay and Leave Records

Check the payslip after approval. Annual leave should be paid at the employee's base rate for ordinary hours, with loading if the applicable award or agreement requires it.

Confirm that only agreed hours were deducted and the personal leave balance was not made negative unless a lawful advance arrangement applies.

If annual leave was approved after payroll cut-off, the employer may need to correct a later pay. Keep the request and approval.

The Fair Work Ombudsman annual leave overview explains accrual, payment and termination rules.

Practical Steps

• Check the current personal and annual leave balances.
• Notify the employer of the absence as soon as practicable.
• Request annual leave for exact dates or hours in writing.
• Provide reasonable evidence when requested.
• Ask about unpaid leave or other arrangements if refused.
• Confirm the approved category before payroll closes.
• Check the payslip and retain the approval and certificate.

If a certificate is needed, How to Get a Medical Certificate for Work explains what to prepare.

More of Our Services

Using Dociva

Dociva currently accepts online requests for sick-leave, carer's leave, study and multi-day medical certificates. An Australian registered medical practitioner independently assesses whether the submitted current circumstances support a certificate.

A request does not approve annual leave, create a paid balance or require an employer to pay an absence. The employee and employer must apply the relevant leave rules and workplace process.

Certificates and requested dates are not guaranteed, and Dociva does not backdate certificate issue dates. The practitioner may recommend in-person or urgent care where the information is insufficient.

For a suitable request, use the medical certificate application and notify the employer separately. Broader online consultations are available when further clinical assessment is needed.

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