Employees often take time off during work hours to attend medical appointments. Many of them believe they are entitled to use personal leave for these visits. But is that the case?

 

Sick leave entitlements

An employee is not necessarily entitled to paid personal leave when attending medical appointments or having elective surgery. This is because illness or injury did not preclude the employee from attending work. An employer would need to ask for evidence from the employee to confirm their inability to attend work due to illness or injury.

The after-effects of such a visit or elective surgery may entitle an employee to paid personal leave. 

For example, if an employee visits a dentist to have teeth filled or a ‘cosmetic’ procedure, the employee is not entitled to personal leave because they would not be able to establish their inability to attend work that day. However, an employee who has a wisdom tooth removed or other major dental surgery would be entitled to claim personal leave for the following day.

Likewise, an employee who attends a dentist because of a toothache or a similar illness would be entitled to personal leave because the nature of the illness would prevent them from attending work that day.

 

Unexpected emergency – carer’s leave

An employee may qualify for paid carer’s leave if they are required to attend a medical appointment to care for a member of their immediate family or household. For example, an employee having to take a sick child to see a doctor would qualify for paid carer’s leave as it is providing ‘care or support’ to a member of their immediate family.

If this happens during the day, it could also be regarded as an ‘unexpected emergency’ and paid carer’s leave would apply to that part of the day the employee is absent.

The carer’s leave requirement within the National Employment Standards provides for “care or support” (that is, one or the other). Furthermore, such leave is not tied to the incidence of illness but can be applied to an illness, injury, or emergency situation affecting a family or household member.

This means an employee may use personal/carer’s leave to provide “support” to a family or household member affected by an emergency situation – that is, without reference to illness and injury. See Garuccio v WP Crowhurst Pty Ltd t/as Solver Paints [2010] FWA 9595 (21 December 2010).

The Federal Circuit Court determined that an employee who needed to collect her child from school because a friend could not pick up the child as usually arranged was an ‘unexpected emergency’ for the purposes of paid personal/carer’s leave. See Wilkie v National Storage Operations Pty Ltd [2013] FCCA 1056 (9 August 2013).

 

The bottom line

An employee is not usually entitled to paid personal/carer’s leave to attend a medical appointment, but may be entitled to personal leave as a consequence of attending the medical appointment.