Do casual workers get sick leave in New Zealand? The six-month test, worked through with your hours

The six-month test as the law states it

Section 63 of the Holidays Act 2003 gives two ways to qualify for sick leave and bereavement leave with an employer. You need only one.

• Continuous employment. You have completed six months' current continuous employment with that employer.
• The work test. Over a period of six months, you worked for that employer for at least an average of 10 hours a week, and either no less than 1 hour in every week or no less than 40 hours in every month.

Employment New Zealand is clear that this applies whether you are full-time, part-time or casual. Its chart for working out eligibility adds that continuous employment does not have to be full-time or permanent, and can include a pattern of work that is predictable but infrequent. Where casual work comes with gaps, the work test is usually the one to check, and it has two parts that must both be met: the average, and then one of the two minimums. A single week with no work fails the every-week minimum, but the every-month minimum can still carry you.

The test is not a one-off. Employment New Zealand's chart says to run it each time you want to take leave, because the six months can be any six months. A quiet stretch early on does not stop you qualifying later. Our article on casual and permanent part-time work covers what else changes between the two.

A worked example with uneven hours

This example is made up. Mia started casual shifts at a café on 1 February 2026. Her hours by calendar month:

• February: 38 hours, with two weeks of no shifts during exams
• March: 46 hours
• April: 52 hours
• May: 61 hours
• June: 44 hours
• July: 70 hours, with one week of no shifts while she was away
• August: 47 hours

On 31 July. The six months from 1 February to 31 July are 181 days, or 25.86 weeks, so an average of 10 hours a week needs 258.6 hours. Mia worked 311, an average of 12.0 a week, so the average is met. But she had weeks with no work, so the every-week minimum fails, and February's 38 hours fails the every-month minimum. She does not qualify yet.

On 31 August. Move the window on a month. From 1 March to 31 August is 184 days, or 26.29 weeks, needing 262.9 hours. She worked 320, an average of 12.2. July's empty week still fails the every-week minimum, but every month has at least 40 hours, so the work test is met. Under section 63(2), her sick leave runs for the 12 months from 1 September 2026, and for each 12 months after that as long as her hours keep meeting the test.

Two points from the example. Six months is a little more than 26 weeks, so count from the calendar dates, not a round number of weeks. And when a month is close to 40 hours, every shift in it matters.

What you get once you qualify

You get 10 days' paid sick leave for each 12-month period, under section 65. You can take it when you are sick or injured, or when your spouse or partner, or someone who depends on you for care, is. Up to 10 unused days carry over, to a maximum of 20 days' current entitlement. Sick leave is not pro-rated, so a casual who qualifies gets the same 10 days as someone working 40 hours. If a later year does not meet the test, you get no new days, but you can still use the balance you have. Unused sick leave is not paid out when you leave.

A casual takes sick leave on a day that would otherwise have been a working day, such as a shift you had agreed to work, and it is paid at your relevant daily pay or average daily pay.

The same six-month test opens two other kinds of leave:

• Bereavement leave: 3 days for the death of a spouse or partner, parent, child, brother or sister, grandparent, grandchild or a spouse's or partner's parent, or for a miscarriage or still-birth; 1 day for another death the employer accepts as a bereavement.
• Family violence leave: up to 10 days in each 12-month period, which does not carry over.

Our guide to leave in New Zealand covers annual holidays, public holidays and the rest.

What changes from 6 August 2028

The Employment Leave Act 2026 replaces the Holidays Act on 6 August 2028, and until then the test above is the law. The new Act treats casual hours differently. It defines them as hours you work where your employer does not have to offer work and you do not have to accept it.

• No sick leave on casual hours. Section 72 says the sick leave rules do not apply to casual hours. Instead, section 126 requires a leave compensation payment of at least 12.5% of your ordinary hourly rate for each casual hour, paid in every pay period and shown separately.
• Existing balances end. Under clause 16 of Schedule 1, someone working casual hours on 6 August 2028 no longer has any sick leave from the Holidays Act, and the employer does not have to pay for it.
• Bereavement and family violence leave from day one. Both apply from your start date, and you can take casual hours on a roster you agreed to work as either kind of leave.

For standard hours, sick leave will build up hour by hour instead: at least 0.0385 of an hour for each standard hour, to a maximum of 160 hours. Whether your hours count as casual or standard will depend on your agreement and how the work really runs, so the next two years are a good time to keep your own record.

When the employer says you do not qualify

Most disagreements about casual sick leave come down to hours: whether that quiet month really had 40, or whether a week had no shift at all. Employment New Zealand's chart suggests asking your employer for your wages and time records if you are unsure. Under section 130 of the Employment Relations Act 2000, your employer must keep that record and give you access to it for any time in the last six years.

A record of your own lets you check theirs. Write down each shift on the day, with the date, the start and finish, and the unpaid break, so a week's total and a month's total can both be added up later. Our guide to keeping your own timesheet covers what else to note.

Your Timesheets at jobtracker.co.nz keeps that record for free: each shift goes into a week grid, and the week's total sits along the foot, so a week with nothing logged stands out as you step back through six months. With the Career and Timesheets plan, Reports can total your hours by week or by month, the two measures the test uses. It does not decide whether you qualify; it gives you the numbers to check. If you and your employer still disagree, Employment New Zealand on 0800 20 90 20 can help.

Keep six months of shifts on record