Skip to content Skip to footer

What type of evidence is needed for sick/carer’s leave?

Below is a section from your workplace agreement, Compass Group (Medirest – Queensland Children’s Hospital) Enterprise Agreement 2019, which both you and your employer must follow when it comes to questions about sick leave and carer’s leave.

An agreement is what is negotiated every couple of years by union members and their employer. If you want to have say on what goes into an agreement, you can do so by becoming a union member. It’s only through workers coming together in a union that they can influence and change their workplaces.

As you read through the below, you’ll see that one day of sick leave does not require a medical certificate. Certificates are actually only required for more than a two day absence. You can also use a statuary declaration instead of a medical certificate.

If you need advice or assistance, members can call the Members Contact Line:


31.5  Notice and evidence 

31.5.1 The NES provides that an employee must give the Company notice, as soon as reasonably practicable (which may be a time before or after the leave has commenced), of their inability to attend work for a reason specified in clause 31.1 or a permissible occasion set out in clause 31.2 or 31.3.2 and the expected duration of the absence.

31.5.2 For the purposes of the NES, the evidence that the Company requires for an employee to be entitled to paid personal/carer’s leave for more than a two day absence is a medical certificate from a registered health practitioner or, where that is not practical, a statutory declaration.

31.5.3 This clause is not intended to limit the operation of section 107 (3) of the FW Act.

31.8.1 The NES provides that an employee must give the Company notice, as soon as reasonably practicable (which may be a time before or after the leave has commenced), of their inability to attend work for a reason specified in clause 31.1 or a permissible occasion set out in clause 31.2 or 31.3 and the expected duration of the absence.

31.8.2 For the purposes of the NES, the evidence that the Company requires for an employee to be entitled to paid personal/carer’s leave for more than a two-day absence is a medical certificate from a registered health practitioner or, where that is not practical, a statutory declaration.

31.8.3 This clause is not intended to limit the operation of section 107 (3) of the FW Act and the Company’s ability to request evidence in other circumstances where it is reasonable to do so.