can I use sick leave before my maternity leave starts?

[lizzymcfizzy]

I have decided to apply for maternity leave to start 4 weeks before I am due to give birth.

If however I get sick before then, can I legally take sick leave without upsetting my employer or maternity leave?

Would they bring my maternity leave foward or do they have to grant me sick leave? (I have a bucketload of sickleave available from 6 years of service).

TIA!
Liz

EDIT - I would have applied for 6 weeks but I'd have to apply this friday and I won't see my OB for the letter and stuff I will need until the 18th. I think I should be ok to stay till 4 weeks because I sit behind a desk all day.

[bigglet]

I don't see why not as long as you can produce a doc certificate.

I worked right up to 39 weeks of my pregnancy - (actually I finished work on the Friday and I went into labor on Monday :D) and I figured that if I were to either go into labor earlier than my planned maternity leave then I would either take some sick leave or push my maternity leave back.

I guess you could ask your employer to make sure but mine wasn't fussed at all.

[kiah]

Just conveniently become sick....they cant stop u taking it beofre maternity leave...i used mine up for al my ob visits...i just asked my employer and he was fine about it...:yes:

[Milliner]

I took all of my sick and holiday leave before my Maternity started, as I didn't know if I would be going back to work at all. It turns out I will not be going back there so I glad I took it all when I did.

[Ponyboy]

I had to take a week of sick leave before my maternity leave started as my waters ruptured and I was in hospital having bubs 6 weeks early!! So yes I believe you can do it but I think if you have more than 2 days off in a row you need a doctors certificate so go to a sympathetic doctor and tell them you've had it with work (i.e. your feet swell up or you are generally just so damn tired) and get them to write you a cert.

[Becteria]

My boss paid out my sick leave as a special favour, but by law he didnt have to give me any of it. You are entitled to take your sick leave but if you are planning on going back i suggest talking about it with your employer so that they arent put out. Maybe they will cash you up?

[WeloveHarriet]

My employer would allow a small amount of sick leave (a couple of weeks) with a doctors certificate but if it was lengthy they would make you start maternity leave early.

[lizzymcfizzy]

thanks girls. I've since heard back from my HR departement who told me "it depends on the circumstances". which isn't a great help. I guess if I'm unwell I'll wait and see if they approve sick leave or make me bring my maternity leave forward, which wouldn't really be a problem, I'd just have to come back a week earlier than planned.

[JoJoMart]

If you have already booked your maternity leave dates then if you do need to take personal (sick) leave you should be able to before your maternity leave starts.

In work in the public service and finished work 4 weeks before the baby was due, but if earlier than that I was ill and had to finish earlier then I would have applied for sick leave and left my maternity leave as is.

[SilverStarfish]

You can't legally ask for your sick leave to be paid out - though some sympathetic/extra nice employers will - so use it up anyway you can!

I was allowed to use mine for Ob appointments etc, though I only had a few days owing anyway.

[ETsMum]

I also work in the public sector and we were advised that you can't take sick leave for pregnancy reasons in the 6 weeks before your EDD. If you have preg problems then they can bring forward your mat leave. I would advise that if you are unwell within the 6 wks, make sure they say it is "a medical condition" or something other than a preg related condition.

[jamb]

I worked for the gov and took 5 weeks sickleave, my gp gave me a letter that said i was too exhausted and needed to rest.

My maternity leave did not start until my DH rang and told them the baby had been born.

This is what most ladies I worked with did, though they did not use up all their sickleave, so took a couple of weeks instead. I took it all as I knew I wasnt going back.

[pookiesossige]

I wasn't allowed to be away from work for more then 12 months in total, which sucked because I had a heap of other leave up my sleeve, and none of the maternity leave was paid.

But I was working for a charity organisation, and they are excempt from a lot of working condition requirements that other places must adhere to :thumbsdown:

In the end, they made me redundant when bub was 6 weeks old anyway :eek:

Like I said, they were a charity so could get away with anything! Pity- I loved the actual work so, so much.

[our little treasures]

When I left my employment for Maternity Leave I wasn't intending to use my sick leave. However at 37 weeks I had a very stressful situation at work and I went to my gp and informed him, he wrote a medical certificate covering me for that week as I wasnt starting maternity until I was 39weeks. I was paid 1wks sick leave.

I know that you can't be paid out for your sick leave but if you get a certificate it may help!!

[soph'smum]

HI there

I'm pretty sure that by law, in the public sector, you are entitled to your sick leave if you have a pregnancy related illness prior to taking maternity leave.

You are not, however, entitled to sick leave once your period of maternity leave commences.

You should be aware however, that your time off, including sick leave, holidays, paid and unpaid maternity leave cannot exceed 52 weeks.

cheers

Michelle

[ElizaDoolittle]

Yes you can use sick leave prior to maternity leave as long as you and/or your baby is sick and you have a medical certificate from your Doctor to say you cannot work.

Your work must grant you sick leave if you have a certificate.

[happy86]

Yes you sure can i was meant to go on maternity leave from 36weeks but at 30 weeks i was getting really bad pressure pains and felt like i couldn't handle work i was working full time hours and my boss wasn't being very nice so i went to my doctor she checked me out and said my cervix was actually soft and something else which means baby may come early i asked her if she could write me a doctors certificate so i could finish up work from then on and she was more then happy too she just put on certificate i was unfit for duty from that date forward to my due date and i got paid out all my sick leave and holidays as i knew i didn't want to return there after i had baby so i was more then happy to use it all up i ended up resigning 6months into my maternity leave :)

[missie_mack]

You should be aware however, that your time off, including sick leave, holidays, paid and unpaid maternity leave cannot exceed 52 weeks.


Everyone in Australia has the ability to request an extention on their parental leave (as maternity leave only covers the company funded part) up to 104 weeks parental leave. I did this in 2006 when I had my DS and am doing it again at the moment, so it is nothing new.

OP to answer your question if your sickness would be paid sick leave if you were anything but pregnant you are entitled to sick leave. For example in my workplace anyone is entitled to take sick leave for a Drs appointment, I am not any less entitled to this just because I was pregnant. To so otherwise is discrimination. Same if you get a cold. However if you are referring to having to leave work early with a pregnancy complication it would depend- if it is due to the job you do -say you have SPD and stand all day the employer is meant to look for a safe role for you to do or give you leave with pay under workcover entitlements- but if it is just because you have a pregnancy condition like PE you would need to negotiate with your employer and come to a reasonable arrangement. Most employers would have you start your leave early.

[erinn]

I took my sick leave for ante-natal appts, and had my maternity leave locked in to start from 34 weeks. When my BP started getting quite high at around 28 weeks I bought my leave forward to 30 weeks and used my sick leave and holiday leave to do so, that way I kept my maternity leave for the last 6 weeks plus after the birth.

[JR03]

I work in HR and part of my role is to look after parental leave for all of our staff around of Australia. There are a few things i wanted to clear up which i yhink some previous posters may have confused. While some companies are lenient with the use of personal/carer's leave (previously known as sick leave), by law it is to be used for a personal illness or emergency, or an illness or emergency of an immediate family member who requires care or support. Pregnancy is NOT an illness or emergency, however pregnancy related conditions (ie high blood pressure, severe morning sickness etc) are. So an OB checkup is not a reason to use personal/carer's leave.
There is a form of unpaid leave called 'special maternity leave' which can be taken prior to the 6 weeks immediately before the expected due date. It is for when a pregnancy ends after 12 weeks or pregnancy-related illness which stops the pregnant employee from working.
It is only if there is no 'safe job' available that the employee will be entitled to 'no safe job leave' which is paid by the employer and does not come out of any of your leave.
Happy to answer any questions that others may have as I recently put together an in-depth parental leave guide to distribute to our pregnant staff so feel that I'm pretty well informed on the topic. Also the Fair Work Australia and Fair Work Ombudsman websites are great resources.

[rach85]

I just pm'd you.... Not sure if you'll know but worth a crack!!!

:D

[Lostsoul201]

I work in HR and part of my role is to look after parental leave for all of our staff around of Australia. There are a few things i wanted to clear up which i yhink some previous posters may have confused. While some companies are lenient with the use of personal/carer's leave (previously known as sick leave), by law it is to be used for a personal illness or emergency, or an illness or emergency of an immediate family member who requires care or support. Pregnancy is NOT an illness or emergency, however pregnancy related conditions (ie high blood pressure, severe morning sickness etc) are. So an OB checkup is not a reason to use personal/carer's leave.
There is a form of unpaid leave called 'special maternity leave' which can be taken prior to the 6 weeks immediately before the expected due date. It is for when a pregnancy ends after 12 weeks or pregnancy-related illness which stops the pregnant employee from working.
It is only if there is no 'safe job' available that the employee will be entitled to 'no safe job leave' which is paid by the employer and does not come out of any of your leave.
Happy to answer any questions that others may have as I recently put together an in-depth parental leave guide to distribute to our pregnant staff so feel that I'm pretty well informed on the topic. Also the Fair Work Australia and Fair Work Ombudsman websites are great resources.

Hi

Can you tell me how does this work if you have a pregnancy related injury. My Ob wants me to go down to 4 days a week due to bad upper abdominal pain when sitting. This has been caused from me being pregnant.

My work has said I can not go from 5 days down to 4 days and take the 5th day as sick leave as its pregnancy related. I understand if it was just becuase i am "pregnant" I can not do that, but as it is due to an injury sustained while pregnant, i believe i can take sick leave as its due to "injury". Does it matter that my injury is pregnancy related?

[newmummy2010]

You can use sick leave , with a certificate if it's for an extended time (depending on the workplace anything 3 days+)

[Tilker]

Pregnancy is NOT an illness or emergency, however pregnancy related conditions (ie high blood pressure, severe morning sickness etc) are. So an OB checkup is not a reason to use personal/carer's leave.
There is a form of unpaid leave called 'special maternity leave' which can be taken prior to the 6 weeks immediately before the expected due date.

This.

I think folks need to be careful following advice regarding this subject if the advice is not from somebody within the HR industries. Just because someone was allowed to do it with there current employer does not make it law or correct advise.

Fairwork's own website states

An eligible pregnant employee is entitled to take unpaid special maternity leave if the employee is not fit for work because of:
a pregnancy-related illness


Certainly no mention of using your sick time before Mat Lve.

http://www.fairwork.gov.au/factsheets/FWO-Fact-sheet-Parental-leave-and-related-entitlements-and-the-NES.pdf

http://www.austpayroll.com.au/announcements/ask-an-expert-sick-leave-coupled-with-maternity-leave


Having said that, I think most employers would be understanding and allow some amount of sick time before Mat Lve. Probably because they are unaware of the rules as well.