Absence management sits uncomfortably between employment law, privacy and genuine care for people. Handled badly it produces grievances, resentment and longer absences. Handled well it is unremarkable, which is the goal.
Current entitlements
Under the Holidays Act 2003, employees are entitled to 10 days of sick leave per year after six months of continuous employment, with unused leave carrying over to a maximum accumulation of 20 days.
Sick leave can be used for the employee’s own illness or injury, or to care for a dependent spouse, partner, child or other person who depends on them.
Note that this framework is changing. Parliament has repealed the Holidays Act 2003 and passed the Employment Leave Act, moving to hours-based accrual with sick leave accruing from an employee’s first day rather than after six months. A two-year implementation period applies, with the new system starting in 2028. Until then, the Holidays Act rules above continue to apply in full.
Proof of sickness
An employer may require proof of sickness or injury — typically a medical certificate — where the absence is three or more consecutive calendar days.
Proof can be required for a shorter absence, but only if the employer informs the employee as early as possible that it will be required, has reasonable grounds to suspect the leave is not genuine, and pays the employee’s reasonable expenses in obtaining it.
That last condition is regularly overlooked. Demanding a certificate for a one-day absence without offering to pay for it is not compliant.
What you can and cannot ask
You are entitled to know that the employee is unfit for work and, broadly, when they are likely to return. You are not entitled to a diagnosis.
Health information is personal information under the Privacy Act 2020 and requires careful handling — collected for a proper purpose, held securely, disclosed only to those who genuinely need it. A manager who shares an employee’s medical details with the team has created a privacy problem on top of everything else.
Where you need medical information about fitness for work — for a return-to-work plan or a capability process — ask for it with the employee’s informed consent, and frame the question around functional capacity rather than diagnosis. “What tasks can this person safely perform, and what accommodations would help?” is both more useful and more appropriate than asking what is wrong with them.
Patterns of absence
Where absence follows a pattern — consistently Mondays, always adjacent to leave — it is legitimate to raise it. Do so as a conversation before it becomes a process.
The important distinction is between conduct (misusing entitlements, which is a disciplinary matter) and capability (genuinely unable to attend reliably due to health, which is not). They require different processes, and treating a capability issue as misconduct is a reliable route to a personal grievance.
Many patterns also have explanations worth knowing: a caring responsibility, an untreated health condition, or a workplace factor such as a manager relationship or a shift pattern.
Return to work
This is where employers add or destroy the most value, and it applies equally to physical injury and mental health absence.
What works:
- Stay in contact during the absence — proportionate, supportive, and not pressuring. Employees who hear nothing conclude they are forgotten or being managed out.
- Plan the return before it happens, with the employee and, where relevant, their medical adviser.
- Use graduated return — reduced hours or modified duties building back up. Returning to full duties immediately after a long absence frequently produces a relapse and a longer second absence.
- Be specific about what is modified and for how long, with review points, so it does not drift indefinitely.
- Brief the team appropriately — that accommodations are in place, without disclosing health information.
For work-related injuries, ACC supports return-to-work planning and can fund workplace assessments and modifications. Active return-to-work management also reduces claim cost, which feeds through to your experience rating and future levies.
Long-term absence and capability
Where an employee cannot return for an extended period, an employer may eventually consider whether the employment can continue. This is a capability process with high procedural requirements: current medical information, genuine consideration of alternatives and accommodations, consultation with the employee, and a fair process throughout.
Moving too fast here is the most common and most expensive error in this area. Take advice before starting.
Mental health absence
Psychosocial risk is a health and safety matter, and where absence relates to work factors — workload, a manager relationship, bullying — the return-to-work plan needs to address the cause. Returning someone to the conditions that caused the absence produces another one.
Employment New Zealand publishes leave entitlements and process guidance, ACC publishes return-to-work resources, and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner publishes guidance on health information. All free.
General information only, not legal advice. Confirm current entitlements with Employment New Zealand.
