Q: According to Fair Work website, medical appointments and elective surgeries that are pre-arranged can only be covered by sick leave if an employee is not able to work because of a personal illness or injury. It will depend on each individual circumstance.

Does this mean that employees cannot use personal leave when having elective surgery? If an employee provides a medical certificate, and we know they have had elective surgery, does this mean we have to pay personal leave?

Also, at what stage are they deemed unfit for work? Is it the day of the surgery or the day after the surgery (if they need time off to recover)?

A: Employees are able to use personal leave when having elective surgery if they will be ill or injured by the surgery to an extent that they are unable to work.

A medical certificate stating that an employee is unfit to work on a certain day will,
in most cases, satisfy the evidence requirements to take personal leave under the
Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and entitle an employee to paid leave.

When an employee will be unfit for work will depend on the particular circumstances and may extend to the employee needing time off after the surgery to recover.

Please note: The answer is correct at the time of publishing. Be aware that laws may change over time. Refer to Personal/carer’s leave for current advice.