Q: A new employee was to commence on 15 January. He rang today to advise he is sick and unable to commence until 19 January. How do we treat this? Can we:

• allow paid sick leave;
• allow leave without pay; or
• amend the employment contract (upon mutual consent) for the commencement date to be 19 January?

A: You can treat it as leave without pay or amend the commencement date by mutual consent. No sick leave is payable because none will have accrued as yet.

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.