Unpaid leave for medical care

You can take up to 5 days of unpaid leave to care for someone who needs significant care or support for a serious medical reason. This leave is available to parents and carers.

You can apply for the leave to care for your:

• child or another relevant person
• spouse or civil partner
• cohabitant
• parent or grandparent
• brother or sister
• someone who lives in your household and is not listed above

This leave entitlement is separate to force majeure leave (paid leave for urgent family reasons).

You do not need to have minimum service to take the leave.

Taking the leave

• You can take up to 5 days of medical care leave in a year.
• You cannot take less than a full day. If you take part of a day, it counts as 1 full day.
• You do not have to take the leave all at once. You can use the 5 days at any time over a 12‑month period.

How to apply

Apply for unpaid medical care leave on HR and Payroll Self Service.

If HR Self-Service is not available in your area, send your manager a completed unpaid leave for medical care purposes form.

You will need to confirm:

• start date
• length of leave
• why you are entitled to the leave

You may be asked to give information about:

• your relationship to the person you are caring for
• nature of the care and support
• evidence showing that the person needs significant care or support

You might be asked for evidence of the medical need for the leave, such as a medical certificate. If you do not have a medical certificate, your manager may ask for other evidence showing that the person needs serious medical care.

Annual leave and public holidays

You continue to build up annual leave and public holidays if you take unpaid medical leave.

Related documents

Unpaid leave for medical care purposes form (PDF, 98 KB, 4 pages)

HR Circular 017 2023 Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 (PDF, 328 KB, 4 pages)