How long you can be off work sick in New Zealand: the rules at each stage
Financial advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). QuoteHub is a trading name.
New Zealand law sets no maximum number of days you can be off work sick, but what you are paid, and how secure your job is, changes at defined points: 10 paid sick days a year, then leave by agreement, then a medical incapacity process that employers must run fairly (Employment New Zealand, retrieved 9 September 2026; Employment New Zealand, retrieved 9 September 2026). This guide walks through every stage in order.
The stages, in order
The table below is the full sequence; each stage links to the QuoteHub guide that covers it in depth.
| Stage | What applies | Full guide |
|---|---|---|
| First 10 days a year | Paid statutory sick leave, once qualified | Sick leave entitlement NZ |
| Beyond 10 days, within a carried-over balance | Paid sick leave, up to a 20-day maximum balance | Sick leave entitlement NZ |
| Paid leave exhausted | Annual leave, or unpaid leave by agreement | This page |
| Injury-related absence | ACC weekly compensation, no statutory maximum duration | ACC vs sickness benefit NZ |
| Illness-related, ongoing | Jobseeker Support or Supported Living Payment | ACC vs sickness benefit NZ |
| Role genuinely cannot be held open | Fair and reasonable medical incapacity process | Returning to work after illness NZ |
(Employment New Zealand; ACC; Work and Income; retrieved 9 September 2026.)
Stage 1: your 10 statutory days
How many sick days am I entitled to before anything changes?
You get 10 days of paid sick leave a year once you have worked for the same employer for 6 months, and it is not reduced for part-time staff (Employment New Zealand, retrieved 9 September 2026). Full entitlement, carry-over and proof rules are on sick leave entitlement NZ.
Can unused sick leave extend how long I can be off?
Yes, up to a point. Unused sick leave carries over into the next year, up to a maximum balance of 20 days, so someone who has not used leave for a year or two can have a larger paid buffer than someone starting fresh (Employment New Zealand, retrieved 9 September 2026).
Stage 2: once paid sick leave runs out
What happens the day my sick leave balance hits zero?
There is no automatic cut-off to your absence itself, only to being paid for it under the statutory minimum. From that point, whether you are paid depends on annual leave you have available, or on your employer agreeing to unpaid leave, unless your employment agreement is more generous than the legal minimum (Employment New Zealand, retrieved 9 September 2026).
Can my employer force me to use annual leave?
Employment New Zealand's general position is that annual holidays are usually taken by agreement between employer and employee, including timing; using it to bridge a gap in paid sick leave is something to agree with your employer rather than something either side can simply impose, and your own employment agreement or workplace policy may set out how this works in your workplace.
Stage 3: how long ACC or a benefit can continue
Is there a maximum number of weeks ACC will pay?
No fixed statutory maximum is published: ACC weekly compensation continues for as long as your injury meets ACC's cover criteria and you remain unable to work, reviewed periodically against medical evidence (ACC, retrieved 9 September 2026). The rate itself is capped at $2,466.20 a week from 1 July 2026, but the duration is not capped by a set number of weeks. Full detail is on ACC vs sickness benefit NZ.
Is there a maximum for Jobseeker Support or Supported Living Payment?
No fixed time limit is published either; both continue on an ongoing basis, reassessed against your medical evidence and, for Jobseeker Support, against your income (Work and Income, retrieved 9 September 2026). If your income rises too high, Jobseeker Support reduces and can stop after 6 weeks at $0, which is an income-based cut-off, not a time-based one.
The factors an employer must weigh before deciding a role cannot be held open any longer are published in full, and the table below lists them.
| Factor | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Employment agreement terms | Any medical incapacity or retirement clause |
| Length and nature of the absence | How long you have been off and the medical evidence available |
| Size and needs of the organisation | Whether the business has coped, or had to backfill your role |
| Chance and timeframe of recovery | Based on objective medical information, such as a doctor's report |
| Sick leave entitlement | Paid and unpaid leave you still have |
| Length of service | How long you have worked there |
| Rehabilitation options | Part-time hours, reduced hours or light duties |
| Reasonable alternatives to dismissal | Any option short of ending employment |
| Employer fault | Whether the employer contributed to the health issue |
(Employment New Zealand, health issues, retrieved 9 September 2026.)
Stage 4: when your job itself becomes the question
At what point can I actually be dismissed for being off sick too long?
There is no set number of days or weeks written into law. An employer must reasonably believe you can no longer do the job and that the role genuinely cannot be kept open any longer, after weighing a defined list of factors including your length of service, the size of the organisation, your chance of recovery based on objective medical evidence, and whether reasonable alternatives such as reduced hours exist (Employment New Zealand, retrieved 9 September 2026). The full list of factors, and what a fair process looks like, is on returning to work after illness NZ.
How long does the dismissal process itself usually take, once it starts?
Employment New Zealand says a medical incapacity dismissal process commonly takes weeks to months, because it involves multiple meetings and an exchange of medical information before either side reaches a final position (Employment New Zealand, retrieved 9 September 2026). It is explicitly not a disciplinary process, since the employee has done nothing wrong.
Does a longer length of service buy me more time?
It is one of the factors an employer must weigh, alongside the size of the organisation and how it has coped without you, but there is no published formula converting years of service into extra weeks of job protection (Employment New Zealand, retrieved 9 September 2026). Longer service is a point in your favour in the overall fairness assessment, not a guarantee.
What actually limits how long you can stay off
So what is the real limit, if there is no fixed maximum?
The practical limit is financial and organisational, not legal: your paid leave runs out at a defined point (10 to 20 days depending on your balance), ACC or a benefit pays a capped or flat amount rather than your full income, and eventually an employer can reasonably conclude the role cannot be held open. See financial help when sick NZ for every income source that can extend how long you can realistically manage being off work.
Could private insurance change how long I can afford to be off?
Yes. Income protection insurance, arranged while you are well, is specifically designed to replace an agreed percentage of income for a defined benefit period, which can be considerably longer, and pay considerably more, than a flat Work and Income rate. See the income protection guide, do I need income protection insurance, income protection waiting and benefit periods, income protection cost NZ, best income protection insurance NZ and the income protection calculator to see what a policy could add to your own timeline.
What if the role ends and it becomes a redundancy instead?
That is a different legal process from medical incapacity: redundancy is about whether the role still exists, not your capacity to do it, and there is no legal minimum redundancy payment: whether one is paid depends entirely on your employment agreement (Employment New Zealand, retrieved 9 September 2026). See redundancy pay NZ for how a redundancy payment is worked out where one applies, and notice periods NZ for what applies if your own employment ends for another reason.
Related reading for each stage
The table below points to every QuoteHub guide that covers one stage of this timeline in full detail.
| Stage | Full guide |
|---|---|
| Getting a certificate for your employer | Medical certificate NZ |
| What you can and must tell your employer | Telling your employer you are sick NZ |
| Travel to specialist appointments during treatment | National Travel Assistance NZ |
| Cancer-specific support | Cancer financial support NZ |
| Non-Pharmac medicine costs | Paying for non-Pharmac drugs NZ |
| Comparing income protection with trauma cover | Income protection vs trauma insurance |
(Each stage sourced on its own linked QuoteHub guide.)
The bottom line
There is no fixed number of days that answers "how long can you be off work sick in New Zealand", because the real answer is a sequence of separate limits on pay, then on your job, each governed by a different rule. Financial advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). QuoteHub is a trading name. For the full route map of income sources at every stage, go to financial help when sick NZ, and to look at closing the pay gap for the future, start a free comparison.
Adviser's view
What QuoteHub weighs here is not how many days are allowed, since New Zealand sets no maximum, but the sequence of separate ceilings that actually apply: a paid leave balance, then a capped or flat payment, then an employer's own fair process, each running out on its own timeline rather than a single countdown.
Work out your income gap with a licensed adviser · free, no obligation.
Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). How Long Can You Be Off Work Sick in NZ? (2026). www.quotehub.co.nz/guides/off-work-sick/how-long-can-you-be-off-work-sick-nz. Updated 2026-09-09.
References
- Employment New Zealand: Taking sick leave
- Employment New Zealand: Health issues and ending employment
- Employment New Zealand: Redundancy
- ACC: Weekly compensation for employees
- ACC: Changes to ACC client payments from 1 July 2026
- Work and Income: Jobseeker Support
Explore related pages: Life Insurance, Income Protection, Health Insurance, Trauma Insurance, Calculators.