This is a super common question that I get asked in HR:

Is it possible to use personal leave to attend an elective surgery, pre-arranged specialist or allied health visit (e.g. physiotherapy) if a medical practitioner has recommended it?

First of all – what is personal leave?

What does fairwork say? https://www.fairwork.gov.au/tools-and-resources/fact-sheets/minimum-workplace-entitlements/personal-leave-and-compassionate-leave

Personal leave is sick leave essentally, and if you take carer’s leave it comes out the same entitlement. Full time employees get 10 days each year (and they do accrue, and part-timers get pro-rata).

An employee can take paid personal/carer’s leave:

• They cannot work due to their own illness or injury (including pregnancy-related illnesses), or
• Providing care or support to a member of their immediate family or household who is ill, injured, or experiencing an unexpected emergency. A member of the employee’s immediate family means a spouse (or former spouse), de facto partner (or former de factor partner), child, parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling of an employee; or a child, parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling of the employee’s spouse or de facto partner (or former spouse or de facto partner).

When you take personal/carer’s leave you should get paid at your base rate of pay for the ordinary hours you would have worked.

Medical appointments and elective surgeries that are pre-arranged can only be covered by personal leave if an employee cannot work due to personal illness or injury. As a general rule, an employee:

• An employee can use personal leave for elective surgery if the post-operative recovery would render him or her unfit for work;
• The employee would not be able to use personal leave for a pre-arranged appointment with a specialist;
• Appointments with allied health providers, such as physiotherapists, cannot be taken on personal leave.

The recommendation of a medical practitioner does not override the fact that pre-arranged medical appointments would not be covered by personal leave.

In some circumstances, however, these appointments will be attended in the context of the employee being unfit for work and/or an assessment by a medical practitioner. In such cases, personal leave may be appropriate. Individual circumstances will determine whether personal leave is appropriate, with the employee’s fitness for work being the key determinant