Almost always no — but not for the reason most people assume. A 90-day trial period takes away nothing from your Holidays Act 2003 entitlements. The reason a trial-period employee usually has no paid sick leave is the separate six-month qualifying period that applies to every New Zealand employee, trial or not.
That distinction matters because it changes who you argue with. If your employer says “you’re on a trial, so no sick leave”, they are wrong about the law even though the outcome is the same. If they say “you haven’t been here six months yet”, they are right.
Key Takeaways
- A trial period does not remove minimum entitlements — pay, holidays and leave rights all continue unchanged, per Employment New Zealand.
- Paid sick leave starts after six months of continuous employment, so a 90-day trial ends roughly three months before the entitlement arrives.
- You get 10 days at once on the six-month mark, not a day-by-day accrual.
- A trial period blocks an unjustified-dismissal grievance, but not grievances about discrimination or harassment.
What a 90-Day Trial Period Actually Does
A trial period is a clause in your employment agreement, agreed in writing before you start work, that lets your employer dismiss you within the first 90 calendar days without you being able to raise a personal grievance for unjustified dismissal. It is only available for someone who has not worked for that employer before.
Since 23 December 2023, any New Zealand employer can use a 90-day trial period, regardless of size. Before that, trial periods were limited to employers with fewer than 20 employees. That change widened who can be on a trial; it did not change what a trial does.
What a trial period does not touch: your pay, your minimum wage rights, your public holiday entitlements, your health and safety protections, your right to be treated in good faith, or any of your Holidays Act leave entitlements as they fall due.
Why Most Trial-Period Employees Have No Sick Leave Yet
Sick leave in New Zealand is not accrued day by day. Under the Holidays Act you become entitled to 10 days of paid sick leave once you have either:
- been working for the same employer continuously for six months, or
- worked for the same employer over a period of six months for an average of 10 hours a week, and at least one hour in every week or 40 hours in every month.
Both tests take six months. A 90-day trial period is around three months. The two clocks simply do not overlap, which is why the honest answer to “do I get sick leave on a trial period” is “not yet, and not because of the trial”.
The 10 days arrive as a block on your six-month anniversary and again every 12 months after that. Unused days carry over to a maximum of 20 days, per Employment New Zealand. Bereavement leave and family violence leave use the same six-month test.
What You Have, and When
| Point in your employment | What you are entitled to |
|---|---|
| Day 1 (trial starts) | Full pay, public holidays, alternative holidays, health and safety protections |
| Day 30, off sick | No paid sick leave entitlement — unpaid unless your employer agrees otherwise |
| Day 90 (trial ends) | Same leave position; the dismissal protection changes, the leave does not |
| Month 6 | 10 days paid sick leave, bereavement leave, family violence leave |
| Month 12 | 4 weeks paid annual holidays |
Note row three. People expect something to change at day 90 because that is the date in their agreement. Nothing does, as far as leave is concerned.
Worked Example
Jess starts on 1 February on a 90-day trial. On 10 March she is off with a stomach bug for three working days.
- Service to date: about five and a half weeks
- Sick leave entitlement: zero — the six-month test is not met
- Result: those three days are unpaid, unless her employment agreement gives better than the minimum or her employer agrees to advance sick leave
Her employer chooses to advance three days against the entitlement that will arrive on 1 August. When that date comes, Jess receives 10 days less the 3 advanced, leaving 7 days for the year ahead. That is a discretionary act of goodwill, and it should be recorded in writing so the deduction is not a surprise in August.
Compare the alternative: three unpaid days at $220 a day is $660 out of a new employee’s pay in their second month. Employers who want new hires to stay tend to advance the days.
Can You Be Dismissed for Being Sick During a Trial Period?
This is the real question behind most searches on this topic, and the answer needs care.
A valid trial period does prevent you from raising a personal grievance for unjustified dismissal. But it does not prevent you from raising a grievance for discrimination or harassment, or on other grounds unrelated to the dismissal itself, per Employment New Zealand.
Disability is a prohibited ground of discrimination under New Zealand employment law. Dismissing someone during a trial period because of a disability or a health condition can therefore expose an employer to a discrimination grievance that the trial clause does nothing to block. The trial period is a shield against one specific claim, not general immunity.
Employers should also note the mechanics: the dismissal must occur within the 90 days, the clause must have been agreed in writing before the employee started work, and contractual notice must still be given. Trial period clauses fail on those technicalities far more often than on anything else.
What Good Employers Do Instead
The six-month rule is a floor, not a ceiling. Options that cost little and remove the “should I come to work sick” problem entirely:
- Advance sick leave against the six-month entitlement, recorded in writing.
- Give sick leave from day one as a contractual term above the minimum. Increasingly common in New Zealand hiring where candidates compare offers.
- Offer a small number of discretionary paid days for the first six months, capped and explicitly not part of the statutory entitlement.
- Say nothing and pay nothing. Lawful, and it sends a new hire into your workplace with a contagious illness rather than lose a day’s pay.
Option four is where presenteeism starts. A new employee with no sick leave, no track record and a trial clause hanging over them has every incentive to turn up unwell.
What This Means for You
If you are starting a job in New Zealand, check your employment agreement for anything better than the statutory minimum before you need it, and ask about advanced sick leave rather than working through an illness in your first month.
If you are hiring, separate the two rules in your own head and in your onboarding pack. The trial period governs dismissal. The Holidays Act governs leave. Explaining that clearly at week one prevents the “I thought I had sick days” conversation at week five.
For the full picture, see our guides to sick leave entitlements in New Zealand and the Holidays Act for New Zealand employers. Australian readers can compare with leave entitlements during a probation period in Australia, where personal/carer’s leave accrues from day one.
Leave Balance tracks each employee’s six-month and 12-month qualifying dates automatically and flags advanced days against future entitlements, so nobody has to work out a new hire’s balance by hand. Flat $10/month, unlimited employees, 14-day free trial.
This article is general information about New Zealand employment law as at July 2026 and is not legal advice. The Employment Leave Bill 2026 would replace the Holidays Act 2003 from 2028 if passed, moving sick leave to accrual from day one. Check Employment New Zealand or take advice for your situation.
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