An employee is entitled to sick leave or paid sick leave if an employee is sick and needs to address his health. It is different from paid vacation where the employee is entitled to fixed days in a year to take time off work. Certain companies insist on a doctor’s prescription to approve sick leave. Companies may fix the maximum number of days that an employee may avail of sick leave. Period beyond these days will be treated as unpaid leave. Some modern companies even allow employees sick leave to attend to their sick family members. Most European, Latin American, and few African and Asian countries have laws mandating sick leave. In India, employees can avail of 10 days of sick leave in a year as per state laws. However, most companies do not provide sick leave in practice as per the law.
