"I started there $17/hr and now happy days, when I ask why she has taken so many sick days, you can guess the answer or maybe you can't if you vote labour
Answer I have 10 sick days a year, if I do not take them will you pay them out - hardcore."
If the question and answer above are true and you paid her her sick leaves as you said, then you are a poor (not in money, but in judgment and knowledge) manager. You can't blame the law.
If she did give you that answer (I doubt it!), then by law you didn't have to pay her sick leaves. The law is FAIR. Sick leave entitlement is to be paid to employees who are sick. The law demands, in certain circumstances, the employees must prove that they are sick by submitting doctor certificate to the employers for claiming the sick leave pay.
The current industrial relation law is fair. You should get to know it, it protects you as much as it protects your workers.
