Those in desperate need for sick leave are in luck at Marlborough District Council, where employees are donating their extra days to help out colleagues.
Employees have donated more than 2000 hours of their leave so far and the fund has proved to be very popular at the council.
The fund was dreamed up by Philip de Bruyn, the council's HR and health and safety manager, who says people are embracing the opportunity to help others.
Mr de Bruyn started the fund to "give people the opportunity to show their aroha for their colleagues and to show that they care".
"People care for each other and quite often we don't know how we can help somebody," he says.
"We see some of our colleagues struggling with health - they're struggling emotionally, they're struggling financially and quite often we feel hopeless to help people. We can actually do something."
Marlborough council employee Sue Bulfield Johnston has donated 15 days of her sick leave to the fund so far and says it's a no-brainer.
"There are plenty of people we're aware of who have illnesses and, in every instance, it's not guaranteed that they've got enough sick leave to be able to see them through. It's just something that I was able to do and I was happy to do it."
Ms Bulfield Johnston says she had "ample sick leave" to give away.
The council's scheme lets staff, who've hit their limit of 65 days accrued sick leave, donate their extra days to a pool.
Staff who are seriously ill or need to look after a loved one can then apply to a committee for up to 20 days of leave from the bank.
The leave is only granted to those who genuinely need it and anyone suspected of taking advantage of the fund is disqualified.
So far, only one person has applied to take leave from the fund.
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