Let’s take a far less emotional example. Let’s say back in February a pilot needed a knee or shoulder reconstruction. It’s going to be 9-10 weeks sick leave. Surgery done and on sick leave that is due to expire mid April. Stand down notices due lack of work take effect from the beginning of April. Does that pilot get the extra two weeks sick leave whilst all their colleagues are stood down due to lack of work? What if one had an URTI that happened the day before the stand down commences? Should that pilot get an extra week of sick leave before commencing stand down?
I can see the company’s point here. Sick leave is when you can’t be at work. If there’s no work then you’re stood down. In the pilot’s LHEA it says that whilst stood down the pilot may ‘elect to take accrued annual leave entitlements’. That’s not quite the same as being on annual leave with all the things that flow from that.
And perhaps too the company has drawn a hard line on this because they know how many people have rorted the sick leave entitlements over the years. Clearly this cancer patient isn’t but if they make the exception for them, expect someone else to be onto the precedent and taking it for whatever ill it is that they decide they can burn 6 months sick leave for.
Problem with your argument is that you can take annual leave and then replace it with sick leave if you get sick. So the fact that you don't have any work on is irrelevant.
It's just that lowering the annual leave balance has a benefit to the company while sick leave does not, which I would suggest is why QF are doing it.