Carers leave
Carer's leave enables employees to take time off to care for and support an immediate family or household member who is ill or injured. Entitlements to carer's leave may be contained in workplace agreements or human resource policies and may sometimes be referred to as family leave.
As a part of Australia's workplace relations system, minimum entitlements to personal/carer's leave (including sick leave, carer's leave and compassionate leave) are legislated as part of the Australian Fair Pay and Conditions Standard (the Standard). All new agreements will need to comply with the Standard throughout the life of the agreement.
Australian Fair Pay and Conditions Standard
Employees covered by federal awards
Personal/carer's leave in agreements
Examples of entitlements in certified agreements under the Workplace Relations Act
Australian Fair Pay and Conditions Standard
The Australian Fair Pay and Conditions Standard (the Standard) includes ten days of paid personal/carer’s leave per year for all employees except casual employees. There are pro-rata arrangements to cover part-time employees and those who have not yet worked for 12 months. Up to ten days in any given year can be used as carer’s leave.
Personal/carer’s leave refers to:
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leave taken by an employee due to personal illness or injury (sick leave); or
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leave taken by an employee to provide care or support for a member of the employee’s immediate family or household who requires care or support due to personal illness or injury, or an unexpected emergency (carer’s leave); or
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upon the death of a member of the employee’s immediate family or household; or in order to spend time with a seriously ill, injured or dying person who is a member of the employee’s immediate family or household (compassionate leave).
Employees may be required to produce evidence, such as a medical certificate or a statutory declaration, when claiming personal or carer's leave if requested by their employer.
Unpaid carer’s leave
A further two days of unpaid carer’s leave per occasion is available in the event of an unexpected emergency for casual employees or for any employees who have exhausted their paid personal/carer’s leave entitlement. The unpaid carer’s leave entitlement allows for employees to provide care which can be unpredictable. There is no cap on the number of occasions an employee can access the unpaid carer's leave entitlement.
Compassionate leave
The Standard includes two days of paid compassionate leave per occasion. Compassionate leave includes leave to visit a seriously ill or dying relative as well as to attend a funeral. Please note that compassionate leave is a separate entitlement of two days per occasion which will not detract from an employee's accrued personal leave.
There is no cap on the number of occasions an employee can access the compassionate leave entitlement. However, an employee can only take one period of compassionate leave for each permissible occasion when a member of his or her immediate family or household is suffering from a serious personal injury or illness. A permissible occasion occurs when a member of the employee’s immediate family or a member of the employee’s household:
(a) contracts or develops a personal illness that poses a serious threat to his or her life; or
(b) sustains a personal injury that poses a serious threat to his or her life; or
(c) dies.
An employee entitled to a period of compassionate leave may take the leave at any time while the illness or injury persists.
As with paid and unpaid personal/carer’s leave, an employee must present reasonable evidence of the illness, injury or death that gives rise to the entitlement for compassionate leave if required by their employer.
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Employees covered by federal awards
Personal/carer’s leave entitlements in awards will be preserved. Where an employee’s entitlement under a preserved award term is more generous personal/carer’s leave conditions than the Standard, the more generous conditions will apply to those still covered by awards (both current and new employees).
The personal/carer’s leave provisions in the Standard are a minimum entitlement. Employers and employees can negotiate to include more generous leave provisions in workplace agreements.
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Personal/carer's leave entitlements in agreements
Through workplace agreements and human resource policies, a number of organisations provide employees with a specific paid carer’s leave entitlement, or allow employees to draw on their sick leave entitlements or provide unpaid leave. Workplace agreements made under the Federal Government’s Workplace Relations Act 1996 provide a very effective means for introducing policies and practices, such as carer’s leave, which help employees balance their work and home lives. An increasing number of businesses have found that the variety of options available for making agreements, and the processes involved, have enabled them to develop new and innovative initiatives that benefit both employees and the business.
Find out about negotiating a family friendly agreement.
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For more information on work and family, go to the work and family home page.
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