Table of Contents
- What is the Difference Between Personal, Carer’s, and Sick Leave?
- Do Casual Employees Get Personal/Carer’s Leave?
- Does an Employee Need to Provide Notice Before Taking Leave?
- Does an Employee Need to Provide a Medical Certificate?
- How Does Paid Personal/Carer’s Leave Accumulate?
- How Much Paid Personal/Carer’s Leave Can an Employee Take?
- Does an Employer Need to Pay Out an Employee’s Personal Leave Balance Upon Termination?
- Who is Counted as an Immediate Family Member or Household Member?
- Can an Employee Take Personal Leave When Undergoing Elective Surgery?
- Can Paid Personal/Carer’s Leave Be Cashed Out?
- Key Takeaways
- Frequently Asked Questions
Personal or carer’s leave (commonly referred to as sick leave) forms part of the National Employment Standards (NES). The NES applies to all employees under the national workplace relations framework. Accordingly, all permanent full-time employees are entitled to a minimum of 10 days of paid personal/carer’s leave per year (this is pro-rated for permanent part-time employees). You can calculate this as 1/26 of an employee’s ordinary hours of work in a year. Relevant employees can use this leave when they are:
- not fit to work due to a personal illness or injury;
- providing care or support to a member of their immediate family; or
- providing care or support to a member of their household.
This article will provide answers to employers’ frequently asked questions about personal/carer’s leave.
What is the Difference Between Personal, Carer’s, and Sick Leave?
There is no difference between personal leave, carer’s leave and sick leave. These terms all refer to the same type of leave entitlement under the NES. What was previously known as sick leave is now called ‘personal/carer’s leave’.
Do Casual Employees Get Personal/Carer’s Leave?
Your casual employees do not have access to paid personal leave. There are certain exceptions in Victoria, where the government will make certain payments for sick leave to casuals.
Casual employees are entitled to two days of unpaid carer’s leave in the event that a member of their immediate family or household requires care or support due to:
- illness;
- injury; or
- an unexpected emergency.
Does an Employee Need to Provide Notice Before Taking Leave?
Your employees must give you notice when taking personal leave. They should give this notice as soon as practicable (depending on the circumstances, it could be after the leave has commenced). Likewise, your employee must also give their notice of the period (or expected period) of the personal leave.
Does an Employee Need to Provide a Medical Certificate?
As an employer, you can request your employees to provide a medical certificate as evidence for taking personal leave. It is best practice that your business has a clear workplace policy that details the appropriate use of personal leave. Likewise, it should specify when evidence (such as a medical certificate) is required.
This type of policy may consist of specific notification and evidence requirements. You might set requirements for evidence based on certain factors like:
- the number of consecutive days of personal leave that has been taken;
- or when personal leave is taken immediately before or after a weekend or public holiday.
How Does Paid Personal/Carer’s Leave Accumulate?
Permanent employees accumulate personal/carer’s leave during each year of employment. It begins accumulating from the first day of work and is based on an employee’s ordinary hours of work. An employee’s personal/carer’s leave balance carries over from year to year.
Personal/carer’s leave accumulates when an employee is on:
- paid leave such as annual leave and personal/carer’s leave;
- community service leave (including jury duty); and
- long service leave.
Personal/carer’s leave does not accumulate when the employee is on unpaid leave.
How Much Paid Personal/Carer’s Leave Can an Employee Take?
Your employees can take as much paid personal/carer’s leave as they have accumulated. However, this is provided that the relevant employee has complied with your business’ evidence and notice requirements.
There is no minimum or maximum amount of personal/carer’s leave that an employee can take at any one time.
Does an Employer Need to Pay Out an Employee’s Personal Leave Balance Upon Termination?
Any unused personal leave is not payable upon the termination of employment. Accordingly, personal/carer’s leave is treated as a ‘use it or lose it’ entitlement.
Who is Counted as an Immediate Family Member or Household Member?
An immediate family member is a:
- spouse or former spouse;
- de facto partner or former de facto partner;
- child;
- parent;
- grandparent;
- grandchild;
- sibling; or
- child, parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling of the employee’s spouse or de facto partner (or former spouse or de facto partner).
This definition also includes step-relations and adoptive relations.
A household member is any person who lives with the employee.
Can an Employee Take Personal Leave When Undergoing Elective Surgery?
You will have the discretion to allow your employee to take personal leave for elective surgery. You can make these decisions on a case-by-case basis.
Can Paid Personal/Carer’s Leave Be Cashed Out?
If you have employees that do not fall under a modern-award or enterprise agreement, they cannot cash out their personal/carer’s leave.
Some modern awards or enterprise agreements may allow for the practice of cashing out personal leave in certain circumstances. If this practice is allowed, the requirements include:
- a separate written agreement on each occasion; and
- the employee retaining a balance of at least 15 days of untaken paid personal leave.
As an employer, understand your essential employment obligations with this free LegalVision factsheet.
Key Takeaways
As an employer, it is essential that you understand your rights and obligations in respect of personal/carer’s leave. Otherwise, you risk making errors and damaging your employment relations with workers.
If you require assistance with personal/carer’s leave or have further questions that need answering, our experienced employment lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. You will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents for a low monthly fee. Call us today on 1300 544 755 or visit our membership page.
Frequently Asked Questions
The National Employment Standards (NES) sets out the minimum standards of employment for all workers.
As an employer, you have tax, superannuation, workplace health and safety and entitlement obligations in regard to your employees.
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