Understanding leave entitlements in Australia

Taking leave in Australia can come in many forms but all must comply with minimum standards and expectations. Through the Fair Work Ombudsman and National Employment Standards (NES), the government mandates leave entitlements that employers must comply with.

While an employer can also detail employee leave in a workplace agreement or comply with a Modern Award, minimum NES standards must always be met.

So, if you employ staff, it’s incumbent to familiarise yourself with how leave entitlements work and what you need to know when your staff take time off.

Reasons for taking leave

Employees in Australia may take leave for a variety of reasons. These reasons could include:

• a holiday
• illness or medical reasons
• taking care of children or family members
• issues relating to domestic violence.

Types of employee leave entitlements: an employer’s guide

To allow for circumstances where an employee cannot perform their normal duties, or wish to take leave for other reasons, there’s a few different options.

Without further ado, let’s break down the types of employee leave in Australia.

Annual leave

Annual leave is a right in Australia. All employees are entitled to take annual leave, except for casual staff. But the question is, how much annual leave are staff entitled to?

The answer is straightforward. Full time and part time employees can take 4 weeks of annual leave per year, based on ordinary hours of work.

Accumulation of annual leave

Annual leave begins to accumulate from the first day of employment and gradually builds throughout the year. An employee will still accumulate annual leave if they are on paid leave including:

• paid annual leave
• paid sick and carer’s leave
• paid family and domestic violence leave.

(Annual leave does not accumulate if the employee is on unpaid leave.)

Taking Annual leave

Annual leave must be requested in advance by the employee and agreed upon by the employer. Leave can only be denied if it’s reasonable. Furthermore, an employer can request excessive annual leave balances be taken and can also mandate compulsory leave during shutdown periods, such as Christmas and New Year.

Sick and carer’s leave

Also known as personal leave, sick and carer’s leave can be used for:

• illness
• family emergencies
• taking care of family members or partners.

Accumulation of sick and carer leave

Paid sick and carer’s leave accumulates at a rate of 10 days per year. These days can be carried over to the next year and will effectively accrue if not taken.

Taking sick and carer leave

If an employee is sick, injured, or has an immediate family member or spouse that needs on-the-spot care, the employee can take sick and carer’s leave. Reasonable proof of the issue at hand can be requested by the employer, such as a medical certificate.

If an employee has no more paid sick and carer’s leave, they may be able to take unpaid leave.

Compassionate and bereavement leave

Compassionate leave, also known as bereavement leave, is provided when an employee needs to take time off work to care for or support a family member or household member who is seriously ill or injured. It can also be taken to deal with the unexpected death of a family member or household member.

Taking compassionate leave

Every employee, even casuals, are entitled to two consecutive days of compassionate leave per occasion. Casual employees, however, will not be paid for compassionate leave.

Employees must notify their employer as soon as practicable and provide evidence, such as a medical certificate or a death certificate, to support their request for compassionate leave.

Parental leave

Parental leave can include what’s usually known as ‘maternity leave’ or ‘paternity leave’. Parental leave can be taken upon the birth of a child by either the employee or their partner, or upon the adoption of a child under the age of 16.

Other types of leave can also be used on these occasions.

Pregnant employees are entitled to:

• special parental leave
• compassionate leave
• a safe and no safe job leave.

Employees who aren’t pregnant are entitled to:

• partner leave
• compassionate leave
• adoption leave.

Unpaid parental leave

Parental leave allows the parent of a new child 12 months of unpaid leave, so long as the employee has been employed for at least 12 months. Casual staff are also allowed 12 months of unpaid leave.

Paid parental leave

Paid parental leave can be provided by the government under the paid parental leave scheme, or by the employer, as per their contract. Even if an employee takes paid parental leave from the government, they can also be paid by their employer.

Family and domestic violence leave

Family and domestic violence leave is available to all staff, whether full time, part time, or casual.

All employees are entitled to 10 days of paid leave if they are experiencing domestic violence or behaviour from individuals known to them that causes the employee harm or fear.

This leave is in addition to annual leave and sick and carer’s leave.

Long service leave

Long service leave is usually granted to employees who have worked for the same employer for many years. For example, it may be 7 or 10 years. Exactly how this operates depends on the state or territory where the employee works, and there is no federal governance over it. In some states, even casual employees can take long service leave.

Community service leave

Community service leave is designed to allow leave for employees who are engaged in certain community service activities. A common reason would be for jury duty or volunteer emergency services, such as firefighting. There is no limit to community service leave.