The following information is only relevant to employers and employees in the national fair work system, and is intended as a guide only.
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Annual Leave
All employees (other than casual employees) accumulate 4 weeks of paid annual leave for each year of service with the employer. For further information on the rules for taking annual leave, cashing out annual leave, direction to take annual leave, excessive annual leave, and annual leave in advance, see the following links:
https://www.fairwork.gov.au/sites/default/files/migration/723/Annual-leave.pdf
Sick and carer’s leave and compassionate leave
Sick and carer’s leave (also known as personal/carer’s leave) and compassionate leave form part of the National Employment Standards (NES). The NES apply to all employees covered by the national workplace relations system. An award, employment contract, enterprise agreement or other registered agreement can’t provide for conditions that are less than the NES or exclude the NES. These forms of leave help an employee to deal with issues such as personal illness or injury, caring responsibilities, family emergencies and the death, or life threatening illness or injury of close family members. See the following links for further information:
Leave Calculator
If an employee is covered by an award, the Fair Work Ombudsman’s Leave Calculator can assist you to calculate annual leave, annual leave loading, and sick and carer’s leave. See the following link:
Parental Leave (unpaid)
Eligible employees are entitled to up to 12 months of unpaid parental leave with a possible extension of up to 12 months. For further information on unpaid parental leave, including employee eligibility, see:
Parental Leave Pay
Employers may have a role in providing Government funded Parental Leave Pay to employees who meet eligibility criteria. The scheme is administered by Services Australia. See the following link for further information on an employer’s role in the scheme:
https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/employers-role-paid-parental-leave-scheme?context=23121
Employer Toolkit (Paid Parental Leave scheme)
The Employer Tool kit is your complete guide to the Paid Parental scheme and can help employers prepare for their role in the Paid Parental Leave scheme.
https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/paid-parental-leave-scheme-employer-toolkit?context=23121
Family and domestic violence leave
All employees, including casual employees in the Fair Work system are entitled to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave each year. For further information see:
Community service leave
Employees, including casual employees, can take community service leave for activities such as voluntary emergency management activities or jury duty. With the exception of jury duty, community service leave is unpaid. To find out more visit:
Jury duty
Jury duty, also known as jury service, is a type of community service leave. Employees, including casual employees, can take leave to attend jury selection and jury duty. Employers are required to continue to pay employees their normal wages or salary when they are summonsed to attend court as a juror or witness. There are significant penalties that apply if an employer refuses to pay or acts in a detrimental way to an employee undertaking jury duty. For further information see:
https://www.fairwork.gov.au/leave/community-service-leave/jury-duty
Defence reserve service
Employers must not prevent or hinder Reservists from undertaking Defence service. This means that employers are required by law to release employee Reservists to undertake all types of Defence service, and to continue to employee them on their return. This includes training. For further information see: