Employee’s Entitlements

Annual Leave, Personal/Carer’s Leave and Compassionate leave

Annual Leave

Annual Leave is a part of the National Employment Standards (NES). NES set up the minimum requirement to annual leave, circumstances when annual leave can be paid & award rates of annual leave payout.

A full-time employee should be entitled to 20 days of annual leave each year and annual leave is accrued continuously each year of service with the employer. Point to note that annual leave also comes to pass when paid annual leave or paid personal/Carer’s leave.

Please note that if the award describes that employee is a shift worker then he is entitled to 5 weeks i.e. 25 days of annual leave. Shift worker could be if they

  • Continuously rostered for 24 hours a day
  • They are regularly rostered to work those shifts
  • They regularly work Saturday & Sunday.

The Employer must not unreasonably refuse an employee’s request to take paid leave. Also, employers can make the employee take annual leave when the employee has accrued the excessive amount of annual leave hours or when the employer has shut down due to Christmas & New Year break.

Annual leave should be paid at the base rate of pay for the ordinary hours regardless of penalty rates, Allowances or loadings.

If the employer terminates the employment for an employee then the employer should pay unpaid annual leave at the base rate of pay.

You can also cash out your annual leave if your award or agreement allows the practice. However, an employer cannot force any employee to make an agreement to cash out annual leave.

Personal & Carer’s Leave

Full time: Minimum entitlement to paid personal/Carer’s Leave is 10 days per year (Full Time). It also accumulates from year to year.

Part time: For a part-time employee it accrues to the number of ordinary hours.  It accumulates from year to year.

Personal & Carer’s Leave can only be taken under below circumstances

  • Unfit to work because of personal injury & illness
  • Provide Care or support to a member of the immediate family or household

You can also cash out personal/Career leave if your award or agreement allows the practice. However, an employer cannot force any employee to make an agreement to cash out annual leave. However, the employee should retain at least 15 days of unpaid personal or carer’s leave

Unpaid Personal & Carer’s Leave

An employee can take unpaid carer to leave up to 2 days when a member of the employee’s immediate family or household requires care or support including Casual employees

Minimum entitlements: Compassionate leave

An employee (including a casual employee) is entitled to 2 days of compassionate leave to spend time with a member of their family or household who has sustained a life-threatening illness or injury. Compassionate leave may also be taken after the death of a member of the employee’s immediate family or household. The employer must pay for 2 days at the base rate. Casuals are not entitled to get paid compassionate leave. However, they can take 2 days of unpaid compassionate leave.