What is sick and carer’s leave?
Sick and carer’s leave, also known as personal leave or personal/carer’s leave, is an entitlement included in the National Employment Standards (NES).
It allows employees to take time off work for personal illness, caring responsibilities, or family emergencies.
This provision ensures that employees have the necessary support and time off to manage their own health, care for family members, or address unforeseen situations that require their immediate attention.
What are the different types of leave entitlements?
Paid sick and carer’s leave |
An employee can take paid sick leave when they can’t work because of a personal illness or injury. This can include stress and pregnancy related illnesses.
An employee can take paid carer’s leave to care for or support a member of their immediate family or household who is:
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Paid and unpaid carer’s leave |
Employees can take carer’s leave (paid or unpaid) if they need to look after an immediate family member or household member who is:
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Paid sick and carer’s leave
What are the minimum entitlements to paid sick and carer’s leave?
The minimum entitlements to paid sick and carer’s leave in Australia are as follows:
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These entitlements ensure that employees have the opportunity to take time off when they are unwell or need to care for a sick or injured family member, without losing their pay.
When can paid sick and carer’s leave be taken?
Paid sick and carer’s leave can be taken in the following circumstances:
Personal Illness or Injury |
An employee can take sick leave if they are unfit for work due to their own personal illness or injury. This includes pregnancy-related illness. |
Care or Support to a Family Member |
An employee can take carer’s leave to provide care or support to a member of their immediate family or household who is suffering from a personal illness, injury, or unexpected emergency. |
The immediate family members for whom care can be provided include:
- Spouse or former spouse
- De facto partner or former de facto partner
- Child
- Parent
- Grandparent
- Grandchild
- Sibling
- Child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling of the employee’s spouse or de facto partner (or former spouse or de facto partner).
In summary, paid sick and carer’s leave can be taken when an employee is personally ill or injured, or when they need to care for and support a member of their immediate family or household who is experiencing a personal illness, injury, or unexpected emergency.
What payments are required when sick and carer’s leave is taken?
When sick and carer’s leave is taken, the payments required are based on the employee’s base pay rate for each hour or part of an hour of leave they take. This means that they are paid for the hours they would normally work during the period of leave, excluding any overtime hours.
The payments for sick and carer’s leave do not include separate entitlements such as:
- incentive-based payments
- bonuses
- loadings
- allowances
- overtime
- penalty rates
Only the employee’s base pay rate is considered when calculating the payment for sick and carer’s leave.
Can paid sick and carer’s leave be cashed out?
Paid sick and carer’s leave can be cashed out for employees covered by an award or agreement, provided that certain conditions are met. These conditions include:
- The award or agreement must allow for the cashing out of leave.
- There must be a separate written agreement for each occasion in which leave is cashed out.
- The employee must have a remaining balance of at least 15 days of untaken paid sick and carer’s leave.
- The employee must be paid at least the full amount they would have received if they had taken the leave instead of cashing it out.
It is important to note that it is unlawful for an employer to force or coerce an employee into making or not making an agreement to cash out sick and carer’s leave if it is included in an award or agreement.
On the other hand, employees who are not covered by an award or agreement are generally not able to cash out paid sick and carer’s leave.
Paid and unpaid carer’s leave
Paid carer’s leave
What are the minimum entitlements to paid carer’s leave?
Employees are not automatically credited with paid carer’s leave when they start a new role. Instead, the leave accrues throughout the year. Here are the minimum entitlements to paid carer’s leave for different types of employees:
Full-time employees |
10 paid days per year of employment. |
Part-time employees |
10 paid days per year of employment, prorated based on their working hours. |
Casual employees |
There is no entitlement to paid carer’s leave for casual employees. |
On the anniversary of their employment, any unused paid leave that employees haven’t taken throughout the year carries over into the next year.
*Find out more at Paid sick and carer’s leave.
Unpaid carer’s leave
What are the minimum entitlements to unpaid carer’s leave?
Employees are entitled to a minimum of 2 days of unpaid carer’s leave each time a member of their immediate family requires care or support due to an illness, injury, or an emergency.
This entitlement applies to employees working full-time, part-time, or on a casual basis.
However, employees cannot take unpaid carer’s leave when they have the option to be paid for the leave.
It’s important to note that casual employees do not have any entitlement to paid personal or carer’s leave and are therefore not subject to the restriction on taking unpaid carer’s leave when paid leave is available.
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Read more:Personal Leave Explained: What It Is and How It Works