Public Holidays
Australia has 8 National Holidays. In addition to these public holidays, there are 1-5 additional regional holidays depending on the state the employee resides in. These are all paid time off. You can find here an updated list of Public Holidays.
State/Territory law may also substitute public holidays falling on a weekend to the next working day or another day.
If an employee is required to work on a public holiday they must be given any of the below:
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extra pay e.g. public holiday rates
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an extra day off or extra annual leave
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minimum shift lengths on public holidays
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agreeing to substitute a public holiday for another day.
You cannot force an employee to work on a public holiday but you may request and agree with the employee.
The requirement for an employee to work a public holiday must always be based on reasonable grounds. See Working Hours for more guidance on working additional hours.
In contrast, an employee also cannot work on a public holiday or work overtime without prior approval from you.
Leave Entitlements
Annual/ Vacation Leave |
Full-time and part-time employees are entitled to 4 weeks’ paid annual leave per complete year of service or more depending on what's been agreed in the employment contract. Leave starts to accumulate from the employee's start date. Annual leave is accrued monthly and not provided upfront. Any unused accrued leave must be carried forward to the following year and cannot expire. This leave accrued must be paid out on termination. You may require an employee to use their annual leave for a specific period but this must be a reasonable request (excessive annual leave balance or Christmas shutdowns) with reasonable notice. You may approve or reject annual leave carryover or encashment requests at the end of each year of service. A rejection must be reasonable. If you are unsure of how to manage your employee's leave in weeks, please contact GT Zendesk. |
Sick and Carer's Leave |
All employees are entitled to at least 10 paid sick and carer's leave (pro-rated for part-timers). Once this has run out, approved leave will be unpaid unless a higher entitlement was agreed in the employment contract. 10 paid sick leave days (prorated) are added after each subsequent 12-month period. Sick leave taken at any point of the working day counts as 1 day of sick leave even if less than the whole day is taken unless agreed otherwise with you. Sick and Carer's leave can be taken if an immediate family or household member is sick, injured or needs helps during an emergency. The employer is entitled to request evidence to substantiate the reason for leave. |
Compassionate & Bereavement Leave |
Compassionate leave is for the below cases:
2 days of paid Compassionate leave can be taken per family member as:
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Parental Leave |
An employee may be entitled to parental leave in accordance with the National Employment Standards as outlined in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and the Paid Parental Leave Act 2010 (Cth) and its amendments. Employees are entitled to up to 12 months of unpaid parental leave. They can also request up to 12 months of unpaid leave. You may hire a replacement (new or secondment) employee but this must be fixed-term and the temporary employee must be informed that their employment may be affected should the employee decide to return early. The employee will continue to accrue leave whilst on parental leave. Employees can take up to 10 keeping in touch days for each 12 month period of unpaid parental leave before it is officially a return to work but this must be agreed with you. The employee must notify you in writing (please raise a ticket to GT Zendesk soon-after) as soon as possible. This must include:
We will inform you of specific costs and eligibility once you have informed us. If you offer enhanced Primary Carer's pay, we will also discuss the process for this. |
Long-service Leave |
Employees working for at least 5-10 years for the same employee may be eligible to long-service leave. This applies for all employees. This is 2 months (8.67 weeks) of leave paid at the employee's ordinary gross weekly wage. This leave can be paid out on termination if unused. The employee must agree with you in writing when the leave will be taken and for how long. |
Family & Domestic Violence Leave |
Any employee experiencing domestic or family violence will have access to 20 days paid leave per calendar year. This can be taken in part-days, single or consecutively. You cannot reject this type of leave but you must be satisfied on reasonable ground that domestic or family violence has occurred. You may require evidence such as a court order, police report, statutory declaration or medical certificate. This leave can be used before other leave are used up. |
Unpaid Leave |
Unpaid leave is up to the manager's discretion. Any unpaid leave must be approved beforehand by the manager. When an employee is on unpaid leave, their annual leave entitlement stops accruing until they are back at work. |
Community Service Leave |
Employees can take unpaid Community service leave for:
The employee must give you notice of their absence as soon as reasonably practicable. You may also request evidence of community service entitlement from the employee once they have given official notice. |