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It is mandatory for employers to give employees a minimum of 4 weeks of annual leave per year. For the first year of employment, employees will accrue 1 day of annual leave per 13 days worked. Employees who consistently work Sundays are entitled to one extra week of annual leave per year.
It is voluntary if an employee chooses to take this leave. Unlike some other countries, annual leave and sick leave are accrued over time if an employee does not use it and it never expires. For example if an employee has worked for five years with their employer but has consistently only taken 2 weeks annual leave per year, then they will have accrued a total of 10 weeks of annual leave that they can take at any time.
If an employee decides to resign or is dismissed from the company, then any untaken annual leave must be paid out in full, along with any other payments owed from the course of their employment.
Parental leave payments are covered by the Australian government under the Parental Leave Pay (PLP) scheme. There are two separate period payments available to expecting employees under this scheme. These include:
The partner of the pregnant employee is entitled to 2 weeks of parental leave at the national minimum wage rate. It is also possible for an employer to include extra paid parental leave benefits that will complement the PLP scheme. Paid parental leave is different to maternity leave or paternity leave.
New mothers are entitled to take up to 12 months maternity leave, or 24 months if an agreement has been made with their employer. This must be in a single continuous period.
A partner of a pregnant employee is entitled to take 12 months paternity leave as long as it starts right after the birth or if their partner is not employed.
Under Australian employment law, full-time employees are entitled to 10 paid sick days a year. Like annual leave, this time is accrued if the employee does not use them each year. If all paid sick days are used by an employee, then they are entitled to 2 days unpaid sick days. A medical certificate must be provided after 1 day of illness.
All employees including permanent part time, and casual employees are entitled to 2 days compassion leave each time it is requested. Compassionate leave is only granted if:
Only full time and part time workers are entitled to paid compassion leave, while casual employees get unpaid.
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The minimum legal standard amount of annual leave granted to employees per year is 4 weeks.
Australian employees are entitled to 10 days paid sick leave per year and 2 days unpaid sick leave.
