FAIR WORK ACT 1994 - SCHEDULE 3
FAIR WORK ACT 1994 - SCHEDULE 3
Schedule 3—Minimum standard for sick leave/carer's leave
In this Schedule—
continuous service means continuous service under a contract of employment and
includes a period of paid leave taken under this Act or under an award or
enterprise agreement;
full pay means remuneration for ordinary hours of work (not including payments
in the nature of penalty rates, overtime, allowances or loadings).
This Schedule does not apply to a person who is engaged and paid as a casual
employee.
3—Accrual of sick leave entitlement
(1) An employee's
entitlement to sick leave accrues as follows—
(a) for
the first year of continuous service—entitlement to sick leave accrues
at the rate of 5 / 26 of one day for each completed week; and
(b) for
each later year of continuous service—an entitlement to 10 days' sick
leave accrues at the beginning of each year.
(2) An employee's sick
leave credit is worked out by adding any unexpended sick leave entitlement
that had accrued to the employee before the employee became subject to this
Schedule and any unexpended entitlement that accrues under this Schedule.
(3) Any sick leave
taken by the employee is deducted from the employee's sick leave credit.
(1) An employee who
has a sick leave credit is entitled to take sick leave if the employee is too
sick to work.
(2) An employee who
has a sick leave credit, and who is on annual leave, is entitled to take sick
leave instead of annual leave if the person is too sick to work for a period
of at least three days.
(3) However, the
employee is not entitled to take sick leave unless—
(a) the
employee gives the employer notice of the sickness, its nature and estimated
duration before the period for which sick leave is sought begins (but if the
nature or sudden onset of the sickness makes it impracticable to give the
notice before the period begins, the notice is validly given if given as soon
as practicable and not later than 24 hours after the period begins); and
(b) the
employee, at the request of the employer, provides a medical certificate or
other reasonable evidence of the sickness.
(4) Sick leave taken
during a period of annual leave does not count as annual leave.
(5) An employee may
take sick leave for a part of a day in a block of 1 or more hours.
(6) The following
provisions apply in connection with subsection (5):
(a) if a
period of sick leave exceeds 1 hour but does not equal a whole number of
hours, the fraction of an hour will be taken to be a whole hour; and
(b) when
the number of hours taken as sick leave under subsection (5) equals the
number of hours usually worked by the employee in a day, then the employee
will be taken to have taken 1 day's sick leave.
5—Sick leave to be on full pay
(1) A full-time
employee is entitled to full pay for a period of sick leave.
(2) A part-time
employee is entitled to pro-rata pay for a period of sick leave.
(1) An employee with
an accrued entitlement to sick leave under a preceding section may use up to 5
days of that entitlement in each year to care for and support members of the
employee's family when they are sick.
(2) The employee must,
if practicable before taking leave under this section, give the employer
notice of—
(a) the
employee's intention to take the leave; and
(b) the
reason for the leave; and
(c) the
name of the person requiring the care and that person's relationship to the
employee; and
(d) the
time the employee expects to be absent,
but if it is not possible to give the notice before commencing the leave, the
employee must give the notice as soon as practicable in the circumstances.
(3) The employee must,
if required by the employer, produce reasonable evidence of the sickness and
the need for the employee's care.
(4) An employee is,
while taking leave under this section, entitled to pay at the same rate as if
he or she was on sick leave.