AP816089 - Medical Officers (Aboriginal Medical Services) Interim Award 2001

18. PERSONAL LEAVE

18.1 Paid personal leave is available to an employee when he or she is absent due to:

• personal illness or injury (sick leave); or
• for the purposes of caring for an immediate family or household member who is sick and requires the employee's care and support (carer's leave).

18.2 Sick leave

18.2.1 Sick leave is leave to which an employee is entitled without loss of pay because of his or her personal illness or injury.

18.2.2 An employee will be entitled to ten days accumulative full pay Sick Leave per annum with the entitlement commencing on recruitment. Where requested by the employer, the employee shall provide a medical certificate authenticating the illness of the employee or a statutory declaration to the effect that the employee was ill.

18.2.3 An employee who is incapacitated for duty as a consequence of illness or injury shall, as soon as possible, notify the employer of the fact and shall also advise the likely date of resuming duty.

18.3 Immediate family or household

18.3.1 The entitlement to carer's or bereavement leave is subject to the person in respect of whom the leave is taken being either:

• a member of the employee's immediate family; or
• a member of the employee's household.

18.3.2 The term immediate family includes:

• spouse (including a former spouse, a de facto spouse and a former de facto spouse) of the employee. A de facto spouse means a person of the opposite sex to the employee who lives with the employee as his or her husband or wife on a bona fide domestic basis; and
• child or an adult child (including an adopted child, a step child or an ex-nuptial child), parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling of the employee or spouse of the employee.

18.4 Paid leave entitlement

18.4.1 An employee is entitled to use up to 38 hours personal leave each year to care for members of his or her immediate family or household who are sick and require care and support. This entitlement is subject to the employee being responsible for the care and support of the person concerned. In normal circumstances an employee is not entitled to take carer's leave where another person has taken leave to care for the same person.

18.4.2 Evidence supporting claim

The employee must, if required by the employer, establish by production of a medical certificate or statutory declaration, the illness of the person concerned and that the illness is such as to require care by another.

18.4.3 Unpaid leave

An employee may take unpaid carer's leave by agreement with the employer.

18.5 Bereavement leave

An employee is entitled to paid bereavement leave for up to three days plus reasonable travel time on the death of a spouse, partner, parent, parent of partner or spouse, foster parent, step parent, guardian, brother, sister, step brother, step sister, half brother, half sister, child, stepchild, foster child, or another person who, immediately before that person’s death, lived with the employee as a member of the employee’s family, or other person where a family relationship can be demonstrated.