AP822941 - Health Employees (Dental Health Services) Award 2003
20.1 Amount of Paid Personal Leave
20.2 Paid personal leave will be available to an employee when he or she is absent due to
20.2.1 personal illness or injury (sick leave); or
20.2.2 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), or
20.2.3 bereavement on the death of an immediate family or household member (bereavement leave).
20.3 The amount of personal leave to which an employee is entitled depends on how long he or she has worked for the employer and accrues as follows:
Length of time worked for the employer |
Personal Leave (Hours) |
Less than 1 month |
16 |
1 month to less than three months |
32 |
3 months to less than six months |
48 |
Six months to less than twelve months |
92 |
Each year thereafter |
92 |
20.4 In any year unused personal leave accrues at the rate of the lesser of:
20.4.1 76 hours less the amount of sick leave taken from the current year's personal leave entitlement in that year; or
20.4.2 the balance of that year's unused personal leave.
20.5 Personal leave may accumulate to a maximum of 760 hours.
20.6 Immediate Family or Household
20.6.1 The entitlement to use personal leave for the purposes of carer's or bereavement leave is subject to the person being either:
20.6.1.1 a member of the employee's immediate family; or
20.6.1.2 a member of the employee's household.
20.6.2 The term "immediate family" includes:
20.6.2.1 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
20.6.2.2 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.
20.7 Sick Leave
20.7.1 Sick leave is leave to which an employee other than a casual is entitled without loss of pay because of his or her personal illness or injury.
20.7.2 Entitlement
[20.7.2.1 substituted by PR906139 from 02Jul01]
20.7.2.1 A full time employee is entitled to claim up to 10 working days (76 hours) each year.
A regular part time employee will accrue paid sick leave based on the proportion of the number of hours worked each week bear to 37.5 hours per week.
20.7.2.2 After the first six months of service, an employee must be paid for any sick leave to which he or she was not entitled, due to insufficient service, up to a maximum of 76 hours.
20.7.2.3 Accumulated personal leave may be used as sick leave if the current sick leave entitlement is exhausted.
20.7.3 Employee must give notice
20.7.3.1 Other than in extraordinary circumstances notice of taking sick leave must be given to the employer within 24 hours of the commencement of the absence.
20.7.3.2 If it is not practicable for the employee to give prior notice of absence, the employee must notify the employer by telephone at the first opportunity.
20.7.3.3 If an employee is receiving workers’ compensation payments, he or she is not entitled to sick leave.
20.7.4 Evidence supporting claim
20.7.4.1 Employees will not be entitled to paid sick leave unless they provide reasonable proof of the sickness to the employer. The employer is not entitled to ask for a medical certificate for absences of less than three consecutive working days unless the total of such absences exceed five days in any one anniversary year.
20.7.5 The effect of worker's compensation
If an employee is receiving worker's compensation payments, he or she is not entitled to sick leave.
20.8 Bereavement Leave
20.8.1 An employee other than a casual is entitled to use up to two days personal leave as bereavement leave on any occasion on which a member of the employee’s immediate family or household in Australia dies.
20.8.2 When an employee has exhausted all personal leave entitlements, including accumulated entitlements, he or she is entitled to up to two days unpaid bereavement leave.
20.8.3 The employer may require the employee to provide satisfactory evidence of the death of the member of the employee’s immediate family or household.
20.9 Carer’s Leave
20.9.1 An employee other than a casual is entitle to use up to 40 hours personal leave each year to care for members of his or her immediate family 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 when another person has taken leave to care for the same person.
20.9.2 Before taking Carer’s Leave an employee must give at least two hours notice before his or her next rostered starting time, unless he or she has a good reason for not doing so.
20.9.2.1 The notice must include the name of the person requiring care and support and his or her relationship to the employee; the reasons for taking such leave; and the estimated length of absence.
20.9.2.2 If it is not practicable for the employee to give prior notice of absence, the employee must notify the employer by telephone at the first opportunity.
20.9.3 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.
20.9.4 An employee may take unpaid carer’s leave by agreement with the employer.
