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Personal/carer’s leave
Last updated October 2023
This chapter explains when your employees are entitled to personal/carer’s leave, how the leave is accrued and your pay obligations when leave is taken.
Entitlements to personal/carer’s leave
All employees, except casual employees, are entitled to paid personal/carer’s leave.
Definition: Personal/Carer’s Leave
Personal/carer’s leave refers to:
- paid leave due to personal illness or injury (i.e. personal or sick leave); and
- paid or unpaid leave to provide care and support to a member of the employee’s immediate family or a member of the employee’s household (i.e. carer’s leave).
Personal/carer’s leave refers to:
- paid leave due to personal illness or injury (i.e. personal or sick leave); and
- paid or unpaid leave to provide care and support to a member of the employee’s immediate family or a member of the employee’s household (i.e. carer’s leave).
Your employees’ entitlements may be set out in:
- the National Employment Standards (NES) in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act);
- a modern award or enterprise agreement; or
- an employment contract.
Important: The information in this chapter predominantly applies to national system employers. If you are a non-national system employer, refer to the end of the chapter.