CSCG Business Update - New paid family & domestic violence leave

Employees will soon be able to access 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave in a 12-month period.

Key points

• Full-time, part-time and casual employees will be able to access 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave in a 12-month period. It won't be pro-rated for part-time or casual employees.
• The full 10-day leave entitlement will be available upfront. It won't accumulate from year to year if it's not used.
• The leave will be available from:
  • 1 February 2023, for employees of non-small business employers (employers with 15 or more employees on 1 February 2023)
  • 1 August 2023, for employees of small business employers (employers with less than 15 employees on 1 February 2023).
• The new leave provisions will be independently reviewed after 12 months to consider the impacts on small businesses, sole traders and people experiencing family and domestic violence.
• Employees will continue to be entitled to 5 days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave until they can access the new paid entitlement

10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave

All employees in the Fair Work system (including part-time and casual employees) will be entitled to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave in a 12-month period. This new entitlement will replace the existing entitlement to 5 days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave under the National Employment Standards.

Employees will be entitled to the full 10 days upfront, meaning they won't have to accumulate it over time. The leave won't accumulate from year to year if it isn't used.

The new leave entitlement will be available from:

• 1 February 2023, for employees of non-small business employers
• 1 August 2023, for employees of small business employers.
• Employees can still access 5 days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave until the new paid leave entitlement becomes available to them. Find out more about unpaid family and domestic violence leave.

How the leave renews

The leave renews every year on each employee's work anniversary. It doesn't accumulate from year to year if it isn't used.

Employees who start on or after the date that the paid leave entitlement becomes available at their new workplace can access the full 10 days for their first day. The leave will renew on their work anniversary.

Employees who are already employed when the paid leave entitlement starts in their workplace can access the full 10 days on the relevant start date. The leave then renews on the anniversary of when they started working for that employer (not on the anniversary of the relevant start date).

Taking family and domestic violence leave

Employees (including part-time and casual employees) can take paid family and domestic violence leave if they need to do something to deal with the impact of family and domestic violence and it's not practical for them to do so during their work hours.

This could include, for example, the employee:

• making arrangements for their safety, or the safety of a close relative (including relocation)
• attending court hearings
• accessing police services
• attending counselling
• attending appointments with medical, financial or legal professionals.

Notice and evidence requirements

If an employee takes paid family and domestic violence leave, they have to let their employer know as soon as possible. This could be after the leave has started. An employer can ask their employee for evidence to show that the employee needs to do something to deal with family and domestic violence and it's not practical to do that outside their hours of work.

An employer can only use this information to satisfy themselves that the employee is entitled to family and domestic violence leave, unless:

• the employee consents
• the employer is required to deal with the information by law, or
• it's necessary to protect the life, health or safety of the employee or another person.

The employer can't use the information for other purposes, including to take adverse action against the employee.

All other rules about notice and evidence are the same as the currents rules for taking unpaid family and domestic violence leave.

Find out more about the current rules at Notice & evidence for family and domestic violence leave.

What you can do to prepare

Fairwork are currently updating their website information, tools and resources and will have more information available closer to when these changes start.

To make sure you're notified when more information is updated, subscribe to email updates.

In the meantime, you can:

• Find out more about unpaid family and domestic violence leave and download our Employer guide to family and domestic violence
• Read The Hon Tony Burke MP's media release at Universal paid leave for family and domestic violence

For further information please visit New paid family and domestic violence leave - Fair Work Ombudsman