Family and domestic violence was introduced from the first full pay period on or after 1 August 2018. Employees may take unpaid leave to deal with family and domestic violence, following the Fair Work Commission decision.
The Fair Work Act defines family and domestic violence as violent, threatening or other abusive behaviour by an employee’s close relative that seeks to force or control the employee and causes them harm or to be fearful.
Fair Work have now released a new comprehensive guide that helps employers understand their workplace obligations to employees affected by family and domestic violence.
Leave code setup:
If you haven't already set up a leave code for Domestic Violence and you think you might need it, then use Codes..Leave and add a new record set up this way (the code and description are examples - you can use anything you like)
To consume this leave, use Payrun..Leave taken.
Remember your legal responsibilities as an employer:
As an employer, you need to be aware that the Fair Work Act provides minimum entitlements for employees. Employers can be more generous and provide more than the minimum entitlements under workplace policies, enterprise agreements and informally.
Under the Fair Work Act, employees dealing with the impact of family and domestic violence can:
- take unpaid family and domestic violence leave
- request flexible working arrangements
- take paid or unpaid personal/carer’s leave in certain circumstances.
NES minimum unpaid family and domestic violence leave:
All employees (full-time, part-time and casual) are entitled to 5 days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave for each 12-month period. This leave:
- doesn’t accumulate from year to year if it isn’t used
- is available in full when an employee starts working at a new workplace
- renews in full at the start of each 12-month period of employment
- can be taken as a single continuous period or separate periods of one or more days.
Employers and employees can agree for an employee to take less than one day at a time or for the employee to take more than 5 days of leave.
What about notice and evidence?
If an employee takes family and domestic violence leave, they should let their employer know as soon as possible. This can happen after the leave has started. Employees also need to tell their employer how long they expect the leave to last. An employer can ask for evidence, which may include:
- documents issued by the police
- documents issued by a court
- family violence support service documents or
- a statutory declaration.
To download the guide please visit: