Australian leave law guides.
The calculations are only as good as the rules they apply. Here are the foundational frameworks every Australian employee and employer should know. For the rates and thresholds themselves, and the date each was last verified, see how we calculate.
The 12 National Employment Standards, explained.
The minimum employment standards every Australian worker is entitled to: often called the 11 NES, now 12 matters under s 61(2), whatever your award or contract.
The Fair Work Act 2009, explained.
The federal law that governs every leave entitlement on this site. Section-by-section breakdown of the parts that matter most to employees.
Modern Awards and the NES, explained.
How modern awards add pay rates and conditions on top of the NES floor, how to find your award, and what happens if no award covers you.
Casual vs Permanent.
How casual employment is legally defined, what leave casuals do and do not get, and the employee choice pathway to convert to permanent.
Leave During Probation.
Leave accrues from day one under the NES. What probation does and does not change about your entitlements, and what happens if you are dismissed.
Paid family and domestic violence leave.
Every Australian employee, including casuals, gets 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave a year. Who qualifies, how to access it, confidentiality.
Compassionate and bereavement leave.
Full-time and part-time employees get 2 days of paid compassionate (bereavement) leave each time an immediate family or household member dies or has a life-threatening illness or injury. Casuals get it unpaid.
RDOs, time off in lieu and banked hours.
An RDO (rostered day off) is a roster day you do not work, usually earned by working slightly longer days. How RDOs, TOIL and banked hours work and are paid out.
Leave without pay.
How unpaid leave works, when your employer can refuse it, why annual and sick leave stop accruing, and whether it breaks your continuous service.
Cashing out annual leave.
When you can be paid out annual leave instead of taking it: the 4-week floor, the 2-week yearly cap, the written agreement you need, and how a cash-out is taxed.
Community service and jury duty leave.
Your NES right to leave for jury duty and voluntary emergency work, the 10 days of jury make-up pay, and why casuals are covered too.
Accruing leave while you are on leave.
Usually yes: paid leave counts as service, so annual and personal leave keep accruing. Most unpaid leave pauses it. Parental leave and workers comp compared.
Personal leave vs sick leave.
Yes, they are the same: sick leave and carer’s leave both come out of one 10-day personal/carer’s leave balance under the NES. How much you get and how it works.
Redundancy pay and small business.
Why businesses with fewer than 15 employees do not have to pay NES redundancy pay, how the headcount is worked out, and what you are still owed.
Excessive annual leave.
When an employer can direct you to take accrued annual leave, the 8-week trigger in most awards, the notice required, and your rights if you disagree.
Carer's leave.
How carer's leave shares the 10-day paid personal leave balance, the extra 2 days of unpaid carer's leave, who counts as immediate family, and casual rights.
How redundancy pay is taxed.
The genuine redundancy tax-free base amount plus a set amount per year of service, how the ETP cap taxes the rest, and why the whole payment can be tax-free.
Notice of termination.
How much written notice your employer must give before ending your employment, the NES scale from 1 to 5 weeks, who misses out, and what happens during the notice period.
Payment in lieu of notice.
When your employer pays out your notice instead of you working it, how the full rate of pay is worked out, and why your employment can end the day you are given notice.
Resignation notice period.
How much notice you have to give when you resign, why the NES scale does not apply to employees, and when an employer can withhold pay for short notice.
Maternity leave.
Maternity leave in Australia comes from two separate systems: 12 months of unpaid parental leave from your employer, and government Parental Leave Pay. How each one works.
Paternity leave.
What fathers and partners get in Australia. Dad and Partner Pay is gone, folded into Parental Leave Pay, with days reserved for each parent on a use-it-or-lose-it basis.
Tax on an annual leave payout.
How unused annual leave is taxed when you leave a job. A normal resignation is taxed at marginal rates, but a genuine redundancy is withheld at a flat 32%.
Proving sick and carer's leave.
What evidence your employer can lawfully ask for, whether they can demand it for a single day, when a statutory declaration works, and what they are not entitled to know.
Pro-rata long service leave.
The partial LSL payout you get for leaving early. Eight jurisdictions, two thresholds (5 and 7 years), and the reason you left often decides whether you are paid at all.
Long service leave after 10 years.
Ten years with one employer is the classic long service milestone, but what it pays ranges from 8.67 to 13 weeks depending on your state. The figure for all eight, and how to convert it into dollars.
Public Holiday Pay Rates.
What you are actually paid for working a public holiday. 25 of 33 modern awards pay 250%, five pay 225%, two pay 200%, and one pays no public holiday penalty at all.
Public Holiday Pay for Casuals.
The NES pays a casual nothing for a public holiday they do not work. Everything a casual receives comes from the award penalty rate for hours actually worked.
Is public holiday pay double time?
Almost never exactly double. Only 2 of 33 modern awards pay exactly 200%. Most pay 250%, and the retail and hospitality awards where most people asking actually work pay 225%.
Christmas shutdown and directed leave.
Your employer can direct you to take accrued annual leave over a shutdown, with 28 days written notice. If your balance runs out, unpaid leave needs your written agreement.
Substitute public holidays.
Where a state substitutes a day for a public holiday falling on a weekend, section 115(2) makes the substituted day the public holiday. It is not a second-class one.
Superannuation on annual leave.
Super is payable on annual leave you take and usually on leave loading, but not on unused leave paid out on termination. The 1 July 2026 rules, with sources.
Casual conversion, and what replaced it.
Casual conversion was repealed on 26 August 2024. The employee choice pathway at sections 66AAB to 66AAD replaced it: notify after 6 months, a 21 day employer response, three grounds for refusal.
Do casuals get long service leave?
Yes, in every Australian state and territory. What changes is the test for continuous casual service, how your hours are averaged, whether the loading counts, and what you get if you resign early.
Health Professionals Award changes from 1 October 2026.
The Fair Work Commission replaced the health professional pay point grid. Level 1 now turns on AQF level and years of experience, from $1,232.70 a week. The new rates, the translation rules and your leave pay.
Sick during annual leave.
If you get sick during annual leave, those days become paid sick leave under Fair Work Act s 89(2) and the annual leave goes back in your balance. How to claim it.
Returning to work after maternity or parental leave.
Returning to work after maternity or parental leave: the right to your old job under s 84, asking for part-time hours, moving your return date, and not going back.
Genuine redundancy.
Genuine redundancy under the Fair Work Act: the job is gone, consultation was followed and redeployment was not reasonable. The ATO's separate test decides the tax-free part.
2 weeks notice in Australia.
There is no general 2 weeks notice rule in Australia. Most awards ask for 2 weeks once you have more than 1 and up to 3 years of service, and casuals owe none.
Doctor's certificate for sick leave.
You need a doctor's certificate for sick leave only if your employer asks. What makes one valid, online and backdated certificates, and the 24-hour rule.
Is sick leave paid out?
No. Unused sick leave is not paid out when you resign, are made redundant or are dismissed. The rare exceptions, the cash-out rules and how a payout is taxed.
Can you get fired for too many sick days?
Not for the absence itself if you give evidence. When the s 352 protection ends (over 3 months off and no paid sick leave left), with dated worked examples.
Do casuals get sick leave?
No. Casuals get no paid sick leave under the NES, however regular their hours. What they get instead, what the loading is worth, and Victoria's closed scheme.
Is super payable on redundancy?
Super is payable on wages to your last day and on pay in lieu of notice, not on redundancy pay itself. What attracts 12%, when it is due, and the 2026-27 caps.
Super on termination payments.
Super on termination payments, item by item: 12% on final wages, commission, bonuses and pay in lieu of notice, none on leave payouts, redundancy or other ETPs.
Voluntary redundancy.
Voluntary redundancy: one you accept but your employer decides. Your NES pay floor, the $13,598 plus $6,801 a year tax-free limit and the unfair dismissal risk.
Stress leave in NSW.
Stress leave in NSW is paid personal leave. From 1 July 2026 workers comp needs bullying, harassment or trauma: 75% interim pay, then 95% or 80% to $2,662.10.
Stress leave in Victoria.
Stress leave in Victoria is paid personal leave. WorkCover excludes burnout from normal workload since 2024; accepted claims pay 95% then 80%, to $3,000 a week.
Stress leave in QLD.
Stress leave in QLD is paid personal leave. WorkCover pays if work significantly contributed: 85% of earnings or 80% of QOTE, and your leave keeps accruing.
Does annual leave roll over?
Yes. Unused annual leave rolls over from year to year with no expiry and no reset on 1 July. When a big balance can be directed, and when yours passes 8 weeks.
How much notice do you need for annual leave?
No law sets a minimum notice to request annual leave in Australia. Award rules for shutdowns (28 days) and excess leave (8 weeks), with 2026 and 2027 dates.
Do casuals get annual leave?
No. Casuals accrue no paid annual leave, however long they work. Why, how much of the 25% loading stands in for it, and why going permanent starts you at zero.
Emergency leave in Australia.
Australia has no separate emergency leave. See which leave covers a family emergency: carer's, compassionate, FDV or community service leave, with days and pay.
Miscarriage leave in Australia.
Miscarriage leave is 2 days of compassionate leave for you and your current spouse or de facto partner, paid unless casual. Who is covered, pay and next steps.
Types of leave in Australia.
Every type of leave in Australia in one table: NES leave, long service leave and award or contract leave, with days, paid or unpaid, casual rules and sources.
Leave loading on termination.
Leave loading on termination is paid on unused annual leave if you get it on leave taken, even where your award says no. Award rates, tax and super for 2026-27.
Redundancy consultation.
Redundancy consultation in Australia: when your award or agreement requires it, what the clause says, why there is no minimum period, and the 15-plus rules.
Sick day reasons: what counts as sick leave.
Which sick day reasons count under Fair Work: illness, injury, stress and pregnancy do, appointments only if you are unfit. What to say for 1 or 2 days off.
Super on maternity leave.
Super on maternity leave in 2026-27: the ATO adds 12% plus interest on Parental Leave Pay, employer-paid leave gets super only if agreed, unpaid gets none.
Retail penalty rates.
Retail Award penalty rates from 1 July 2026: 125% weekday evenings and Saturdays, 150% Sundays, 225% public holidays, in dollars for all 8 levels and casuals.
Keeping in touch days on parental leave.
Keeping in touch days let you work up to 10 days in your first 12 months of unpaid parental leave, plus 10 if you extend. Timing, part days and PLP explained.
Flexible parental leave.
Flexible parental leave: take up to 130 days of your 12 months' unpaid leave as single days or blocks within 24 months of birth. Notice, pay and two calendars.
Accruing annual leave on maternity leave.
No annual leave builds up on unpaid maternity leave, even on Parental Leave Pay days. Leave you take still accrues. See your balance on return and LSL by state.
Self-employed maternity leave.
Self-employed maternity leave: no employer leave, but sole traders can get up to 130 days of Parental Leave Pay if they pass the work and income tests. See how.
Redundancy while on maternity leave.
You can be made redundant on maternity leave if your job is genuinely gone. How notice counts your leave, why redundancy pay may not, and what happens to PLP.
Sick leave for pregnancy appointments.
Antenatal check-ups are not sick leave unless you are unfit for work, but pregnancy-related illness is. Which leave to use, and how each choice affects PLP.
Unpaid sick leave: when your sick leave runs out.
No sick leave left? Banked hours are paid and the rest of the absence is unpaid. What it costs, what stops accruing, the evidence rule and the 3-month limit.
Sorry Business leave in Australia.
There is no separate Sorry Business leave in the NES. How compassionate leave, kinship, award ceremonial leave and annual leave fit together, with examples.
Sabbatical leave in Australia.
There is no legal right to a sabbatical in Australia. How to fund one with long service, annual and unpaid leave, and what it does to your super and service.
Stress leave in Australia.
Stress leave in Australia is paid personal leave: 10 days a year full-time, carried over, no cap per absence. Evidence, job protection and NSW, VIC, QLD rules.
Redundancy notice.
Redundancy notice is 1 to 4 weeks by service, plus 1 week if you are over 45 with 2 years. See pay in lieu, job search days and how it sits with redundancy pay.
Retrenchment vs redundancy.
Retrenchment and redundancy describe the same exit in Australia. See the legal terms, where retrenchment changes your pay, and the NES notice and pay you get.
Can you cash out long service leave? The answer in each state.
Cashing out long service leave is an offence in Victoria and barred in NSW and the NT. WA, SA and Tasmania allow it by agreement. The rule and figures by state.
Leave loading on long service leave.
No state or territory Act adds the 17.5% annual leave loading to long service leave. See what each Act puts in LSL pay instead, with 2026-27 worked examples.
Super on long service leave.
Super is payable at 12% on long service leave you take or cash out while employed, but not on LSL paid out when you leave. Payday Super dates, worked dollars.
Clerks Award work from home clause starts 26 October 2026.
From the first full pay period on or after 26 October 2026, Clerks Award employees can ask in writing to work from home, but the employer can still say no. Plus Victoria's public sector changes and its work from home bill.
SCHADS pay rise from 1 December 2026.
Home care employees doing disability work get up to 15% more from the first full pay period on or after 1 December 2026. The new weekly rates, what happens to leave pay, and the union's separate 35% claim.
Victoria's work from home bill is set to lapse on 3 November 2026.
Victoria's bill for a legal right to work from home 2 days a week stalled in the Legislative Council and lapses when parliament expires on 3 November 2026. What it would have done, and the work from home rights you have now.
Junior pay rates rise for 18 to 20 year olds from 1 December 2026.
18 to 20 year olds under the Retail, Fast Food and Pharmacy Awards who have been with their employer more than 6 months move to 75%, 85% or 95% of the adult rate from 1 December 2026, and the full adult rate by July 2029. Rates, dates and leave pay.