10 days of paid leave for family and domestic violence

As at 26 October 2022, changes have been made to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) to:

 1)    replace the current entitlement set out within the National Employment Standards to 5 days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave in a 12-month period with an entitlement instead to ten (10) days of paid leave for full-time, part-time and casual employees;

 2)    extend the definition of family and domestic violence to include conduct of a current or former intimate partner of an employee, or a member of an employee's household; and

3)    extend the entitlement to paid family and domestic violence leave to non-national system employees.

Importantly, the leave will not be pro-rated for part-time or casual employees. It will also be available upfront, but won’t accumulate from year to year if it’s not used.

The changes will begin 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).

Until these changes come in, the current NES entitlement to 5 days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave will continue to be available.

From an employer perspective, the new laws will be independently reviewed after 12 months to understand the impact on small businesses, sole traders and people experiencing family and domestic violence. To prepare your business for these changes, you can find out more about unpaid family and domestic violence leave and download an Employer guide to family and domestic violence.

Should you require it, confidential information, counselling and support for people impacted by family and domestic violence is available at the 1800 RESPECT website.

Have queries in relation to the new paid leave provisions? Please call James Burke or Adam Stencel on (08) 8941 6355 or email james@bowden-mccormack.com.au or adam@bowden-mccormack.com.au.