Personal carers’ leave is leave that can be taken to care for a family member who is sick or who requires care due to an unexpected emergency.

When taking personal carers’ leave, the worker must be the primary care giver for the person that needs care. 

Personal carers’ leave may be taken in relation to your:

• spouse, de facto spouse or same sex partner
• child, including adopted, foster, ex-nuptial or step child
• parent, including foster parent or legal guardian
• grandparent, grandchild or sibling.

You may also take leave for any other relative who is a member of your household. This same grouping applies when seeking bereavement leave.

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Paid leave is available to all full-time and part-time workers covered by NSW awards and agreements.

You and your employer can agree to use leave entitlements to meet family obligations. These can include:

• sick leave
• using annual leave in up to single day periods or parts of single days
• taking time off in lieu of overtime
• working make-up time
• accruing rostered days off or taking them in part day amounts.

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If you are a casual worker, you can be absent from work in order to care for a relevant person who is ill or because of some unexpected emergency.

The period of the absence is by agreement with your employer, is unpaid and evidence may be required to prove the legitimacy of the need for this leave.

A casual worker’s employment cannot be legally terminated because the worker has been absent for these reasons.

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Personal carers' leave lets you use all of your current and accrued sick leave to care for the sick family member.

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You may need to prove that a family member was sick and needed care. A medical certificate or statutory declaration can do this.

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