Rights & Responsibilities

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Personal Carers' and Bereavement Leave

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As of 19 December 2005, standard carers' leave provisions under state awards have been amended to:

• extend existing paid carer's leave to include emergency situations
• authorise unpaid absences for casual employees who need time off to attend to family care, bereavements and emergencies.

More details on extra carers' leave as of 19th December 2005.

Download Personal Carers' and Bereavement Leave (pdf)

What is personal carers' leave?

Personal carers' leave is leave an employee can take to care for a family member who is sick. If an employee takes personal carers' leave she/he must be responsible for the care of the person who is sick. This type of leave is paid leave.

What is bereavement leave?

Bereavement leave is leave that an employee can take when a family member dies. Some industrial awards require an employee to attend the funeral or impose other conditions on taking this leave. Bereavement leave is also sometimes called compassionate leave. This type of leave is paid leave.

Who can take this leave?

Personal carers' leave and bereavement leave are available to all employees covered by NSW awards. There are a few exceptions and some awards have slightly different entitlements. Many enterprise agreements also provide for these types of leave.

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Who can an employee take the leave for?

Both types of leave may be taken for a family member who is the employee's:

• 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

An employee may also take leave for the children, parents, grandparents or siblings or their spouse or defacto spouse, or any other relative who is a member of the employee's household.

How much leave can an employee take?

Personal carers' leave allows employees to use all of their current and accrued sick leave to care for the sick family member.

The bereavement leave entitlement is a minimum of two days. Some awards provide for 3 or more days and may also impose other conditions on taking leave. Bereavement leave may also be taken in conjunction with other personal carers' leave with the agreement of an employer.

What proof does an employee need to be eligible for leave?

For personal carers' leave, an employer can require an employee to establish that a family member was sick and needed care. A medical certificate or statutory declaration can do this.

For bereavement leave, evidence may also be required. Relevant awards set out these requirements.

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What other flexible leave arrangements are available to assist an employee manage their family responsibilities?

An employee and employer can agree to use other leave entitlements to meet other family obligations. This can include:

• using annual leave in single day periods or part 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.

Flexible use of these leave entitlements can be for any purpose and not just to care for a sick family member.

For further information

This information is intended only as a basic outline of selected provisions of the NSW Industrial Relations Act 1996. For more information, please contact:

• your employer association or union, if you belong to one;
  
  
• Office of Industrial Relations
  131 628 (anywhere within NSW)
  (02) 9020 4849 (for callers outside NSW)
  
  
• NSW Industrial Registry
  50 Phillip Street, SYDNEY NSW 2000
  Telephone: (02) 9228-7766

You can purchase a copy of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 and order copies of this brochure online.