In this week’s Workplace Bulletin:

• Your 3 most frequently asked questions about leave
• Quick Tip of the Week: How to make ‘Individual Flexibility Arrangements’
• Workplace Helpdesk Q and A: Can you reject an employee’s request to take annual leave?

Dear Reader,

Here at the Workplace Helpdesk, we often receive queries from you about leave – annual leave, maternity leave, sick leave – the list goes on.

So this week, the Bulletin team has compiled and answered 3 of your most frequently asked questions about leave.

1. Accumulation of sick leave

Question: Is an employee’s sick leave entitlement cumulative? If so, for how long?

Answer: Yes. An employee’s unused sick leave entitlement is cumulative from year to year indefinitely.

2. Tips for managing excessive sick leave

Question: How can I manage excessive sick leave beyond managing it against our policy? Are there any other practical steps we can take? When an employee complies with our policies and provides medical certificates and notifies us correctly is there anything else we can do?

Answer: There is no problem with you indicating to the employee that frequent sick leave absences are disrupting the workplace and that you would like to explore whether there is anything that could reasonably be done at work to minimise the risk of them falling sick. By doing this, you are entitled to request the employee’s cooperation in providing you with sufficient medical information (in addition to what is usually cited in medical certificates) so that you can examine what can be done in the workplace to reduce sick leave absences. Remember, the focus is not on whether the sick leave is legitimate, but on whether there is anything you as the employer can do to help. Also, by doing this you are making it clear that the status quo is not satisfactory – and therefore making the employee think twice before taking illegitimate sick leave.

3. Accumulating benefits during parental leave

Question: Does an employee still accumulate their normal benefits (e.g. annual leave, sick leave, long service leave) while they are on unpaid parental leave?

Answer: While on unpaid parental leave, an employee does not accumulate annual leave and personal/carer’s leave (which includes sick leave). However, a period of unpaid parental leave does not break an employee’s continuity of service for the purposes of long service leave.

Quick Tip of the Week: Did you know that you are now able to make ‘individual flexibility arrangements’ with individual employees who are covered by an enterprise agreement? This will mean that the provisions of an enterprise agreement can be applied differently to individual employees. Find out how this can be done in the brand new Enterprise Agreements chapter, coming out with your next Employment Law Practical Handbook update.

Workplace Helpdesk: Can you reject an employee’s request to take annual leave?

Answered by Charles Power, editor-in-chief, Employment Law Practical Handbook.

Q: I have an employee who wishes to take a week of annual leave soon. However, the dates she wishes to take leave are not very suitable from a business perspective. Can I refuse her request for annual leave?

A: If refusal is reasonable and necessary because of your business’ operational requirements, then you can reject the employee’s annual leave application. If you decide to do this however, you should explain these grounds clearly to the employee and discuss other times that may be more suitable with her.

Until next time…

Claire Berry
Editor

Tags: annual leave, leave, maternity leave, sick leave