From the 1st February, full-time, part-time and casual employees of medium and large businesses (employers with 15 or more employees) will have the right to access to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave.
This leave entitlement is available to any employee who experiences family and domestic violence and has now been added to the National Employment Standards (NES), making it a minimum leave entitlement, like annual and sick leave.
What is paid family and domestic violence leave?
Now a minimum entitlement, paid family and domestic violence leave is available to any employee (full-time, part-time or casual) experiencing abusive behaviour or domestic violence at home. The new law has been designed so domestic violence victims don’t have to choose between income and protecting the safety of themselves and their family.
Family and domestic violence leave is available to any employee needing time off to deal with the impact of family and domestic violence. Some of these tasks may include –
- Relocation arrangements
- Court attendance
- Accessing emergency services
- Attending counselling or other support services, including medical, financial or legal appointments.
How much is the leave payment?
The payment will be 100% of the what the employee would have earned if they had worked. For casual employees, the payment will be at their full rate for the rostered hours in the period they took leave.
Consideration for small businesses (employers with less than 15 employees)
The paid family and domestic violence leave allowance will be accessible for employees of medium and large businesses from 1 February 2023. Small businesses will have another 6 months to prepare and adjust to the change in legislation, coming in to effect from 1 August 2023.
Until the change in August, employees of small businesses can still take unpaid family and domestic violence leave.
You can find more information and resources to help at Paid family and domestic violence leave.
If you have any questions regarding this matter and how your business may be impacted by the change, please contact us by phoning the office on 03 9693 5000 or submit a contact form below and one of our team will be in touch.
