QHA-Review_March_Digital

Tana Thorpe EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS
Long Service Leave
Long Service Leave (LSL) is a form of paid leave available
to all employees, including casuals. In Queensland, LSL
entitlements are provided by the Industrial Relations Act
2016 (IR Act). Upon 10 years of continuous service, an
employee is entitled to 8.6667 weeks of paid LSL leave,
and there are further entitlements after 10 years. Employees
with between 7 and 10 years’ continuous service will
be entitled to a proportionate payment of LSL if their
employment ends for one of the reasons prescribed in the
IR Act, which include where:
• the employee’s service is terminated by their death;
• the employee terminates their service because of
their illness, incapacity or because of a domestic or
pressing necessity;
• the employer dismisses the employee because of the
employees illness;
• the employer dismisses the employee for a reason other
than the employee’s conduct, capacity or performance
(such as termination as a result of redundancy); or
• the employer unfairly dismisses the employee.
Employers should be aware that not all types of unpaid
leave count towards continuous service. To assist QHA
members, the QHA’s ER team can complete three LSL
calculations per member per calendar year at no cost.
Parental leave
An employee with 12 months continuous service, will be
eligible to take unpaid parental leave where:
• the employee gives birth or adopts a child under 16
years of age; or
• their spouse or de facto partner gives birth; and
• the employee will have responsibility for the care of the
child.
To be eligible for unpaid parental leave, a casual must have
12 months of regular and systemic continuous service
and a reasonable expectation of continuing regular and
systematic work. Eligible permanent and casual employees
may access up to 12 months unpaid parental leave, and
may request to extend the period for a further 12 months.
When resuming work, an employee is entitled to return to
their pre-parental leave position and can make a flexible
work request to reduce or change their hours of work. In
addition to unpaid parental leave, an employee may apply
to Services Australia for parental leave pay.
There are additional leave types that an employee may be
eligible to access, such as:
• unpaid pre-adoption leave;
• unpaid special maternity leave – where an employee
is not fit for work due to a pregnancy-related illness or
due to their pregnancy ending;
• no safe job leave – where an employee cannot work
their position, and another safe job is not available.
The NES details notice, evidence and eligibility
requirements for employees to access parental leave and
associated leave types. QHA members who have queries
about parental leave requirements are encouraged to
contact the QHA’s ER team.
Family and domestic violence leave
Effective 1 February 2023 (delayed until 1 August 2023
for small business employers), all employees can access
up to ten days paid family and domestic violence leave
each 12-month period. Prior to this, family and domestic
violence leave was an unpaid entitlement of five days.
An employee can access the paid leave to deal with
the impact of the family and domestic violence, where
it is impractical for the employee to do so outside of
the employee’s ordinary hours of work. Actions that
could covered by this leave include attending medical,
legal, police or counselling appointments, attending
legal proceedings, accessing police services and
organising alternative accommodation, care or education
arrangements for children.
Employers are legally required to ensure that the following is
not recorded on an employee’s payslip:
• that an amount paid to an employee is a payment for
paid family and domestic violence leave;
• a period of leave taken by an employee has been
taken as paid family and domestic violence leave;
• an employee’s paid family and domestic violence leave
balance.
The QHA has more information available for members on
the introduction of this paid leave type and the specific
rules that apply.
Community service leave
The NES provides that an employee engaged in an eligible
community service activity is entitled to be absent from
work. The NES specifies an eligible community service
activity includes jury service and voluntary emergency
management activities. Where QHA members have an
employee who may be eligible for such leave, the QHA’s
ER team can provide specific advice about eligibility
criteria, paid or unpaid entitlement and notice and
evidence requirements.
Further assistance
The QHA has template employment contracts and
policies, which detail employee’s leave entitlements,
available for purchase as part of the QHA’s HR Manual.
This article provides a high-level overview of the different
leave types. QHA members seeking further assistance or
wishing to discuss a specific employment relations matter
are encouraged to contact the ER team for a confidential
discussion. Call 07 3221 6999 or email er@qha.org.au.
QHA REVIEW | 35