Personal leave is in every SDA-negotiated Agreement and is one of the National Employment Standards (NES).
The NES provides that permanent employees accrue 10 days of personal leave per year.
Personal leave covers sick leave and carer’s leave, meaning you can use personal leave to provide care or support to your immediate family or household member who is unwell or has a medical emergency.
Ring your workplace and inform your store manager or the most senior person.
Try to give as much notice as possible that you are unable to come into work.
Your Award or SDA-negotiated Agreements are available in the Members Area, so you can simply log in and read about your rights that are specific to you.
You can also call to ask for advice.
If you’re sick, you can’t work at full capacity, and may be risking your safety and that of your fellow workers if you go to work.
Sick leave should only be used when you are genuinely ill.
It’s counterproductive for employers to insist on sick workers coming into work because germs can be spread among other workers.
Some employers may say “We can’t replace you… you are going to have to come in.”
This is wrong and may set back your recovery.
Going to work is not only unhealthy for you, it’s bad for your workplace.
Casual workers don’t get paid sick leave, but they receive a higher rate of pay in the form of a casual loading to compensate for this. Casual workers are entitled to take unpaid sick leave.
Some agreements provide for two single-day absences annually without the need for a medical certificate.
After this, employees can be asked to provide either a medical certificate or a Statutory Declaration. You should check your Agreement or Award in the Members Area.
In general, casual employees are not required to provide medical certificates.
While a medical certificate is the best form of evidence, other forms of evidence such as a statutory declaration or a pharmacy certificate may be sufficient.