Leave is the part of Australian employment law that comes up most often — and the part most often misunderstood. This is a plain-English guide to the leave entitlements set by the National Employment Standards (NES) under the Fair Work Act 2009, plus long service leave, which sits outside the NES.
Annual leave
Full-time and part-time employees are entitled to 4 weeks of paid annual leave per year, accrued progressively based on ordinary hours worked. Shiftworkers (as defined in an award or agreement) may be entitled to 5 weeks. Annual leave accrues continuously, including while on paid leave, and rolls over from year to year.
Personal/carer’s leave
Employees are entitled to 10 days of paid personal/carer’s leave per year. It covers both personal illness or injury and caring for an immediate family or household member who is unwell or affected by an unexpected emergency. Casual employees are entitled to unpaid carer’s leave.
Compassionate leave
Two days of compassionate (bereavement) leave per occasion when an immediate family or household member dies, or is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness or injury, or in the case of a stillbirth or miscarriage of the employee or their spouse/partner.
Family and domestic violence leave
All employees, including casuals, are entitled to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave in a 12-month period. The leave does not accrue and resets on the employee’s anniversary. Information about FDV leave must be handled with care — pay slips should not identify it as such.
Parental leave
Eligible employees can take up to 12 months of unpaid parental leave, with the right to request a further 12 months. To be eligible, the employee must have completed at least 12 months of continuous service. Government-funded paid parental leave is administered separately by Services Australia.
Community service leave
Unpaid leave for voluntary emergency management activities, plus paid leave for jury service (capped at 10 days’ pay).
Long service leave
Long service leave is set by state and territory law, not by the NES. Typical entitlements sit around 8.667 weeks after 10 years of continuous service in NSW, VIC, QLD, WA, SA, TAS, ACT and the NT — but qualifying periods, accrual rates and portability rules differ. Always check the rule for the state or territory the employee works in.
How Mentsh handles this
Mentsh ships every NES leave type out of the box, with state-aware long service leave and public holiday calendars. FDV leave is masked from non-authorised viewers on pay slips and reports. See Leave management for the full feature list.