A recent Australian Federal Court case concerning statutory leave entitlements may have caught your attention.
The court ruled that employees rostered for three 12-hour shifts in a week are entitled to be paid for the full 12 hours of their shift when on personal and carer’s leave. Their employer had been paying the shift workers for only 7.2 hours, being the average number of hours per day in a five-day week.
Further to this the court also clarified that personal and carer’s leave must be accrued and taken in measures of days and part-days, rather than hours.
Part time workers also benefitted from the court’s decision in that they too are entitled to 10 days of personal and carer’s leave per year, rather than the common practice of pro-rating their entitlements.
What does this mean for me?
There may be some confusion about the implications of this decision and potential flow-on affect to Australian employers.
Although subject to appeal the interpretation of the legislation that this case provides now represents the current law of the land. Implications of the decision could be significant for employers and employees alike.
Employees working variable ordinary time shifts may find themselves better or worse off depending on their rosters and when they have taken leave.
All employers need to review their practices around the way they accrue, communicate and pay leave.
Are Sybiz Visipay users affected?
If any employers wanted to review their leave processes, Sybiz Visipay has the flexibility to accrue and pay out leave depending on your circumstances.
Some part-time employees who work variable length shifts may have to have In Lieu pay items added to their pay profiles to accumulate the correct amount of leave, rather than setting leave accrual values in the staff type.
If not doing so already, payroll officers will have to ensure that employees are receiving the equivalent amount of ordinary pay for the days on which they are absent.
At the very least all employers will need to communicate personal and carer’s leave balances and transactions in measures of days, rather than hours.
Fair Work is an important resource if you have any questions about the implications of this court ruling on your business and to ensure you are meeting legislative requirements.
If you have any questions about setting up staff types, pay items, managing leave requests or setting up an Employee Self Service option in Sybiz Visipay, feel free to contact your Business Partner or our BusinessCare team.