Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave – Amendment to the NES Entitlement
The National Employment Standards contained in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) have been amended to give all employees an entitlement to up to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave (FDVL) each year. This replaces the existing entitlement of 5 days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave.
When does this come into effect?
The commencement of the new paid entitlement has been delayed until 1 February 2023 to enable employers to make necessary payroll adjustments and other changes required to prepare for its implementation.
Small businesses have been afforded an additional 6 months to prepare with the changes for them coming into effect on 1 August 2023.
What has changed?
- Entitlement has increased from 5 unpaid days to 10 paid days per year
- All types of employees will be able to potentially access paid FDVL. This includes casual employees as well as full time and part time employees
The definition of family and domestic violence has been extended to:
Family and domestic violence is defined in the FW Act as violent, threatening or other abusive behaviour by a close relative of an employee, a member of an employee’s household, or a current or former intimate partner of an employee that:
- seeks to coerce or control the employee; and
- causes the employee harm or to be fearful
Eligibility
An employee may take Paid FDVL if the following (Eligibility Requirements) are met:
- the employee is experiencing family and domestic violence; and
- the employee needs to do something to deal with the impact of the family and domestic violence; and
- it is impractical for the employee to do that thing outside the employee’s ‘work hours’.
The new entitlement permits employees to take Paid FDVL when they need to do something to deal with family and domestic violence during their ‘work hours’.
To ensure you are ready for these changes we recommend you commence reviewing your current policies and procedures to ensure you are ready to implement these changes in the coming months. If you would like assistance in updating or developing a policy to include paid family and domestic leave contact Inspire HQ to set up your free Inspire HQ People Hour. For more information, visit our Human Resources page.
