Our Business Advice Hotline has been getting many phone calls lately on unpaid leave (also known as ‘Leave Without Pay’). The main concerns are that employees request unpaid leave even with sufficient paid leave entitlements available. Unpaid leave is not covered specifically by any legislation and is generally left up to the employer’s discretion.
There are some exceptions to this, specifically regarding parental leave and unpaid pandemic leave (this being added to most Awards during the Covid-19 pandemic to allow periods of government-mandated isolation). The unpaid pandemic leave will end in most Awards on 30 June 2022.
All other instances of unpaid leave should generally be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, depending on the individual situation. Unpaid leave may be deemed reasonable by an employer in circumstances where an employee:
During instances where the employee has requested unpaid leave to cover a personal/carers leave period, employers should still request evidence in these circumstances.
As leave options for casual employees can be a little more complex, please contact the Business Advice Hotline to get support in this area.
Employers are encouraged to implement a leave policy in their business to cover the use of unpaid leave and how the employer will deal with it.
How we can help?
The South Australian Business Chamber’s consulting team are here to help. Our experienced consultants can draft up personalised leave policies to address unpaid leave and other leave within the business.
Don’t forget, if your business has a postcode of 5000 or 5006, you can access up to two hours FREE consulting through our partnership with the City of Adelaide.
If you are interested in having one of our consultants draft a leave policy or assist with any other workplace relations matter, you can contact us on (08) 8300 0000 (select option one).
