12. PERSONAL/CARER’S LEAVE
12.1. General
12.1.1 An Employee will be entitled to personal/carer’s leave in accordance with this clause.
12.1.2 To the extent that the FW Act provides a more favourable outcome for an Employee in relation to personal/carer’s leave, the Employee will receive the NES entitlement.
12.2. Entitlement to paid personal/carer’s leave
Employees are entitled to 18 days of paid personal/carer’s leave for each year of service. This leave accrues progressively in accordance with an Employee’s ordinary hours of work.
12.2.1 The entitlement of part-time employees under this clause will be pro-rated.
12.3. Availability of paid personal/carer’s leave
12.3.1 Employees are entitled to take paid personal/carer’s leave:
(a) if they are unfit for work due to illness or injury;
(b) if they need to attend a medical appointment;
(c) during a period where a Secondary Carer takes parental leave under clause 22.4 (limited to 8 days per year, pro-rated for part-time employees);
(d) if they need to care or support for a member of their Family or household where such a person requires care or support because of a personal illness or injury affecting them, or an unexpected emergency affecting them;
(e) if they need to deal with emergencies.
12.3.2 Paid personal/carer’s leave must not be used for the purposes of clause 12.3.1(b), (c), (e) if it would be detrimental to an Employee in any respect, when compared to the NES.
12.3.3 The taking of paid personal/carer’s leave under this clause is subject to the Employee:
(a) having sufficient accrued paid personal/carer’s leave;
(b) providing SBS with reasonable notice of the need to take leave (which may be a time after the leave has started, depending on the circumstances); and
(c) providing evidence when requested by SBS to substantiate the need to take leave for absences of 3 days or longer, or for frequent short-term absences as required by SBS.
12.3.4 If an employee has exhausted their paid personal/carer’s leave balance:
(a) SBS will in the first instance credit the Employee with up to 1.5 days’ additional leave in advance of its accrual;
(b) on application by an Employee, SBS may then at its sole discretion and on such terms as SBS may determine to offer, approve additional paid or unpaid leave, or grant an Employee the right to take leave in advance of its accrual; and
(c) Employees may also be able to access unpaid carer’s leave under the FW Act, as provided in clause 12.4 below.
12.4. Entitlement to unpaid carer’s leave
12.4.1 As provided for in the NES, Employees, including Casual Employees, are also entitled to 2 days unpaid carer’s leave for each occasion when a member of the Employee’s Family, or a member of the Employee’s household, requires care or support because of:
(a) a personal illness, or personal injury, affecting the member; or
(b) an unexpected emergency affecting the member.
12.4.2 For Employees other than Casual Employees, access to unpaid carer’s leave is only available if the Employee has exhausted their paid personal/carer’s leave balance.
12.5. Other matters
12.5.1 Employees may apply to convert all or some portion of their full pay leave credits at half pay. Where this is approved, an Employee’s entitlement will be reduced by the proportion paid, rather than the time absent from the workplace. Employees will:
(a) apply for leave takings at half pay; and
(b) if approved, receive half of their salary for the period of leave taken.
12.5.2 Employees who have been in receipt of workers’ compensation payments for more than 45 weeks will accrue personal/carer’s leave on a pro-rated basis, based on the hours they actually work in each month.
12.5.3 Employees who become eligible to take personal/carer’s leave whilst on annual or long service leave may apply to convert the relevant part of their leave to personal/carer’s leave. In this case:
(a) medical evidence (for personal leave) or medical or other relevant evidence (for carer’s leave) must be provided to support the Employee’s right to take personal/carer’s leave in the circumstances; and
(b) the employee will be re-credited with annual or long service leave to the extent of the personal/carer’s leave taken.
12.5.4 Employees may not retire on invalidity grounds, unless provided by legislation, before they have exhausted their paid personal/carer’s leave.