Employees of small business employers can now access 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave in a 12-month period.
This follows employees of non-small business employers being able to access the leave from earlier this year.
Under the changes, full-time, part-time and casual employees can take 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave in a 12-month period (it isn’t pro-rated for part-time or casual employees).
The 10 days are available up front and don’t need to be accrued by an employee.
If not used, the leave doesn’t accumulate from year to year.
This leave entitlement replaces the previous five days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave under the National Employment Standards.
Information and resources
The Fair Work Ombudsman says it has updated its website and key resources to support small business employers and employees understand the new entitlement. These include:
- An updated family and domestic violence leave section
- A small business employer guide to family and domestic violence to help employers manage family and domestic violence in the workplace
- New family and domestic violence leave – case studies
- Difficult conversations in the workplace online courses, with guidance for discussing these sensitive issues in the workplace
The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations has also developed the website 10dayspaidfdvleave.com.au.
In further resources, the Fair Work Ombudsman points to Small Business, Big Impact, a new podcast for small businesses about how to support employees experiencing family and domestic violence.
