Employees may take up to three working days off as paid leave if a family member dies. Spouse, son, daughter, mother, father, mother-in-law, father-in-law, sister, brother, grandparent, or grandchild are all considered members of the family. This policy would also apply to stepparents, stepsiblings, and stepchildren.
When can compassionate leave be taken
Employees can take compassionate leave if:
- a member of their immediate family or household dies, or contracts or develops a life-threatening illness or injury
- a baby in their immediate family or household is stillborn
- they have a miscarriage
- their current spouse or de facto partner has a miscarriage.
Amount of compassionate leave
Employees are entitled to 2 days compassionate leave each time they meet the criteria.
Employees can take compassionate leave as:
- a single continuous 2 day period
- 2 separate periods of 1 day each
- any separate periods as agreed with their employer.
Employees do not accrue compassionate leave, and it is not included in their sick and caregiver leave entitlement. Employees can request compassionate leave at any moment.
If an employee is already on another sort of leave (for example, yearly leave) and needs to take compassionate leave, they can do so instead of taking the other type of leave.