Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave - frequently asked questions

Under the Fair Work Act’s national employment standards, employees of a non-small businesses, from 1 February 2023 can access 10 days paid FDVL. For employees of small businesses, who have less than 15 employees, this entitlement is accessible from 1 August 2023. But what does this mean for practice owners and their managers processing these requests? 

When can employees take paid leave?
Employees can take this paid leave if they need to do something to deal with the impact of FDVL. For example, this could include:

• making arrangements for their safety, or safety of a close relative (including relocation)
• attending court hearings 
• accessing police services
• attending counselling 
• attending appointments with medical, financial or legal professionals

FDVL does not need to be taken all at once and can be taken as single or multiple days at a time. An employer and employee may also mutually agree for the employee to take less than one day at a time if it is required. 

What is the appropriate payment for FDVL?
Full-time and part-time employees are able to take paid FDVL at their full pay rate for the hours they would have worked if they were not on leave. Casual employees are also to be paid at their full pay rate for the hours they were rostered to work in the period they took this leave. An employee’s full base rate is their base rate plus any:

• incentive-based payments and bonuses 
• loadings
• monetary allowances
• overtime or penalty 
• any other separately identifiable amounts 

How does this paid FDVL interact with other paid leave entitlements?
An employee can use paid FDVL during a period of paid personal/carer’s leave or annual leave. If this happens, the employee is considered to no longer be on any other form of paid leave and is taking paid FDVL instead. In this instances the employee will still need to give their employer the required notice and evidence. 
Under the Health Professionals and Support Services Award 2020 and Nurses Award 2020, it makes note that, depending on the individual circumstances, evidence that would satisfy a reasonable person of the employee’s need to take FDVL may include a document issued to them by the police service, a court of family violence support service, or a statutory declaration. 

Does this count towards their continuous service? 
Paid FDVL does not break an employee's period of continuous service. This also counts as service when calculating accumulated entitlements, such as paid annual or personal/carer’s leave. This paid leave entitlement will also count towards an employee’s hours worked in that week for the purpose of calculating overtime. 

How do I allow for FDVL on payslips? As this is a sensitive area does it need to remain confidential? 
There are certain rules around how information about paid FDVL must be reported on pay slips, what information must not be included and the appropriate transitional rules. The overarching need for these employer responsibilities is to reduce the risk to an employee’s safety when accessing paid FDVL.

As most employers are aware, they need to keep a record of leave balances and any leave taken by employees. However, pay slips must not mention paid FDVL. This includes any leave taken and current leave balances. 

From 4 February 2023, an amount paid to an employee for taking paid FDVL has to be recorded on a payslip as either:

• ordinary hours of work, or 
• another kind of payment for performing work, such as an allowance, bonus or overtime payment

With this in mind, upon request from an employee, an employer can record time taken as paid FDVL as another type of leave on their payslip (e.g. annual leave). 

As a general rule, if an employee has taken a period of paid FDVL, it is best practice for their employer to record this on their pay slip in a way that makes the pay slip look as close as possible to how it would have looked if the employee had not taken the leave. 

If you have any more questions about this new change and additional responsibilities as an employer, please reach out to the Workplace Relations Team.
You can contact us via phone (07) 3872 2222 and email support workplacerelations@amaq.com.au. 
 

	Workplace Relations Support Workplace Relations Support assists members with over the phone and email support. You can contact us via phone (07) 3872 2222 and email support workplacerelations@amaq.com.au.
	Workplace Relations Toolkit Workplace Relations Toolkit subscribers receive a Leave policy template as part of their subscription. These policy documents are reviewed and updated as new regulations are released.
	Workplace Relations Consultancy Workplace Relations Consultancy can review your current policies and offer guidance to AMA Queensland members who may be dealing with employees struggling in this area and require comprehensive advice.