Paid family and domestic violence leave
All employees are entitled to family and domestic violence leave (FDVL) each year. This includes full-time, part-time and casual employees.
The entitlement to paid or unpaid FDVL comes from the National Employment Standards (NES). It’s a minimum leave entitlement, like annual leave or sick and carer’s leave.
Employees can take paid leave to deal with family and domestic violence from different dates depending on the size of their employer. The leave is available from:
1 February 2023, for employees of non-small business employers
1 August 2023, for employees of small business employers.
Employees of small business employers can continue to take unpaid family and domestic violence leave until 1 August 2023.
On the relevant date above all, employees (including casuals) will be credited with a balance of 10 days of paid FDVL to replace the previous entitlement of five days of unpaid FDVL.
Each employee will automatically have their 10 days balance restored on the anniversary of their original date of commencing employment. Paid FDVL does not accumulate above the maximum 10 days balance.
Non-small business employers and employees
From 1 February 2023, employees of non-small business employers (employers with 15 or more employees) can access 10 days of paid family domestic violence leave in each 12 month period.
Employees who start work for a non-small business employer after 1 February 2023 can access 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave from the day they start work. For example, if an employee starts on 1 March 2023, their paid leave entitlement is available from then.
Small business employers and employees
Employees of small business employers (employers with less than 15 employees) can access this paid leave from 1 August 2023.
Until then, they can continue to take unpaid family and domestic violence leave. Learn more at Unpaid family and domestic violence leave.
Family and domestic violence
Family and domestic violence means violent, threatening, or other abusive behaviour by an employee’s close relative that:
seeks to coerce or control the employee
causes them harm or fear.
A close relative is:
an employee's:
spouse or former spouse
de facto partner or former de facto partner
child
parent
grandparent
grandchild
sibling
an employee's current or former spouse or de facto partner's child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling, or
a person related to the employee according to Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander kinship rules.
All employees, including part-time and casual employees, are entitled to 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave in a 12-month period to enable them to do something to deal with the impact of this, and it is impractical to do so outside of their ordinary hours of work. For example, this could include:
making arrangements for their safety, or the safety of a close relative (including relocation)
attending court hearings
accessing police services
attending counselling
attending appointments with medical, financial or legal professionals.
Employees must let their employer know as soon as possible if they need to take family and domestic violence leave. Sometimes this will be after the leave has started.
An employer can ask for evidence to show that the employee needs to do something to deal with family and domestic violence and it’s not practical to do it outside their work hours. Types of evidence an employee can provide includes:
a statutory declaration
family violence support service documents
documents issued by a police service, or
documents issued by a court.
Payroll and business obligations
From 1 February 2023, there are rules about information that must not be included on an employee’s pay slip relating to paid family and domestic violence leave. This is to reduce the risk to an employee’s safety when accessing paid family and domestic violence leave.
Employers must take reasonable steps to keep information about notice or evidence for family and domestic violence leave confidential.
For full-time or part-time employees with a paid entitlement, family and domestic violence leave must be paid at the employee’s full rate of pay for the hours they would have worked had they not taken leave.
Casual employees with a paid entitlement must be paid at their full rate of pay for the hours they were rostered to work in the period they took leave.
The employee’s full pay rate is their base rate plus any loadings, allowances, overtime and penalty rates, bonuses, incentive payments or other separately identifiable amounts.
Pay slips must not mention paid family and domestic violence leave, however employers must keep a record of this leave balance and any leave taken by employees.
Knowledge, awareness and planning can help employers support their employees, meet their workplace obligations and protect their workplaces. Resources to help you support your employees are listed below:
1800RESPECT is the national domestic, family and sexual violence counselling, information and support service. If you or someone you know is experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, domestic, family or sexual violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au. This service can also provide confidential information about what it means to be experiencing domestic, family or sexual violence.