Use of Personal Leave to Provide Support to Family Members. Pursuant to the Workplace Relations Act, paid personal leave can be used if it is necessary for the Employee to provide care or support to a member of the Employee’s immediate family or to a member of the Employee’s household for whom the Employee has responsibility. This provision is subject to a maximum of 10 days per year and it is deducted from any personal leave credits that the Employee has available. If the Employee does not have any sick leave credits available, or if the Employee exceeds the maximum of 10 days in any one year, then the Employee is not able to make use of paid leave for the purposes contemplated by this clause. Any such paid leave is paid for in the same way as if the Employee had been absent because of illness or injury. The employee will, if required, establish by production of a medical certificate or statutory declaration, the illness of the immediate family member concerned. the term “immediate family” includes: a spouse (including a former spouse, a defacto spouse and a former defacto spouse) of the employee. A defacto spouse, in relation to a person, means a person of the same or opposite sex to the first mentioned person who lives with the first mentioned person as the partner of that person on a bona fide domestic basis although not legally married to that person: and a child or an adult child (including an adopted child, a step child or an ex-nuptial child), parent, grandparent, or sibling of the employee or spouse of the employee.
