Leave arrangements

Jennifer has an employee who has moved from part time to full-time and claims this entitles her to "study leave". "Not necessarily" advises Peta Tumpey, a partner at law firm Hunt & Hunt. If such an arrangement is not an established company-wide policy or spelt out in an Award or contract, then there was no legal obligation to provide study leave.

"While some employers make employees take study days as annual leave, others view study leave as a low cost way of keeping a valued employee happy," Ms Tumpey said."While we are on the subject of leave, under the new 'Work Choices' legislation employees are now entitled to ten days personal leave, which means sick leave or carer's leave, instead of eight days," she added.

Sick leave can be taken due to illness or injury and carer's leave to provide care for immediate family or "household members" due to illness, injury or sudden emergency. An employee with no accrued leave can take up to two days unpaid carer's leave to look after immediate family/ or "household member".

Under the new laws, "household member" is defined as child (adopted, step child and adult child) and de facto or married spouse. De facto spouse is defined as a person of the opposite sex who lives with the employee as a husband or wife "on a genuine domestic basis although not legally married." Immediate family covers child, parent, grandchild and sibling of either the employee or his or her spouse.

It can also cover ex-partners. In reporting on employment issues for many years, I've noticed many companies make their leave policies - including adoption leave - available to same sex couples so it's worth making such inquiries when you're job shopping. 

By Kate Southam, Editor of careerone.com.au.

For more useful tips read the other stories in the Job Hunting Advice section and Ask Kate Column.