Leave and absence systems

Privacy and employee records in leave systems

A leave system holds two kinds of sensitive detail: the fact of an absence, and the reason behind it. Medical certificates, carer's responsibilities and pregnancy-related absences sit beside ordinary annual leave bookings.

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner publishes guidance on the employee records exemption, which is relevant to employer-held information about employees.

Design the request form around the entitlement, not the story. The employee selects a leave type and dates, and attaches a supporting document rather than retyping it as free text. Open reason fields collect health information the employer has no use for.

Separate access by role. Managers usually need dates, type and status to roster and approve; certificates and absence reasons belong with the HR or payroll staff who administer the entitlement. Reporting should draw on counts and balances rather than the text of reasons.

Set retention periods for the two parts of the record separately. The leave transaction — type, dates, hours and balance change — supports payroll and record-keeping needs over time, while a medical certificate can be deleted once the entitlement has been verified.

Record-keeping and pay slip obligations

Each absence should create a record with the leave type, the dates and hours taken, whether the time was paid or unpaid, and the resulting balance. Capture who requested it, when, and who approved it, so the decision can be reconstructed later.

Aim for one balance per entitlement, per employee. Every change should trace to a transaction: an accrual, leave taken, an adjustment, or a cash-out where the governing instrument permits one. A balance changed by overwriting the number cannot be audited.

Record the accrual rule itself, not just its output. Whether entitlement builds per pay period, per hour worked, or on an anniversary, store the rule as configuration so balances can be recalculated and tested.

Pay slips typically show annual leave and personal or carer's leave balances, so the figures the employee sees come from the leave records. Where the two disagree, the cause is usually a manual adjustment or a late-processed absence. The Fair Work Ombudsman's record-keeping and pay slips fact sheet sets out current employer requirements.

Keep an adjustment trail: who changed a balance, when and why. That history resolves a mismatch between the leave system and a pay slip, and it is the first thing needed when an employee queries their balance.

Compassionate leave for miscarriage

In 2021 the Fair Work Act 2009 was amended to provide improved support for parents who experience miscarriage. The Australian Public Service Commission issued Circular 2021/08 to inform Australian Government employers, noting the changes apply to an employee's entitlements under the National Employment Standards.

Model miscarriage leave as its own leave type rather than a note inside general compassionate leave or personal leave. A separate type lets the system apply its own availability, evidence and reporting rules, and lets the employer see how the entitlement is used without reading individual reasons.

Consider whether a certificate must be produced before the leave can be booked at all. A requirement to upload documents at the time of the request can act as a barrier for an employee who is not in a position to obtain them.

Restrict the reason to the people who administer the entitlement. A manager on the approval screen needs the leave type and dates; the detail behind a miscarriage belongs in a field visible only to HR or payroll. Reasons copied into team calendars or absence reports travel further than intended.

Define the leave once, centrally. When the type and its rules are configured in one place, two employees in the same situation are treated the same way regardless of who approves their request or which team they sit in.

Maternity and parental leave arrangements

The Australian Public Service Commission has released the Review of the Maternity Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Act 1973. The review drew on nearly 190 public submissions from Commonwealth agencies, individuals, academics, employee networks, unions and peak bodies, and was also informed by an Expert Advisory Group.

That review concerns the Commonwealth scheme. For most employers, parental leave entitlements come from more than one place at once: statutory minimums, an award or enterprise agreement, and the employer's own paid parental leave policy. The system has to show which source is being used for a given employee.

Parental leave is rarely a single block of time. It can include birth-related leave before the arrival, a period of unpaid leave, adoption leave, and a return on reduced hours. Each of these affects how other leave accrues while the employee is away.

Keep the return date in the record and treat changes to it as events. An early return, an extension or a switch to part-time hours alters pay, accruals and the end date of the leave; each change should be captured rather than written over the original entry.

Award and enterprise agreement variations

Leave rules are set instrument by instrument, and the Fair Work Ombudsman maintains an award page for each one. Two from its award list: the Australian Capital Territory Public Sector Enterprise Award 2016 [MA000146] and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (Interviewers) Enterprise Award 2016 [MA000143].

The same absence can therefore be treated differently across one employer's workforce. What varies between instruments includes who is covered, how entitlement accrues, whether leave can be taken in advance of accruing, and what evidence is asked for.

Configure leave types, accrual rules, evidence requirements and approval paths per employee group rather than hard-coding them. Store the instrument behind each configuration so it is clear why a rule exists and what has to change when that instrument is updated.

Where an enterprise agreement covers an employee, the system must know which instrument governs the entitlement, so leave is not accrued twice or under the wrong rule. Coverage belongs on the employee record and should be reviewed when roles or agreements change.

Test rule changes against a sample of affected employees before the effective date. An altered accrual rate or a new leave type shifts balances for everyone in the group, and correcting them afterwards is harder than checking first.