Australia Vacation Entitlement?

Question

I am looking to relocate from Canada to Melbourne Australia, and am unsure of what the true typical vacation entitlement is. Is it starting usually at 20 days PLUS all statutory holidays and sick leave etc.? Or is the 20 days I am constantly seeing usually all inclusive? I would relocate for a management position if that makes a difference. I will appreciate any and all answers I get here.

Thank you

Answer 1

Generally it is 4 weeks (20 days) annual leave, plus all state public holidays. Different legislation and company policies do vary, but this is pretty standard. Although when you take this leave is up to you (based on approval by your employer), some companies to force you to take your annual leave if you have too much accrued. This is generally because your annual leave balance gets paid out to you when you leave a company.

In addition to this you get 10 days personal/sick leave. This can be used if you are sick/unfit for work, is someone in your household (child/partner etc) is sick and needs to be cared for, or if you need to attend a funeral of an immediate family member. Some companies have this compassionate leave separate to your sick leave, so you don't have to take sick leave in the case of someone passing away.

Your position in the company shouldn't make a difference, unless you own the company then can take holidays whenever you like!

Answer 2

This has undergone some changes recently and varies a bit from industry to industry and employer to employer.  If you are a contractor there is no entitlement.  Casual workers have a different arrangement again and I don't know what it is, there may be some provision for leave but it is limited.  Basically, don't come to work, don't get paid.  

In very general terms four weeks "annual leave" or 20 days is the norm, this can be accumulated over a few years but not without limit.  That is in addition to public holidays which are not counted.  So if you take seven days leave which happen to include a public holiday, you actually have 8 days off.  

On top of that there is "long service leave".  If you are with an employer for ten years additional leave may apply, but you cannot take it until after the ten years is up.  In some cases the time was 15 years.

Sick leave is again separate and in some cases is rolled into "carer's leave".  (A friend's mother developed motor neurone disease and he had to do nearly all the home nursing.  He got leave, but the employer made it as awkward as possible.  He resigned soon after she died.)  The amount of paid sick leave you can take is generally small in your first years, it might only be a few days and after that will be either half pay or no pay.  After one or two years paid sick leave may extend out to say two weeks.

Answer 3

things have chnged abit now so depends on the company you work

one thing i can tell you is that unlike canada you only get paid stat holidays if you are rostered to work that day,if its your reglar day off you do not ge paid for the hoiday