The National Employment Standards (NES) are the 10 minimum standards of employment which cover the following:

• Maximum weekly hours of work – 38 hours per week, plus reasonable additional hours.
• Requests for flexible working arrangements – certain employees can ask to change their working arrangement.
• Parental leave and related entitlements – up to 12 months unpaid leave and the right to ask for an extra 12 months unpaid leave. Also includes adoption‑related leave.
• Annual leave – four weeks paid leave per year, plus an additional week for some shift workers.
• Personal/carer’s leave, compassionate leave, and family and domestic violence leave – 10 days paid personal/carer’s leave, two days unpaid carer’s leave as required, two days compassionate leave as required and five days unpaid family and domestic violence leave (in a 12-month period).
• Community service leave – unpaid leave for voluntary emergency activities and leave for jury service, with an entitlement to be paid for up to 10 days for jury service.
• Long service leave – paid leave for employees who have been with the same employer for a long time.
• Public holidays – a paid day off on a public holiday (unpaid for casuals), except where reasonably requested to work.
• Notice of termination and redundancy pay – up to 5 weeks notice of termination and up to 16 weeks redundancy pay, both based on length of service.
• Provision of a Fair Work Information Statement – must be provided by employers to all new employees.

For more information check out the fact sheet here.