National Employment Standards
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.
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