So, an employee has asked for a period of unpaid leave. What should your response be?
Typically, this depends on the employee’s reasons for requesting unpaid leave. Under The Fair Work Act, an employer must grant unpaid leave for parental leave, carer’s leave, compassionate leave, and family and domestic violence leave.
Outside of this, there is no legal obligation to approve unpaid leave; however, there are some situations where refusal to grant leave could result in an unlawful discrimination claim.
Do the right thing
Granting (or not granting) unpaid leave reflects on a company’s cultures and values. As an employer, you may not be legally obligated to say yes to an employee’s request, but saying no could reflect badly on you and your company. Granting unpaid leave for caring and compassionate reasons are all part of creating a positive and supportive workplace culture.
In the current employment environment – where workers are looking for companies that align with their values and respect their requests for flexible working conditions – you could risk losing an employee by declining their request for unpaid leave. It pays to respond to requests for unpaid leave with care and compassion, knowing that an unsympathetic response could result in the employee quitting entirely.
Forward plan
It’s also worth forward planning, to ensure your business continues to run smoothly in the absence of an employee for a period of time. You could take on a contract worker or bring in an employee from another team on an internal secondment.
Communicate clearly
As always, keep the lines of communication open, so that you’re fully aware of the employee’s situation and they understand the conditions of their unpaid leave. There’s no point trying to second-guess around the issue of unpaid leave.
Be consistent
Finally, do keep in mind, that if unpaid leave is granted to one employee, others will expect the same should they be in a similar situation. Be consistent!
And of course, reach out the HR Dept for advice and assistance around issues of unpaid leave. We’re here to help.
