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Employers should be extremely cautious about rejecting requests for carers leave, particularly where there are urgent circumstances. Under both state and federal law, employees have clear entitlements to carers leave and employers should ensure they are familiar with the legal requirements.
A refusal to allow an employee to take carers leave may result in a discrimination claim and possibly prosecution by the relevant government agency for breach of legislative obligations. The consequences of a failure to comply with carers leave obligations can be demonstrated by a recent decision of the Anti-Discrimination Tribunal Queensland in Bishop v. Gedge & Rudd [2008] QADT 17 (5 August 2008). The writer acted for the successful claimant. In that case, a timber supervisor was denied leave at short notice to take his sick daughter to hospital with what turned out to be a life threatening illness. Mr Bishop’s employment was subsequently terminated after he told the manager to “shove your job up your arse”, left the workplace to take his daughter to hospital and later returned to the workplace and abused his employer for making him choose between his job and sick daughter. Member Forrest found that Mr Bishop had been subject to both direct and indirect discrimination on the basis of his family responsibilities and ordered the respondents to pay $39,325 in damages together with costs. The member also ordered the company to unreservedly apologise to Mr Bishop. If an employer has doubts about the veracity of a request, they should require supporting documentation in accordance with applicable legislation. However, particularly where the request is urgent, this may need to be done after the leave has been taken. Full details of the decision can be found on the Austlii website – www.austlii.edu.au or by contacting the writer. |
2002 Bulletin Archive