The Fair Work Commission has confirmed that staff members taking personal leave for less than three days need not supply documentary evidence for one or two-day absences.
According to the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), a recent finding of the Commission states that “the words in the Workplace Determination mean what they say”.
In a statement, the CPSU said in this instance, the Workplace Determination quite clearly stated that evidence for personal leave must be provided for periods of three or more consecutive days and evidence would include a medical certificate or statutory declaration.
“Therefore, your right to not supply documentary evidence for one or two-day absences has been maintained,” the union said.
It said it had lodged the case with the Fair Work Commission “after months of to-and-fro with the employer trying to sneak through a policy whereby managers could ask for documentary evidence for leave of less than three consecutive days”.
“It’s another example where we have stopped the re-interpretation of a condition in the Workplace Determination based on what the employer wanted but lost during the last negotiation and arbitration,” the CPSU said.
It quoted the determination from the Fair Work Commissioner which said that if the employer wanted to change the operation of the Workplace Determination, it was a matter for it to again advance the case for such a change.
“Noting that the Workplace Determination has passed its nominal expiry date, it could advance such a claim in the context of enterprise bargaining,” the Commissioner said.
