Do absences from work extended an employee’s period of notice?
Once an employee submits their resignation to their employer and provides the required period of notice, the effective termination date will remain unchanged unless an extension is requested and agreed to by both the employee and the employer.
Providing a period of notice does not change an employee’s entitlement to access the entitlements which are set out under an applicable modern award, the National Employment Standards, or their contract of employment. Periods of leave or absences from work that occur during an employee’s notice period (including personal leave, public holidays or annual leave) will not extend the termination date and will count towards the notice period provided.
For example:
Personal/Carers Leave:
Unless otherwise agreed to by the employer, an employee who has given notice to their employer will be required to work out the period of notice, except where they are prevented from attending due to illness or injury. This means that an employee can take a period of personal/carers leave during their notice period if they are unable to attend work due to illness or injury.
Annual leave
An employer may approve a request made by an employee to take a period of annual leave during the employee’s notice period.
Generally an employer can not unreasonably refuse an employee’s request to take accrued annual leave. However in instances where an employee has given notice of their resignation, it may be reasonable for such a request to be declined by the employer due to the requirement for the employee to be present to finalise their tasks and to facilitate a handover of their duties to another employee.
Unapproved Absences
An employee who is absent from work on unapproved leave without having reasonable cause during their notice period will not be entitled to payment for the period of the absence. However, as with other forms of leave, the length of the notice provided will not be extended by the period of the absence.
Information in HR Advice Online guides and blog posts is meant purely for educational discussion of human resources issues. It contains only general information about human resources matters and due to factors such as government legislation changes, may not be up-to-date at the time of reading. It is not legal advice and should not be treated as such.