How can I use Leave Without Pay in Australia?

In addition to the glossary term below,  ACXPA Members also have access to a range of additional resources, including our Member Symposiums & Video Library, premium resources to download, exclusive industry insights & data, discounted training courses and lots more!

See which ACXPA membership is right for you >

Leave without pay

Leave Without Pay (LWOP) is unpaid leave enabling an absence of employment that has been authorised or consented to by the employer.

In Australia, the majority of organisations will allow staff to take personal leave without pay (or LWOP as it might appear on a payslip) for certain reasons.

Common ‘Leave Without Pay’ reasons

It’s important to acknowledge that ultimately the Employer can grant LWOP for any reason with the following some of the common reasons employees ask for Leave Without Pay:

  • They need additional time off for an extended holiday but have exhausted all their annual leave.
  • Time off to study.
  • They are recovering from a major illness and have exhausted their sick leave or need to attend healthcare appointments.
  • Career Breaks.
  • They’ve recently become a parent and want to spend more time with the baby to support their partner but have exhausted their maternity/paternity leave entitlements.

Typically Leave Without Pay only applies or can be accessed when an employee’s annual leave or personal leave is exhausted.

Specifically related to COVID, as an employee, the situations where LWOP may apply include:

  • is in Government directed OR optional self-isolation and is not sick (i.e. has returned from overseas and feels well)
  • has come into contact with a known case of COVID-19 and is in Government directed OR optional self-isolation and is not sick
  • has come in to contact with a suspected case of COVID-19 and is in Government directed OR optional self-isolation and is not sick
  • is stuck overseas (on a cruise ship etc) due to COVID-19

Other things you should know about LWOP

  • While there is no general entitlement to unpaid leave under the Fair Work Act 2009, there are some provisions that deal with the question of when unpaid leave can be taken. In other cases, it is a matter for agreement between the employer and employee.
  • There are however two areas where unpaid leave is protected by law:
    • Caring or parental rights such as parental leave
    • Time off to carry out public duties, specifically jury service and magistrate duties
    • Outside of these two, unpaid leave approval is at the employer’s discretion.
  • An employee is not entitled to be paid for public holidays that fall during a period of leave without pay.
  • An employee absent on leave without pay does not accrue annual leave during that period of absence.
  • Long service leave will continue to accrue while an employee is on leave without pay, as the employee’s continuity of service includes periods of unpaid leave.

Helpful Links

CX Roundtables - Upcoming Guests

Live, interactive sessions for CX Professionals in Australia - completely free!

Upcoming CX Roundtable - Karen Clydesdale

Next Members Symposium Livestream: Tuesday, 21st April, 2024, 13:30 AEDT

The Members Symposium sessions are only available to ACXPA Members! 

ACXPA Members can watch the symposium live, and, can watch any of the sessions at any time in their Video Library. 

Discover which membership is right for you >

Preview of upcoming Symposium Sessions:

Nadine Power, ACXPA National Advisory Board Member

IVR Best Practice

Over 90% of contact centres are using an IVR (Press 1 for this, press 2 for that), and we've encountered many contact centres with over four layers of options for customers to select from. In this session, Nadine will be sharing some best practice tips on IVR design for 2024.

Presented by Nadine Power, Chief Product Officer, Datagamz (and ACXPA National Advisory Board Member)

ACXPA National Advisory Board Member Simon Blair

Tips to Boost Engagement on Calls

Of the five quality competencies we assess as part of the Australian Call Centre Rankings, the 'ENGAGE' competency from the Australian Contact Centre Quality Standards has consistently been at the bottom of the rankings throughout 2023 and into 2024.

In this session, Simon will provide some tips that can be shared with agents on how to increase engagement with customers at the start of calls.

Presented by Simon Blair, General Manager Quality Insights, ACXPA

More sessions announced soon! 

(If you're interested in speaking at one of our events, click here to learn more >)

If you want to share and earn points please login first
0 Comments

Leave a reply

ACXPA PLATINUM SPONSORS

ACXPA Platinum SPONSORS
ACXPA Platinum SPONSORS
ACXPA Platinum SPONSORS

ACXPA GOLD SPONSORS

ACXPA Platinum SPONSORS
ACXPA Platinum SPONSORS
ACXPA SILVER SPONSORS
ACXPA Platinum SPONSORS
ACXPA BRONZE SPONSORS
ACXPA Platinum SPONSORS
ACXPA Platinum SPONSORS
Copyright © 2024 | Australian Customer Experience Professionals Association | Phone: +61 1800 0 ACXPA | Website Terms of Use 

Log in with your email address

or Become an ACXPA Member

Forgot your details?

Create Account