Q: I was hoping you could help us confirming what we are legally required to provide in regards to sick leave for the following scenario:

– Employee was employed as ‘Fixed term’ for 4 month period and then was terminated and her AL was paid out.  This same employee then re-started as a ‘Casual’ the following day.

Given the employees employment has been continuous are we required by law to count her service as a fixed termer for the purposes of determining sick leave entitlement or can we use her new start date as a Casual and assess qualification for sick leave 6 months from this date?

A: Yes under section 63(1)(b) this employee may meet the criteria to get SL from the 4 months as a fix term employee and now being a casual.
63 Entitlement to sick leave and bereavement leave
(1)
An employee is entitled to sick leave and bereavement leave in accordance with this subpart—
(a)
after the employee has completed 6 months’ current continuous employment with the employer; or
(b)
if, in the case of an employee to whom subsection (1)(a) does not apply, the employee has, over a period of 6 months, worked for the employer for—
(i)
at least an average of 10 hours a week during that period; and
(ii)
no less than 1 hour in every week during that period or no less than 40 hours in every month during that period.

Q:so we will treat fixed term and casual periods of employment as ‘one’ continuous period of employment regardless of the fact they were terminated for the purposes of calculating sick leave entitlements.

A: It is based on the 6 month period so that could include a termination.