Leave & attendance HR policy templates

Yes, where you have reasonable business grounds such as operational needs or insufficient coverage — but you cannot unreasonably refuse a request. Be consistent and document your reasons. See how to manage annual leave requests.

Only in limited circumstances, such as excessive accrued leave or a business shutdown, and usually with reasonable notice. Any direction must be reasonable and align with your award or agreement. Check your modern award for the specific rules.

Eligible employees can take up to 12 months of unpaid parental leave under the NES, with a right to request a further 12 months. This applies to birth parents, partners and adoptive parents. Our parental leave policy and how to manage parental leave guide cover eligibility, notice and return to work.

Use leave management software to automatically track accruals, requests and balances. Manual spreadsheets are risky and time-consuming for compliance — see how to track employee leave balances.

You must keep accurate records of hours worked — including start/finish times and breaks — for 7 years. Our timekeeping & timesheets policy sets out how to record work hours consistently.

Address it early through conversations, document incidents and follow your attendance & punctuality policy. Your absence notification policy should also make reporting expectations clear.

You can only request evidence where it is reasonable in the circumstances. For a single day this may be unreasonable unless there is a pattern of suspicious absences or it falls on a critical operational day.

Employees with at least 12 months’ service can request flexible arrangements such as adjusted hours or remote work, and you must genuinely consider the request and respond in writing. Our flexible working arrangements policy outlines a fair process.