Leave policy template
The entitlements are not yours to set. The National Employment Standards already do that, and they are the floor an award can beat but never undercut. What a policy adds is the part people actually need: how to ask, and how long an answer takes.
This example wording was checked against the official sources on 22 September 2026. It is a starting point, not legal advice, and it has not been through a workplace relations professional.
| Section | What the policy says |
|---|---|
| Purpose | To set out what leave is available here, how to ask for it, and what we do with the request. |
| Who it applies to | All employees. Casual employees do not build up paid annual leave or paid sick and carer’s leave, but they do get paid family and domestic violence leave, unpaid carer’s leave and unpaid compassionate leave. |
| Annual leave | Four weeks each year for full time and part time employees, based on their ordinary hours. It builds up from your first day, including during probation, and what you do not use rolls over. Some shiftworkers get a fifth week where the award says so. |
| Asking for annual leave | Ask in the app as early as you can, and at least four weeks ahead for anything longer than a couple of days. You will get an answer within five working days. A request is not approved until you have been told it is. |
| Sick and carer’s leave | Ten days a year for a full time employee and pro rata for part time, building up from your first day and rolling over. It covers your own illness or injury, and caring for or supporting somebody in your immediate family or household who is sick or injured or has an unexpected emergency. |
| Notice and evidence for sick leave | Call the manager on duty as early as you can, and before your shift starts. A message to a colleague is not notice. We may ask for evidence such as a medical certificate or a statutory declaration, including for a single day. |
| Compassionate leave | Two days each time it is needed: when somebody in your immediate family or household dies or develops a life threatening illness or injury, when a baby in your immediate family or household is stillborn, or on a miscarriage of your own or your partner’s. It does not build up and it is there whenever it is needed. |
| Family and domestic violence leave | Ten days of paid leave each year, for everybody here including casuals. It is available in full from your first day, resets on your work anniversary, and does not roll over. It is separate from annual leave and from sick leave, not taken out of either. |
| Keeping that request private | We take reasonable steps to keep your notice and any evidence confidential. It is not discussed with colleagues and it is not used for anything else. We will agree with you how the information is handled. 1800RESPECT is on 1800 737 732. |
| Unpaid leave | Asked for in writing and agreed before it is taken. Whether we can give it depends on what the roster can cover. |
| Parental leave | Available under the National Employment Standards. Talk to the owner as early as you are comfortable, so the roster can be planned and your return talked through. |
| Long service leave | Set by the law of the state or territory you work in rather than by this policy. Ask the owner and we will look up what applies to you. |
| Public holidays | You may be asked to work a public holiday where the request is reasonable, and you may refuse where your refusal is reasonable. What the day pays comes from the award or agreement. |
| Leave balances | Shown in the app and on your pay slip. If a balance looks wrong, tell the owner and we will check it against the records. |
| Review date | Reviewed each year in March, or when the law behind an entitlement changes. |
What is in the file
- Template, blank, with each section down the side and room for the answer.
- Example, the same sheet filled in for Harbourside Coffee.
- How to use, with the steps and the mistakes below.
How to fill it in
- Check every figure against the Fair Work Ombudsman before you use it. The National Employment Standards are the floor, and an award or agreement can be better but never worse.
- Set your own notice periods and answer times, then meet them. The answer time is the part staff notice.
- Keep the family and domestic violence section as it is. It covers casuals, and the confidentiality in it is an obligation rather than a courtesy.
- Say where balances can be seen, because most leave arguments start with somebody not knowing theirs.
Common mistakes
- A policy saying casuals get no leave at all, when paid family and domestic violence leave applies to them too
- Refusing annual leave with no reason and no answer, which is how a small request becomes a dispute
- Treating probation as a reason leave does not build up, when it builds up from the first day
What changes by trade
The law behind this document is the same wherever you trade, so the wording above is written once. What changes is what the trade puts in front of it.
| Cafes and restaurants | Leave over Christmas is the request that causes arguments. Say when requests for that period close and how competing ones are decided, rather than letting first in best dressed happen by accident. rostering a cafe |
| Retail | Many shops block leave over a trading peak. That can be reasonable, but put it in writing before the year starts rather than when the request lands. rostering a retail roster |
| Disability and home care | A participant needs continuity, so leave means a handover rather than a gap. Say how far ahead a request is needed when somebody holds regular clients. rostering disability support |
| Childcare | The room has to keep its staffing while somebody is away. Say that leave is approved against the cover available, not against the calendar alone. rostering an early learning service |
| Security | A client contract may name the guard. Say who arranges the replacement and whether the client has to agree to it before the leave is confirmed. rostering a security business |
| Pubs and clubs | Public holidays are trading days here, not days off, and the award sets what they pay. Say how the holiday roster is decided and when it is published. rostering a pub or club |
This is example wording for a small business to adapt, not legal advice. Annual leave, personal and carer’s leave, compassionate leave, family and domestic violence leave, parental leave, community service leave and public holidays come from the National Employment Standards in the Fair Work Act 2009. An award or agreement can give more, never less. Long service leave comes from state and territory law.
Sources
The official pages this wording was read against, on 22 September 2026.
- Fair Work Ombudsman, National Employment Standards
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Notice and evidence for family and domestic violence leave
When a spreadsheet stops being enough
Roster Flow takes approved leave out of the week before it is built, so somebody who is away is not accidentally rostered and the gap is visible while there is still time to fill it.
Questions
What is on the leave policy template?
15 sections down the side, running from purpose to review date. The example beside them is filled in for Harbourside Coffee: every kind of leave in one place, with how to ask and how long an answer takes.
Does the leave policy template work anything out for you?
No. It is a document with 15 sections to answer in your own words, not a calculator. Nothing on it is a formula.
Can I use the leave policy template in Google Sheets?
Yes. Open leave-policy.xlsx from Google Drive, or use File, then Import, then Upload with leave-policy.csv. The document and its example come across either way.
Is the wording in the leave policy template ready to use as it is?
The leave policy template is a starting point for Harbourside Coffee or any business like it, to adapt rather than sign. The wording was checked against the official sources on 22 September 2026, it is not legal advice, and it has not been through a workplace relations professional.