Auslan
All employees working in Australia have the same workplace rights, including employees who are deaf or hard of hearing. We can help you understand your rights and responsibilities at work.
On this page:
National Employment Standards video series
The National Employment Standards (NES) are the minimum employment entitlements that all employees are entitled to. An award, employment contract or enterprise agreement can give more but never less than the NES.
To help you understand your minimum entitlements, we have a series of videos with an Auslan interpreter.
Maximum weekly hours
The NES sets the maximum weekly hours for employees, as well as when an employee can refuse to work more hours.
For more information, see our Maximum weekly hours fact sheet.
Annual leave
Annual leave is an entitlement that all employees (except for casuals) can use to take paid time away from work.
For more information, see Annual leave.
Personal and carer’s leave
Full-time and part-time employees are entitled to take paid time off work using personal leave, also known as sick and carer’s leave.
An employee can use personal leave when they are sick or injured. They can also use it to care for an immediate family or household member who is sick or injured or has an unexpected emergency.
Casuals can take some unpaid carer’s leave, while full-time and part-time employees can take some unpaid carer’s leave if they run out of paid leave.
For more information, see Personal and carer’s leave.
Compassionate leave
Compassionate leave, also known as bereavement leave, allows an employee to take leave if a family or household member dies or contracts or develops a life-threatening illness.
An employee can also take compassionate leave if they or their current spouse or de facto partner have a miscarriage or if a baby in their immediate family or household is stillborn.
For more information, see Compassionate and bereavement leave.
Family and domestic violence leave
Employees experiencing family and domestic violence can access 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave each year.
Full-time, part-time and casual employees can access the full amount of paid family and domestic violence leave from the day they start work.
For more information, see Family and domestic violence leave.
Community service leave
Employees, including casual employees, can take community service leave for jury duty or to volunteer for emergency management activities.
For more information, see Community service leave.
Public holidays
Every year, all employees are entitled to days off work for public holidays.
For more information, see Public holidays.
Notice of termination and redundancy
Employers must give most full-time and part-time employees notice in writing, or payment in lieu of notice, when ending their employment. An employee’s minimum notice period is based on their length of service. There are rules about what needs to be included in an employee's final pay.
For more information, see Notice and final pay.
Redundancy is when a business no longer needs an employee’s role to be done by anyone. When an employer makes an employee’s job redundant, they may need to pay the employee severance or redundancy pay.
For more information, see Redundancy.
