In Mondelez Australia Pty Ltd [2018] FWC 2140 the Fair Work Commission (Commission) confirmed shiftworkers are entitled to 10 days of personal/carer’s leave to be taken and accrued as a daily entitlement based on the hours ordinarily worked by a particular employee in a day. As a result, shiftworkers are entitled to payment for the full duration of their shift whilst on personal/carer’s leave rather than a standard 7.6 hours per day.

The Fair Work Commission reached a similar decision again this year in Australian Workers’ Union, The v AstraZeneca Pty Ltd [2018] FWC 4660 when it was asked to rule on how personal/carer’s leave is to be calculated for shiftworkers at pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca Pty Ltd. In this case, the Commission held the entitlement to personal/carer’s leave differs between the employer’s rosters of 12 hour shifts and 10.28 hour shifts, and should not be calculated based on an average of hours worked.