Q: My employee has submitted a sick leave application form for a recent unplanned day off work she took. At the time, the employee advised that she had needed to urgently visit her solicitor in relation to a private matter. However, now she has put in for sick leave for the time off and that doesn’t seem right. Can you assist with how I handle this?
Therefore in these circumstances and provided the employee does not have entitlement to any other applicable leave types (such as emergency leave within an Enterprise Agreement), you are within your rights to advise the employee that personal leave is not appropriate for her circumstances and process the time off work as leave without pay. Alternatively, if you both agree, the employee could also use any accrued annual leave entitlements as an alternative to leave without pay.
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Note, any advice provided in Industryus Q&As is general, and should be confirmed with a specific discussion with your HR professional prior to proceeding.