Principal
Anne Maree Greenaway Bec. LLB. GradDipLP
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Fair Work Act Review Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations GPO Box 9880 (C50MA6) CANBERRA ACT 2601 via email [email protected]
28 March 2012
Re: Submission Fair Work Act Review, March 2012
We would like to make the following submissions with respect to sections 97, 103(1) and 105(1) of the Fair Work Act 2009 and apologise for the lateness of this submission.
For the purpose of this submission the words pet and companion animal are used interchangeably.
Companion animals play an important part in the lives of many people in Australia. More and more Australians are thinking of their companion animals or pets as members of the family. They talk to them, walk with them, share their homes with them (some even share their bedrooms with them) and when it comes to say good-bye, they grieve for them. The companionship of a pet can reduce stress and relieve the pain of loneliness.
We note that in 2009 Virgin Mobile offered five unpaid days off to staff that had acquired a new puppy or kitten. Virgin Mobile recognised that staff may want to be at home for the first week or so with their new pet, to settle the pet and get them used to their surrounds. The leave was also an acknowledgment that not all staff would have babies and that new kitten or puppy that will need lots of care. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/pet-ernity- leave-a-new-perk/story-e6frf7kx-1111118727673
As a result of the growing importance of pets or companion animals in the lives of Australi- ans we would like to submit that provision for companion animal care and grieving for the loss of a companion animal should be made in the legislation. Section 97(b) should be amended to include the word companion animal or companion animals. Additional require- ments may be placed on the employee to provide documents such as council registrations, a letter from a vet and also a medical certificate from the employee’s own doctor (to avoid this type of leave being exploited by frivolous claims).
97 Taking paid personal/carer’s leave An employee may take paid personal/carer’s leave if the leave is taken: (a) because the employee is not fit for work because of a personal illness, or personal injury, affecting the employee; or
Address: PO Box 1472. Dubbo NSW :: Mobile 0401 407 420 :: ABN 53 198 185 323 Liability limited by a scheme under Professional Standards Legislation (b) to provide care or support to a member of the employee’s immediate family, or a member of the employee’s household, (including a companion animal or companion animals) who requires care or support because of: (i) a personal illness, or personal injury, affecting the member; or (ii) an unexpected emergency affecting the member. Note: The notice and evidence requirements of section 107 must be complied with.
Similarly with regards to section 102 the following amendments should be made:
102 Entitlement to unpaid carer’s leave An employee is entitled to 2 days of unpaid carer’s leave for each occasion (a permissible occasion) when a member of the employee’s immediate family, or a member of the employee’s household (including a compan- ion animal or companion animals) requires care or support because of: (a) a personal illness, or personal injury, affecting the member; or (b) an unexpected emergency affecting the member.
Notwithstanding the omission of a specific reference to companion animals in the legisla- tion, we believe that companion animal/s reasonably fit within the definition of “household”. If an employee were to submit a letter from their veterinary practitioner detailing the illness of the pet/companion animal and the level of care it requires as well as a letter from the employee’s treating doctor verifying the attachment of the employee to their pet/compan- ion animal and that the patient/employee regards the companion animal as a family mem- ber this would meet the definition of “household” as many people consider pets to be part of their family.
Perhaps one of the biggest workplace costs is not absenteeism, but the loss of productivity as a result of distracted employees. This would include an employee concerned about a sick pet at home or grieving the loss of a recently deceased pet.
There is also an ethical consideration, such as; will the animal suffer if the employee is not granted leave? If the pet dies as a result of the employee not being granted leave to care for the animal, will this may result in lost productivity due to the employee being increasingly distracted due to feelings of guilt associated with not providing care to their family member?
With regards to section 105(a) and (b) the following amendments should be made:
105 Taking compassionate leave (1) An employee may take compassionate leave for a particular permissible occasion if the leave is taken: (a) to spend time with the member of the employee’s immediate family or a member of the employ- ee’s household (including a companion animal or companion animals) who has contracted or de- veloped the personal illness, or sustained the personal injury, referred to in section 104; or (b) after the death of the member of the employee’s immediate family or household (including a companion animal or companion animals) referred to in section 104.
Steven White in an article “COMPANION ANIMALS: MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY OR LEGALLY DISCARDED OBJECTS?” (Volume 32 No 3 2009 University of NSW Law Journal) explores the very significant role companion animals, or pets, play in the lives of many humans. The article states as follows:
“A major 2006 report by BIS Shrapnel prepared for the Australian Companion Animal Council Inc asserted that ‘[p]ets today are being treated more like one of the family than in any previous generation’.1 The report summarises an Australian study by Newspoll, which
1 BIS Shrapnel Global Marketing and Intelligence Forecasting, Contribution of the Pet Care Industry to the Australian Economy, 2006 (6th ed, 2006) 33
Should you have any queries in relation to the above, or in the event Lawyers for Companion Animals may be of further assistance, kindly contact Anne Greenaway on 0401 040 742 or via email on [email protected]
Yours faithfully
Anne Greenaway PRINCIPAL
2 Bruce Headey, National Pets and People Survey 2006 – Socially Responsible Pet Ownership in Australia: A Decade of Progress (2006) 20