What is a carer’s certificate?
A carer’s certificate (sometimes called a carer’s leave certificate or carer’s medical certificate) is evidence that you needed to care for or support someone because they were sick, injured or affected by an unexpected emergency. Employers can ask for it when you take carer’s leave, in the same way they can ask for a medical certificate when you take sick leave.
Who counts as family or household?
Under the National Employment Standards, you can take carer’s leave for a member of your immediate family or household:
- your spouse or de facto partner, including a former spouse or partner
- your child, parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling
- those same relatives of your spouse or de facto partner
- step and adoptive relations
- anyone who lives with you
How much carer’s leave do you get?
Sick leave and carer’s leave come from the same balance, often called personal/carer’s leave. Full-time employees accrue 10 days a year, and part-time employees accrue a pro-rata amount based on their ordinary hours. Unused leave carries over from year to year.
If your paid balance runs out, or you’re a casual employee, you can take 2 days of unpaid carer’s leave each time someone in your immediate family or household needs care.
What evidence can your employer ask for?
You need to tell your employer as soon as possible, which can be after the leave has started, and say how long you expect to be away. Your employer can then ask for evidence, even for a single day. The Fair Work Ombudsman says the evidence must convince a reasonable person that you genuinely needed the leave, and lists medical certificates and statutory declarations as examples.
An award or registered agreement can set out when evidence is needed and what type, as long as the type requested is reasonable in the circumstances.
How to request a carer’s certificate with Click Clinic
Complete the request form and choose carer’s leave. You’ll be asked about the situation and the dates you need. A practitioner reviews it, and if a certificate is appropriate it’s emailed to you. Certificates are dated from the day you apply and aren’t backdated.
