An overview of legal procedure & case law
See Fair Work Act 2009 s.22
An excluded period does not break an employee’s continuous service with their employer. However, it does not count towards the length of the employee's continuous service. Periods of casual employment may affect the length of an employee’s continuous service for the purpose of an application for an unfair dismissal remedy.
The following are periods that are excluded from the definition of 'service' and therefore for the purpose of calculating the minimum employment period:
The following are examples of unauthorised absence:
The following are examples of unpaid authorised absence:
The above periods do not break service however they are not counted in the calculation of the minimum period of employment.
The following are examples of unpaid authorised absence for which the period of absence is counted as service:
The Fair Work Act includes provisions that the 'regulations may prescribe different periods' however the Fair Work Regulations do not currently do so.