The ACT Government has announced an extra week of COVID leave for government employees diagnosed with coronavirus, including healthcare workers.

“The onset of the Omicron variant and associated changes in the amount and severity of incapacity gave cause to expand the COVID leave policy,” said Mick Gentleman, ACT Minister for Industrial Relations and Workplace Safety.

Earlier today, the Canberra Liberals had called for COVID-19 leave to be made available to healthcare and other frontline workers immediately.

Giulia Jones, Shadow Minister for Health, had referred to media reports that COVID-19-positive healthcare workers must use all their sick leave before accessing the Government’s special COVID-19 leave, and must return to work while still positive if they were asymptomatic.

“For the entire pandemic, ACT Government Ministers have been thanking health workers in press conferences, but now it seems that nurses are expected to use up sick leave before being granted COVID-19 leave,” Mrs Jones said.

“Actions speak louder than words. It isn’t good enough for workers to be without COVID-19 leave when they are working with COVID patients every day, when this leave was created for this very purpose.

“It really is mean and heartless.”

Mrs Jones demanded that the ACT Government look after overworked healthcare workers who had carried the burden for government during (and before) the pandemic.

“The Canberra Health Service’s HR system and employment agreements are not suited to COVID, and should be immediately revised or amended to reflect the new reality.

“They have had two years to plan for this situation. Workers should definitely not be expected to come back to work while still COVID positive.”

Mr Gentleman said the government’s COVID support leave measures were enhanced from today to provide an additional entitlement to one week (seven consecutive calendar days) of COVID-19 leave for employees diagnosed with COVID-19. COVID leave does not reduce personal leave balances.

“The decision to make this change occurred earlier this week, and has come about as a result of close consultation with all Unions,” Mr Gentleman said.

In line with the ACT Government’s new COVID-19 leave entitlements, Canberra Health Services (CHS) employees who are ill with COVID-19, have access to up to seven consecutive calendar days of COVID-19 leave, followed by access to personal leave if they are still unfit for duty, a CHS spokesperson said.

Health care workers who are a confirmed COVID-19 case, must not attend work, and must quarantine as per ACT Public Health Directives.

Fully vaccinated staff must quarantine for seven days, and cannot enter an ACT health facility until after 14 days.

However, fully vaccinated staff can return to work on Day Eight (if cleared from isolation on Day Seven), only if:

• there is a critical workforce shortage (as determined by the facility)
• they are asymptomatic at all times whilst at work
• they follow the instructions of their facility regarding return to work
• and they follow all risk mitigation measures from Days Eight to 14.

Staff who are not ill but who must look after or support an immediate family member who is ill due to COVID-19, can access carers or other leave, such as annual or long service leave.

Workers’ compensation leave (which did not reduce personal leave balances) had been available for frontline workers (including healthcare workers) who contracted COVID-19 since August 2020, Mr Gentleman said.

At the time, the ACT Government changed its public sector workers compensation coverage so that frontline workers were assumed to have contracted coronavirus because of their work.

COVID leave had also been available for some time, Mr Gentleman said, to cover circumstances where workers compensation or personal leave may not be available, such as when a person was required to quarantine because they were a close contact, but did not have COVID-19.

The COVID-19 leave policy can be found in guidance material on the employment portal: Emergency-Response-ACTPS-Employee-Entitlements-During-COVID-19-002.pdf.

“The ACT Government acknowledges the efforts of our frontline workers and the strain and health risks that COVID-19 places on that workforce,” Mr Gentleman said.

“As Minister, I will continue working with the union movement to keep workers safe.”

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