New Victorian Sick Pay Guarantee Trial

The Victorian Government has launched a two year trial of a new scheme to provide casual and self-employed workers with access to up to 38 hours of personal and carer’s pay.

The motivation for introducing the system was the risks that COVID created with people who don’t have access to paid leave entitlements opting to work rather than isolating when they had COVID exposure.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for the Sick Pay Guarantee, a worker must meet all of these criteria:

• Age – be 15 years or over
• Type of employee – be a casual employee or self-employed with no other employees (such as a sole trader or an independent contractor)
• Leave entitlements – not be entitled to paid personal, sick or carer’s leave in any of their jobs
• Workplace – work physically in Victoria, no matter where they live
• Right to work – have the right to work in Australia
• Occupation – work in an eligible occupation
• Average hours worked – on average you work at least 7.6 hours per week in an eligible occupation(s).

Eligible occupations

Under the trial, the following occupations are eligible for the sick pay guarantee:

• hospitality workers
• food trades workers and food preparation assistants
• supermarket workers
• retail and sales assistants
• aged and disability care workers
• cleaners and laundry workers
• security guards

The payment
The amount of the payment is based on the average hours of work over the period of engagement and the rate payable is the national minimum wage applying at the time.

Accessing the payment

Workers have to register online at https://service.vic.gov.au/services/sick-pay-guarantee/apply and submit evidence which is acceptable in a variety of forms so as to establish their identity, employment status, eligibility for the payment and bank details for payment.

More information on the sick pay guarantee can be accessed at https://www.vic.gov.au/sick-pay-guarantee-program-guidelines.