Police Association Salaried Officers (State) Award 2000

 

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMISSION OF NEW SOUTH WALES

 

Application by Police Association of New South Wales, Industrial Organisation of Employees.

 

(No. IRC 3633 of 2006)

 

 

VARIATION

 

1.          Delete the "CONTENTS" of the award published 12 January 2001 (321 I.G. 506) and insert in lieu thereof the following new arrangement, and renumber the clauses in the body of the award accordingly:

 

1.  Arrangement

 

Clause No.         Subject Matter

 

1.         Arrangement

2.         Definitions

3.         Area, Incidence and Duration

4.         Payment

5.         Hours

6.         Overtime

7.         Recall

8.         Meal Break

9.         Meal Allowance

10.       Amenities

11.       Provision of Telephones & Vehicles

12.       Exceptions

13.       Other Conditions of Employment

14.       Staff Superannuation Scheme

15.       Sacrifice Pay to Superannuation

16.       Sacrifice Pay for Other Benefits

17.       Evaluation of a New Position

18.       Re-Evaluation of Positions

19.       Redundancy

20.       Public Holidays

21.       Annual Leave

22.       Long Service Leave

23.       Sick Leave

24.       Maternity Leave

25.       Parental Leave

26.       Adoption Leave

27.       Maternity, Parental and Adoption Leave for Casual Employees

28.       Right to Request further Maternity, Parental or Adoption Leave

29.       Communication During Maternity, Parental or Adoption Leave

30.       Family and Community Service Leave

31.       Bereavement Leave

32.       Sick Leave to Care for a Family Member

33.       Use of Unpaid Leave As Personal Carer’s Leave

34.       Use of Annual Leave as Personal Carer’s Leave

35.       Time off In Lieu of the Payment of Overtime

36.       Make Up Time

37.       Anti – Discrimination

38.       Part Time

39.       Casual Employees

40.       Temporary Employees

41.       Job Sharing

42.       Workers Compensation

43.       Entitlement to Higher Duties Allowance when Relieving in Other Positions

44.       Payment of Allowance when Relieving in Other Positions

45.       Grievance Settlement Procedures

46.       Existing Privileges

47.       No Further Claims

48.       Monetary Rates

49.       Pay Link

 

2.          Insert after subclause (a) of Clause 21,  Annual Leave, the following new subclause:

 

(b)        An employee may elect with the employers agreement to take annual leave at any time within a period of 24 months from the date at which it falls due.

 

3.          Insert a new subclause (a) in Clause 24, Maternity Leave and renumber existing subclauses to read as (b) to (h) respectively:

 

(a)        Refer to the Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW).  The following provisions shall also apply in addition to those set out in the Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW).

 

4.          Insert in subclause (b) of clause 24, Maternity Leave, after the words "An employee", the following:

 

"as defined in Section 53 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW),"

 

5.          Insert a new subclause (a) in Clause 25, Parental Leave, and renumber existing clauses (a) to (e) to read as (b) to (f) respectively:

 

(a)        Refer to the Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW). The following provisions shall also apply in addition to those set out in the Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW).

 

6.          Insert in subclause (b) of clause 25,  Parental Leave after the words "An employee", the following:

 

"as defined in Section 53 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW),"

 

7.          Delete the words appearing in paragraph (i) of subclause (b) of clause 25, Parental Leave the following:

 

"with pay"

 

8.          Insert after subclause (e) of clause 25, Parental Leave, the following new subclause (f):

 

(f)         An employee who has applied for parental leave and prior to the expected date of birth or adoption, completed not less than 40 weeks' continuous service, shall be paid at the ordinary rate of pay for a period not exceeding 1 week or the period of parental leave taken, whichever is the lesser period.

 

9.          Renumber subclause (f) of clause 25, Parental Leave, to read as subclause (g), and delete the word "Extended" and substitute the following:

 

"Except as provided in subclause (f) of this clause, "

 

10.        Insert the following new subclause (a) in clause 26, Adoption Leave, and renumber existing subclauses (a) to (g) to read as (b) to (h) respectively:

 

(a)        Refer to the Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW). The following provisions shall also apply in addition to those set out in the Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW).

 

11.        Delete subclause (b) of clause 26, Adoption Leave and insert in lieu thereof the following:

 

(b)        An employee, as defined in Section 53 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW), adopting a child, as defined in clause 55 (4) of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW), shall be entitled to be granted adoption leave.

 

12.        Delete paragraphs (i) and (ii) of subclause (b) of clause 26,  Adoption Leave and insert the following:

 

(i)         an unbroken period of up to 3 weeks at the time of the placement of the child with the employee (short adoption leave), and

 

(ii)        a further unbroken period in order to be the primary care-giver of the child (extended adoption leave).

 

13.        Insert after clause 26,  Adoption Leave, the following new clauses 27, 28 and 29 as follows:

 

27.  Maternity, Parental and Adoption Leave for Casual Employees

 

(a)        An employer must not fail to re-engage a regular casual employee, as defined in Section 53 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW), because:

 

(i)         the employee or employee's spouse is pregnant; or

 

(ii)        the employee is or has been immediately absent on Maternity, Parental or Adoption leave.

 

(iii)       The rights of an employer in relation to engagement and re-engagement of casual employees are not affected, other than in accordance with this clause.

 

28.  Right to Request Further Maternity, Parental Or Adoption Leave

 

(a)        An employee entitled to Maternity, Parental or Adoption leave may request the employer to allow the employee:

 

(i)         to extend the period of simultaneous unpaid Maternity, Parental or Adoption leave use up to a maximum of eight weeks;

 

(ii)        to extend the period of unpaid Maternity, Parental or Adoption leave for a further continuous period of leave not exceeding 12 months;

 

(iii)       to return from a period of Maternity or Parental leave on a part-time basis until the child reaches school age;

 

(iv)       if the child is not yet of school age, to return from a period of adoption leave on a part-time basis until the child reaches school age

 

to assist the employee in reconciling work and parental responsibilities.

 

(b)        The employer shall consider the request having regard to the employee's circumstances and, provided the request is genuinely based on the employee's parental responsibilities, may only refuse the request on reasonable grounds related to the effect on the workplace or the employer's business. Such grounds might include cost, lack of adequate replacement staff, loss of efficiency and the impact on customer service.

 

(c)        The employee's request and the employer's decision made under (28)(a)(ii), 28 (a)(iii) or 28(a)(iv) must be recorded in writing.

 

(d)        Where an employee wishes to make a request under 28(a)(iii) or 28(a)(iv), such a request must be made as soon as possible but no less than seven weeks prior to the date upon which the employee is due to return to work from maternity leave.

 

29.  Communication During Maternity, Parental Or Adoption Leave

 

(a)        Where an employee is on Maternity, Parental or Adoption leave and a definite decision has been made to introduce significant change at the workplace, the employer shall take reasonable steps to:

 

(i)         make information available in relation to any significant effect the change will have on the status or responsibility level of the position the employee held before commencing Maternity, Parental or Adoption leave; and

 

(ii)        provide an opportunity for the employee to discuss any significant effect the change will have on the status or responsibility level of the position the employee held before commencing Maternity, Parental or Adoption leave.

 

(iii)       The employee shall take reasonable steps to inform the employer about any significant matter that will affect the employee's decision regarding the duration of maternity leave to be taken, whether the employee intends to return to work and whether the employee intends to request to return to work on a part-time basis.

 

(iv)       The employee shall also notify the employer of changes of address or other contact details which might affect the employer's capacity to comply with paragraph (i) above.

 

14.        Delete subclause (a) of clause 30, Family and Community Service Leave and insert in lieu thereof the following:

 

(a)        The Employer shall, in the case of emergencies or in personal or domestic circumstances, grant to an employee, other than a casual employee, some or all of the available family and community service leave on full pay.

 

15.        Insert after subclause (e) of clause 31, Bereavement Leave, the following new subclause:

 

(f)         Bereavement entitlements for casual employees

 

(i)         Subject to the evidentiary and notice requirements in subclause 31(b) above, casual employees are entitled to not be available to attend work, or to leave work upon the death in Australia of a person prescribed in subclause 32 (d) Sick Leave to Care For a Family Member.

 

(ii)        The employer and the employee shall agree on the period for which the employee will be entitled to not be available to attend work. In the absence of agreement, the employee is entitled to not be available to attend work for up to 48 hours (i.e. two days) per occasion. The casual employee is not entitled to any payment for the period of non-attendance

 

(iii)       An employer must not fail to re-engage a casual employee because the employee accessed the entitlements provided for in this clause. The rights of an employer to engage or not engage a casual employee are otherwise not affected.

 

16.        Delete clause 32, Sick Leave to Care for a Family Member, and insert in lieu thereof the following:

 

32.  Sick Leave to Care for a Family Member

 

(a)        When family and community service leave provided for in clause 30 above is exhausted, an employee, other than a casual employee, with responsibilities in relation to a class of person set out in subclause (31)(b) who needs the employee’s care and support, shall be entitled to use, in accordance with this subclause, any current or accrued sick leave entitlement, provided for at Clause 23 of the award, for absences to provide care and support for such persons when they are ill, or who require care due to an unexpected emergency. Such leave may be taken for part of a single day.

 

(b)        The sick leave shall initially be taken from the current leave year’s entitlement followed, if necessary, by the sick leave accumulated over the previous 3 years.  In special circumstances, the President may grant additional sick leave from the sick leave accumulated during the staff member’s eligible service.

 

(c)        The employee shall, if required,

 

(i)         Establish either by production of a medical certificate or statutory declaration, the illness of the person concerned and that the illness is such as to require care by another person, or

 

(ii)        Establish by production of documentation acceptable to the employer or a statutory declaration, the nature of the emergency and that such emergency resulted in the person concerned requiring care by the employee.

 

(iii)       In normal circumstances, an employee must not take carer's leave under this subclause where another person had taken leave to care for the same person.

 

(d)        the entitlement to use sick leave in accordance with this clause is subject to:

 

(i)         the employee being responsible for the care and support of the person concerned; and

 

(ii)        the person concerned being:

 

(1)        a spouse of the staff member;  or

 

(2)        a de facto spouse being a person of the opposite sex to the staff member who lives with the employee as her husband or his wife on a bona fide domestic basis although not legally married to that employee;  or

 

(3)        a child or an adult child (including an adopted child, a step child, a foster child or an ex-nuptial child), parent (including a foster parent and legal guardian), grandparent, grandchild or sibling of the staff member or a de facto spouse of the employee;  or – a same sex partner who lives with employee as the de facto partner of that staff member on a bona fide domestic basis;  or a relative of the staff member who is a member of the same household.

 

(e)        For the purposes of this definition:

 

“relative” means a person related by blood, marriage, affinity or Aboriginal kinship structures;

 

“affinity” means a relationship that one spouse or partner has to the relatives of the other;  and

 

“household” means a family group living in the same domestic dwelling.

 

(f)         Personal Carers Entitlement for casual employees

 

(i)         Subject to the evidentiary and notice requirements in 32(c) casual employees are entitled to not be available to attend work, or to leave work if they need to care for a person prescribed in subclause 32(d) who are sick and require care and support, or who require care due to an unexpected emergency, or the birth of a child.

 

(ii)        The employer and the employee shall agree on the period for which the employee will be entitled to not be available to attend work. In the absence of agreement, the employee is entitled to not be available to attend work for up to 48 hours (i.e. two days) per occasion. The casual employee is not entitled to any payment for the period of non-attendance.

 

(iii)       An employer must not fail to re-engage a casual employee because the employee accessed the entitlements provided for in this clause. The rights of an employer to engage or not to engage a casual employee are otherwise not affected.

 

17.        Delete the paragraph appearing in clause 33, Use of Unpaid Leave as Personal Carer’s Leave, and insert in lieu thereof the following:

 

(a)        An employee may elect, with the consent of the employer, to take unpaid leave for the purpose of providing care and support to a class of person set out in 32 (d) above who is ill or who requires care due to an unexpected emergency.

 

18.        Delete subclause (a) of Clause 34, Use of Annual Leave as Personal Carer’s Leave,  and insert in lieu thereof the following:

 

(a)        An employee may elect, with the consent of the employer to take annual leave not exceeding ten days in single-day periods, or part thereof, in any calendar year at a time or times agreed by the parties.

 

19.        Delete subclause (g) of clause 24,  Maternity Leave, and insert in lieu thereof the following:

 

(g)        An employee who, prior to the expected date of birth, completed not less than 40 weeks continuous service, shall be paid at her ordinary rate of pay for a period not exceeding 14 weeks or the period of maternity leave taken, whichever is the lesser period. The employee may elect to take this period at half of her ordinary rate of pay over a period not exceeding 28 weeks or the period of maternity leave, whichever is the lesser period.

 

20.        Delete the number "3" appearing in subclause (f) of clause 26, Adoption Leave, and substitute the number "14".

 

21.        In Table 1 - Classifications of clause 48,  Monetary Rates, under the heading "Legal Services" delete the classification "Advisory Officer" and insert in lieu thereof the following:

 

 

22.        In Table 1 - Classifications of clause 48, Monetary Rates, underneath the words "Advisory Officer" insert the following note:

 

NOTE: Any Advisory Officer who’s most recent date of employment with the employer is on or before 30 April 2006, their Rate of Pay will continue to be as originally agreed, being Level 5 Year 1 to Level 9 Year 2.

 

23.        In Table 1 - Classifications of clause 48, Monetary Rates, under the heading "Industrial Services", delete the classification "Industrial Officer" and insert in lieu thereof the following:

 

 

24.        In Table 1 - Classifications of clause 48, Monetary Rates, underneath the words "Industrial Officer" insert the following note

 

NOTE: Any Industrial Officer who’s most recent date of employment with the employer is on or before 30 April 2006, their Rate of Pay will continue to be as originally agreed, being Level 5 Year 1 to Level 9 Year 2.

 

25.        In Table 1 - Classifications, of clause 48, under the heading Field Services, delete the classifications "OHS Co-ordinator" and "Commissioned Police Officers Co-ordinator" and insert in lieu thereof the following:

 

 

26.        In Table 1 - Classifications, of clause 48,  Monetary Rates, under the heading "Industrial Services", insert after the classification "Industrial Officer" the following new classification "Information Officer":

 

 

27.        Delete subclause (d) of clause 2, Definitions, and insert in lieu thereof the following:

 

(d)        "Evaluation Committee" means a committee comprising of persons nominated by the employer, persons nominated by the union and persons appropriately qualified in the evaluation method being applied (if available).

 

28.        Delete clause 17, Evaluation of New Positions, and insert in lieu thereof the following:

 

17.  Evaluation of New Positions

 

(a)        All Positions held by all employees are indicated in Table 1 Classifications.  All employees shall be provided with a written "Job Description" which will include a title, description and list of duties and responsibilities together with the minimum and range of payment applicable to that position and at what level the employee is on at the time of notification.

 

(b)        If a new position is created that is not in Table 1 Classifications, the employer agrees to form an "evaluation committee" for the purposes of developing a Job Description in consultation with the union. The Job Description will be evaluated by an agreed, independent consultant to establish the minimum pay grade for the position and the range in accordance with Table 2 Rates of Pay.  The evaluation committee may also make any other recommendations it determines.

 

(c)        Nothing in this clause prevents the employer from seeking an external evaluation at any time; however, any such evaluation will require consultation in accordance with subclause (b) above of this clause prior to any implementation.

 

(d)        Any agreed implementation of an evaluation done in accordance with subclause (b) above of this clause will have effect immediately upon the written notification by the employer to the union and any effected employee pending any variation to this award. If implementation is disputed, Clause 49 - Grievance Settlement Procedures will be followed and implementation of the evaluation will be deferred pending the resolution of the dispute.

 

29.        Insert after subclause (c) of clause 18, Re-Evaluation of Positions, the following new subclauses:

 

(d)        If it is proposed to re-evaluate an existing position in Table 1 Classifications, the employer agrees to form an "evaluation committee" for the purposes of reviewing a Job Description in consultation with the union. The Job Description will be re-evaluated by an agreed, independent consultant to establish the minimum pay grade for the position and the range in accordance with Table 2 Rates of Pay.  The evaluation committee may also make any other recommendations it determines.

 

(e)        Nothing in this clause prevents the employer from seeking an external re-evaluation at any time; however, any such re-evaluation will require consultation in accordance with this clause prior to any implementation.

 

(f)         Any agreed implementation of a re-evaluation done in accordance with this clause will have effect immediately upon the written notification by the employer to the union and any effected employee pending any variation to this award. If implementation is disputed, Clause 45 - Grievance Settlement Procedures will be followed and implementation of the evaluation will be deferred pending the resolution of the dispute.

 

30.        Delete clause 39, Casuals, and insert in lieu thereof the following:

 

39.  Casual Employees

 

(a)        The objective of this clause is for the employer to take all reasonable steps to provide its employees with secure employment by maximising the number of permanent positions in the employer’s workforce, in particular by ensuring that casual employees have an opportunity to elect to become full-time or part-time employees.

 

(b)        A casual employee is an employee who may be engaged intermittently in work of an irregular, occasional and/or unexpected nature, and who is engaged and paid by the hour or may be employed on a regular and systematic basis.  Full time, part time and temporary employees are not casual employees.

 

(c)        A casual employee shall be paid the equivalent of the hourly rate of pay for the appropriate classification plus a loading of 20 per cent with a minimum payment of three hours pay for each start. The 20 per cent loading in not included in the calculation of overtime.

 

(d)        The casual loading prescribed is in lieu of the entitlements arising under this award of annual leave, sick leave and any day specified in Clause 20 (Public Holidays).

 

(e)        Casual Conversion

 

(i)         A casual employee engaged by the employer on a regular and systematic basis for a sequence of periods of employment under this Award during a calendar period of twelve months shall thereafter have the right to elect to have his or her ongoing contract of employment converted to permanent full-time employment or part-time employment if the employment is to continue beyond the conversion process prescribed by this subclause.

 

(ii)        The employer shall give the casual employee notice in writing of the provisions of this sub-clause within four weeks of the employee having attained such period of twelve months. However, the employee retains his or her right of election under this subclause if the employer fails to comply with this notice requirement.

 

(iii)       Any casual employee who has a right to elect under paragraph (e)(i), upon receiving notice under paragraph (e)(ii) or after the expiry of the time for giving such notice, may give four weeks’ notice in writing to the employer that he or she seeks to elect to convert his or her ongoing contract of employment to full-time or part-time employment, and within four weeks of receiving such notice from the employee, the employer shall consent to or refuse the election, but shall not unreasonably so refuse. Where an employer refuses an election to convert, the reasons for doing so shall be fully stated and discussed with the employee concerned, and a genuine attempt shall be made to reach agreement. Any dispute about a refusal of an election to convert an ongoing contract of employment shall be dealt with as far as practicable and with expedition through the Grievance Settlement Procedures.

 

(iv)       Any casual employee who does not, within four weeks of receiving written notice from the employer, elect to convert his or her ongoing contract of employment to full-time employment or part-time employment will be deemed to have elected against any such conversion.

 

(v)        Once a casual employee has elected to become and been converted to a full-time employee or a part-time employee, the employee may only revert to casual employment by written agreement with the employer.

 

(vi)       If a casual employee has elected to have his or her contract of employment converted to full-time or part-time employment in accordance with paragraph (e)(iii), the employer and employee shall, in accordance with this paragraph, and subject to paragraph (e)(iii), discuss and agree upon:

 

(1)        whether the employee will convert to full-time or part-time employment; and

 

(2)        if it is agreed that the employee will become a part-time employee, the number of hours and the pattern of hours that will be worked either consistent with any other part-time employment provisions of this award or pursuant to a part time work agreement made under Chapter 2, Part 5 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW).

 

Provided that an employee who has worked on a full-time basis throughout the period of casual employment has the right to elect to convert his or her contract of employment to full-time employment and an employee who has worked on a part-time basis during the period of casual employment has the right to elect to convert his or her contract of employment to part-time employment, on the basis of the same number of hours and times of work as previously worked, unless other arrangements are agreed between the employer and the employee.

 

(vii)      Following an agreement being reached pursuant to paragraph (vi), the employee shall convert to full-time or part-time employment. If there is any dispute about the arrangements to apply to an employee converting from casual employment to full-time or part-time employment, it shall be dealt with as far as practicable and with expedition through the grievance settlement procedure.

 

(viii)     An employee must not be engaged and re-engaged, dismissed or replaced in order to avoid any obligation under this subclause.

 

(f)         Occupational Health and Safety - 

 

(i)         For the purposes of this subclause, the following definitions shall apply:

 

(1)        A "labour hire business" is a business (whether an organisation, business enterprise, company, partnership, co-operative, sole trader, family trust or unit trust, corporation and/or person) which has as its business function, or one of its business functions, to supply staff employed or engaged by it to another employer for the purpose of such staff performing work or services for that other employer.

 

(2)        A "contract business" is a business (whether an organisation, business enterprise, company, partnership, co-operative, sole trader, family trust or unit trust, corporation and/or person) which is contracted by another employer to provide a specified service or services or to produce a specific outcome or result for that other employer which might otherwise have been carried out by that other employer’s own employees.

 

(ii)        If the employer engages a labour hire business and/or a contract business to perform work wholly or partially on the employer’s premises shall do the following (either directly, or through the agency of the labour hire or contract business):

 

(1)        consult with employees of the labour hire business and/or contract business regarding the workplace occupational health and safety consultative arrangements;

 

(2)        provide employees of the labour hire business and/or contract business with appropriate occupational health and safety induction training including the appropriate training required for such employees to perform their jobs safely;

 

(3)        provide employees of the labour hire business and/or contract business with appropriate personal protective equipment and/or clothing and all safe work method statements that they would otherwise supply to their own employees; and

 

(4)        ensure employees of the labour hire business and/or contract business are made aware of any risks identified in the workplace and the procedures to control those risks.

 

(iii)       Nothing in this subclause (f) is intended to affect or detract from any obligation or responsibility upon a labour hire business arising under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 or the Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998.

 

(g)        Disputes Regarding the Application of this Clause -

 

Where a dispute arises as to the application or implementation of this clause, the matter shall be dealt with pursuant to the Grievance Settlement Procedure of this award.

 

(h)        This clause has no application in respect of organisations which are properly registered as Group Training Organisations under the Apprenticeship and Traineeship Act 2001 (or equivalent interstate legislation) and are deemed by the relevant State Training Authority to comply with the national standards for Group Training Organisations established by the ANTA Ministerial Council.

 

31.        The variations set out in instructions numbered 1 to 18 shall take effect on and from 19 December 2005.

 

32.        The variations set out in instructions numbered 19 and 20 shall take effect on and from 1 September 2006.

 

33.        The variations set out in instructions numbered 21 to 24 shall take effect on and from 1 May 2006.

 

34.        The variations set out in instructions numbered 25 to 30 shall take effect on and from 18 December 2006.

 

 

 

R. P. BOLAND J

 

 

____________________

 

 

Printed by the authority of the Industrial Registrar.