Crown
Employees (School Administrative and Support Staff) Award
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
COMMISSION OF NEW SOUTH WALES
Application by NSW
Department of Education and Training.
(No. IRC 1002 of 2010)
Before Commissioner
Connor
|
24 September 2010
|
VARIATION
1. Delete
paragraph 16.1.6 of subclause 16.1 Adoption, Maternity and Parental Leave, of
clause 16 Leave, of the award published 31 October 2008 (366 I.G. 887), and
insert in lieu thereof the following:
16.1.6 An employee who
commences a subsequent period of maternity or adoption leave for another child
within 24 months of commencing an initial period of maternity or adoption leave
will be paid:
(i) at the rate
(full time or part time) they were paid before commencing the initial leave if
they have not returned to work; or
(ii) at a rate
based on the hours worked before the initial leave was taken, where the staff
member has returned to work and reduced their hours during the 24 month period;
or
(iii) at a rate
based on the hours worked prior to the subsequent period of leave where the
staff member has not reduced their hours.
2. Insert after
paragraph 16.5.8 of subclause 16.5 Leave Without Pay, of clause 16, the
following new paragraphs:
16.5.9 A
permanent appointment may be made to the employee’s position if:
(i) the leave
without pay has continued or is likely to continue beyond the original period
of approval and is for a total period of more than 12 months; and
(ii) the employee
is advised of the Director-General’s proposal to permanently backfill their
position; and
(iii) the employee
is given a reasonable opportunity to end the leave without pay and return to
their position; and
(iv) the
Director-General advised the employee at the time of the subsequent approval
that the position will be filled on a permanent basis during the period of
leave without pay.
16.5.10 The
position cannot be filled permanently unless the above criteria are satisfied.
16.5.11 The
employee does not cease to be employed by the Director-General if their
position is permanently backfilled.
16.5.12 Paragraph
16.5.9 of this subclause does not apply to full time unpaid parental leave
granted in accordance with subclause 16.1 Adoption, Maternity and Parental
Leave or to military leave.
3. Delete paragraph
16.6.2 of subclause 16.6 Military Leave, of clause 16, and insert in lieu
thereof the following:
16.6.2 Up to 24 working
days' military leave per financial year may be granted by the Director-General
to members of the Naval and Military Reserves and up to 28 working days per
financial year to members of the Air Force Reserve for the activities specified
in paragraph 16.7.1 of this subclause.
4. Delete
subclause 16.7, Personal Carers Leave, of clause 16, and insert in lieu thereof
the following:
16.7 Personal Carers
Leave
Use of Sick Leave to Care for a Family Member
Where family and community service leave provided for
in subclause 16.4 of this clause is exhausted or unavailable, a permanent or
long-term temporary employee with responsibilities in relation to a category of
person set out in paragraph 16.7.3 of this subclause who needs the employee's
care and support, may elect to use available paid sick leave, subject to the
conditions specified in this subclause, to provide such care and support when a
family member is ill.
16.7.1 The sick leave
shall initially be taken from the sick leave accumulated over the previous
three years. In special circumstances, the Director-General may grant
additional sick leave from the sick leave accumulated during the employee’s
eligible service.
16.7.2 If required by the
Director-General to establish the illness of the person concerned, the employee
must provide evidence consistent with paragraph 16.10.1 of this clause.
5. Delete
paragraphs 16.9.2, 16.9.3, and 16.9.4 of subclause 16.9, Sick Leave, of clause
16, and insert in lieu thereof the following:
16.9.2 Payment for sick
leave is subject to the employee:
(i) informing their
principal as soon as reasonably practicable that they are unable to perform
duty because of illness. This must be done as close to the employee’s starting
time as possible; and
(ii) providing
evidence of illness as soon as practicable if required by subclause 16.10 of
this clause.
16.9.3 The
Director-General may direct an employee to participate in a return to work
program if the employee has been absent on a long period of sick leave.
16.9.4 Entitlements. An employee appointed from the date of the
commencement of this award variation will immediately commence accruing sick
leave in accordance with this clause. Employees at the time of this award
variation will accrue sick leave in accordance with this clause from the
beginning of the 2011 school year.
(i) At the
commencement of employment with the Department, a full time employee is granted
an accrual of five days sick leave.
(ii) After the
first four months of employment, the employee shall accrue sick leave at the
rate of ten working days per year for the balance of the first year of service.
(iii) After the
first year of service, the employee shall accrue sick leave day to day at the
rate of 15 working days per year of service.
(iv) All continuous
service as a permanent or long-term temporary employee shall be taken into
account for the purpose of calculating sick leave due. Where the service is not continuous,
previous periods of service shall be taken into account for the purpose of
calculating sick leave due if the previous sick leave records are available.
(v) Sick leave
without pay shall count as service for the accrual of recreation leave and paid
sick leave.
(vi) When
determining the amount of sick leave accrued, sick leave granted on less than
full pay shall be converted to its full pay equivalent.
16.9.5 Paid sick leave
which may be granted to a permanent and long-term temporary employee in the
first three months of service shall be limited to five days' paid sick leave,
unless the Director-General approves otherwise. Paid sick leave in excess of five days granted in the first three
months of service shall be supported by a satisfactory medical certificate.
16.9.6 No paid sick leave
shall be granted to short-term temporary employees.
6. Delete
subclause 16.10, Sick Leave - Requirements for Medical Certificate, and insert
in lieu thereof the following:
16.10 Sick Leave -
Requirements for Medical Certificate
16.10.1 A
permanent or long-term temporary employee absent from duty for more than two
consecutive working days because of illness must furnish evidence of illness to
the Director-General in respect of the absence.
16.10.2 In
addition to the requirements under sub-clause 16.9.2, an employee may absent
themselves for a total of five working days due to illness without the
provision of evidence of illness to the Director-General. Employees who absent
themselves in excess of five working days in a calendar year may be required to
furnish evidence of illness to the Director-General for each occasion absent
for the balance of the calendar year.
16.10.3 As a
general practice, backdated medical certificates will not be accepted. However,
if an employee provides evidence of illness that only covers the latter part of
the absence, they can be granted sick leave for the whole period if the
Director-General is satisfied that the reason for the absence is genuine.
16.10.4 If an
employee is required to provide evidence of illness for an absence of two
consecutive working days or less, the Director-General will advise them in
advance.
16.10.5 If the
Director-General is concerned about the diagnosis described in the evidence of
illness produced by the employee, after discussion with the employee, the
evidence provided and the employee’s application for leave can be referred to
HealthQuest or its successor for advice.
(i) The type of
leave granted to the employee will be determined by the Director-General based
on the advice of HealthQuest’ or its successor.
(ii) If sick leave
is not granted, the Director-General will, as far as practicable, take into
account the wishes of the employee when determining the type of leave granted.
16.10.6 The
granting of paid sick leave shall be subject to the employee providing evidence
which indicates the nature of the illness or injury and the estimated duration
of the absence. If an employee is concerned about disclosing the nature of the
illness to their principal they may elect to have the application for sick
leave dealt with confidentially by an alternate supervisor or the human
resources section of the Department.
16.10.7 The
reference in this subclause to evidence of illness shall apply, as appropriate:
(i) up to one week
may provided by a registered dentist, optometrist, chiropractor, osteopath,
physiotherapist, oral and maxillo facial surgeon or, at the Director-General's
discretion, another registered health services provider; or
(ii) where the
absence exceeds one week and, unless the health provider listed in (i) above is
also a registered medical practitioner, applications for any further sick leave
must be supported by a medical certificate from a registered medical
practitioner; or
(iii) at the
Director-General’s discretion, other forms of evidence that satisfy that an
employee had a genuine illness.
16.10.8 If a
permanent or long-term temporary employee who is absent on recreation or
extended leave furnishes to the Director-General a satisfactory medical
certificate in respect of an illness which occurred during the leave, the
Director-General may grant sick leave to the employee if the period set out in
the medical certificate is five working days or more.
16.10.9 Paragraph
16.10.7 of this subclause applies to all permanent or long-term temporary
employees other than those on leave prior to resignation or termination of
services, unless the resignation or termination of services amounts to a
retirement.
7. Insert a new
paragraph 16.11.4 in subclause 16.11 Sick Leave - Workers Compensation, of
clause 16, and renumber existing paragraphs 16.11.4 to 16.11.7 to read as
16.11.5 to 16.11.8
16.11.4 Before
approving the use of sick leave in this subclause, the Department must be satisfied
that the staff member is complying with the obligations imposed by the Workplace
Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 which requires that the
staff member must:
(i) participate and
cooperate in the establishment of the required injury management plan for the
staff member;
(ii) comply with
obligations imposed on the staff member by or under the injury management plan
established for the staff member;
(iii) when requested
to do so, nominate as their treating doctor for the purposes of the injury
management plan a medical practitioner who is prepared to participate in the
development of, and in the arrangements under, the plan;
(iv) authorise the
nominated treating doctor to provide relevant information to the insurer or the
Department for the purposes of the injury management plan; and
(v) make all
reasonable efforts to return to work as soon as possible, having regard to the
nature of the injury.
8. This variation
shall take effect from the beginning of the first full pay period to commence
on or after 24 September 2010.
P.
J. CONNOR, Commissioner
____________________
Printed by
the authority of the Industrial Registrar.