Employment Manual - Section 3: Leave

Transcription

1 Employment Manual - Section 3: Leave Procedure Employment Manual Section 3: Leave Creation Date 1 January 2011 Version Last Revised 8 January 2014 reformatted Approved by Approval date

2 Table of Contents 1. Leave - General Annual Leave Annual Leave Loading Blood Donor Leave Community Service Leave Compassionate Leave Leave without Pay Long Service Leave Naturalisation Leave Parental Leave Personal/Carers Leave Study and Exam Leave Annexures 54 Application for Leave Form Copyright 2014 Uniting Church Last updated: 08/01/2014 Page 2 of 10

3 1. Leave - General 1.1 INTRODUCTION All employees, whether award employees or non award employees, casual or permanent, are to able to accrue and access statutory leave entitlements as a minima, so long as such accrual and access is in accordance with the requirements set by the Act or Regulation in question. Further, the terms and conditions of the employee s relevant award or letter of offer may provide additional leave benefits, in excess of those statutory minima. Leave comes in all forms for a number of reasons, the most commonly known being annual leave, sick leave and long service leave. Unless provided for within a relevant award, every employee who is absent from their normal place of work for reasons other than approved Church business must obtain the approval of their employer and complete an Application for Leave Form (see Annexure 54). The Employer should immediately forward the completed and authorised forms on to HR for processing. 1.2 SEE ANNEXURE Annexure 54 Application for Leave Form 1.3 LEAVE TABLE The following procedure applies to the taking of all types of leave of absence LEAVE Organised Leave 1. Employee to complete Leave Form (Annexure 54) in accordance with award or policy notice requirements. Intended date of return is also included. 2. Manager is to approve Leave and ensure supporting documentation is attached prior to sending documentation to HR. 3. HR will process the period of Leave requested and provide payment for such Leave, prior to the Leave being entered into unless other arrangements exist 4. The employee is to proceed on Leave and return on due date as agreed. Unforeseen Absences 1. Employee to provide verbal notice of absence to their Manager immediately (within two hours of their normal commencement time) or as son as practicable. 2. Leave Forms (Annexure 54) to be completed immediately upon return from absence 3. Supporting documentation to be included with Forms 4. All forms and documents to be approved by Manager and forwarded to HR for processing 5. All certified and authorised Leave will be paid unless the Leave has been exhausted. Copyright 2014 Uniting Church Last updated: 08/01/2014 Page 3 of 10

4 2. Annual Leave 1.2 GENERAL For annual leave entitlements please refer to the National Employment Standards. Further annual leave entitlements may be bestowed in accordance with the Employee s letter of offer Casual employees are not entitled to accrue annual leave entitlements, and payment in lieu of this entitlement is included in the casual loading paid to such employees. 2.2 PROCEDURE Annual Leave shall accrue progressively over each year of service with the employer commencing from the date upon which the employee commenced employment Managers are encouraged to ensure that their employees proceed on four (4) weeks annual leave each year unless special circumstances exist and the manager has agreed that the employee can defer the taking of their annual leave. Managers should develop an annual leave plan indicating the leave to be taken by their employees during the year. The plan should look at least 12 months ahead and be prepared in June each year; The Employer may require the employee to take annual leave by providing at least one (1) months notice in writing to the Employee Where an employee makes a request to proceed on Annual Leave, the employee should make application for the period of leave they wish to take at least one (1) month before the intended date of commencement. This notice period can be varied subject to mutual agreement between the employer and employee The approval of leave applications is at the manager s discretion, but such approval will not be unreasonably withheld; Where an employee is ill during a period of Annual Leave, the employee will, upon production of a medical certificate, be re- credited the portion of their annual leave entitlement for which they were sick and their Sick Leave entitlement will be debited instead. Payment for the period of Sick Leave occurring during. Annual Leave, shall need to be re-calculated to represent Sick Leave, with the requirement to recall payment for penalty rates and annual holiday loadings if applicable The Employer may, in exceptional circumstances only, grant an ill employee access to accrued Annual Leave entitlements where the employee has exhausted their accrued Sick Leave entitlement. All arrangements of this type must be placed in writing as a record of understanding. Copyright 2014 Uniting Church Last updated: 08/01/2014 Page 4 of 10

5 3. Annual Leave Loading 3.1 GENERAL Annual leave loading is paid only to Award employees as provided for by their relevant award or industrial agreement at the rate of 17.5% Where applicable via award operations, the payment of annual leave loading may be replaced by the payment of the shift penalties that would have occurred during that period of annual leave taken, had the employee been working. The appropriate award should be checked for guidance on this point Award employees, unless otherwise agreed, will on the commencement of a period of annual leave, receive payment of the specified leave loading in accordance with the provisions of the relevant award or industrial agreement. 4. Blood Donor Leave 4.1 GENERAL Unless provided for within a relevant award, leave with pay may be granted to any employee wishing to donate blood. Employees wishing to donate blood should be encouraged to do so when it is least likely to cause any disruption to the workplace Absence from the workplace for the purpose of donating blood should always be authorised by Management before the employee leaves the workplace to donate blood The following details must be provided to management: Place where blood is being donated Contact number for venue Mobile phone number of employee if applicable Intended time of return For the purpose of satisfying obligations under OHS legislation, it is therefore mandatory that the information required in above be provided to Management and kept until the employee has returned to the workplace. 5. Community Service Leave 5.1 GENERAL For community service leave entitlements please refer to the National Employment Standards Copyright 2014 Uniting Church Last updated: 08/01/2014 Page 5 of 10

6 6. Compassionate Leave 6.1 GENERAL For compassionate leave entitlements please refer to the National Employment Standards At the discretion of the Executive Director employees, other than casual employees, may depending upon individual circumstances be granted up to an additional three (3) days paid leave upon the death of the following family members: Spouse of the employee; a de facto spouse who, in relation to the employee, is a person of the opposite sex to the employee who lives with the employee as the husband or wife of that person on a bona fide domestic basis although not legally married to that person; or 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 employee or spouse or de facto spouse of the employee; or a same sex partner who lives with the employee as the de facto partner of that employee on a bona fide domestic basis; or a relative of the employee who is a member of the same household where, for the purposes of this policy: Ø Ø Ø "relative" means a person related by blood, marriage or affinity; "affinity" means a relationship that one spouse because of marriage has to blood relatives of the other; and "household" means a family group living in the same domestic dwelling Employees applying for paid or unpaid compassionate leave will be required to provide the employer with the requisite notice and evidence requirements contained within section 107 of the Fair Work Act. Copyright 2014 Uniting Church Last updated: 08/01/2014 Page 6 of 10

7 7. Leave Without Pay 7.1 GENERAL Any employee seeking to take leave without pay must apply to their Executive Director in writing by completing an Application for Leave Form (Annexure 54). The circumstances surrounding requests for leave without pay vary from employee to employee but may include requests to take a leave of absence for travel, education, health or family purposes; In instances where a request for leave without pay is in excess of five (5) consecutive working days then accrued and pro-rata leave entitlements must be utilised prior to leave without pay being granted; The approval of leave without pay applications is at the Executive Director s discretion, but such approval will not be unreasonably withheld; Employees will not be paid wages or salary whilst on unpaid leave Long service, annual and sick leave entitlements will not accrue during the period of leave without pay Employees who have direct debits deducted from their wages or salary e.g. private health fund contributions etc. must pre-pay the relevant deductions to cover the period of leave without pay Failure to return to work on the date approved for resumption may result in an employee forfeiting continuity of service for the purposes of calculating long service leave entitlements or being terminated. Where it is impossible to resume on the day nominated, the employer is to be notified as soon as practicable Where the employee takes leave without pay for three months or more within a calendar year, whether in one lump or cumulative, such leave will no longer be considered a temporary absence. Where an employee is no longer on a temporary absence, the Employer reserves their right to take measures to review that employee s employment, including evoking termination provisions within policy, awards, employment agreements and/or employment contracts. Copyright 2014 Uniting Church Last updated: 08/01/2014 Page 7 of 10

8 8. Long Service Leave 8.1 GENERAL For long service leave entitlements please refer to the National Employment Standards Employees are encouraged to take long service leave ( LSL ) as it falls due for such entitlement, subject to the requirements of the employer Managers are responsible for ensuring the provisions of the National Employment Standards and relevant award provisions relating to LSL are correctly administered. 8.2 PROCEDURE Employees whose LSL is due, should complete an Application for Leave Form (see Annexure 54) Employees cannot accept payment for LSL in lieu of actually taking the leave accrued; Subject to the mutual agreement of the employer and the employee, employees may defer the taking of LSL to a later date. Payment for such deferred leave will be calculated at the rate of pay applicable to the date the agreement to defer such leave was reached; Any questions in relation to the interpretation of The National Employment Standards and/or award provisions regarding LSL should be referred to HR. 8.3 PORTABILITY OF LONG SERVICE LEAVE ENTITLEMENTS It is the policy of the Church that full portability of accrued long service leave entitlements should apply to all employees in the event that they cease employment with one Uniting Church employer and take up new employment with another Uniting Church employer within two (2) calendar months of their termination date Subject to the provisions of above, the value of the employee s entitlements is to be calculated as at the date of termination and paid to the new employer Where an employee terminates their employment with the new employer before attaining five years combined continuous employment with both their former and new employer(s) there is no entitlement on the employee s behalf to receive payment for long service leave upon termination. In such instances the new employer shall refund all amounts paid by former employer(s) Wherever possible, such funds should be invested with Uniting Financial Services of Uniting Resources until: the employee becomes eligible for paid long service leave; or the employee becomes eligible for payment of long service leave upon termination; or the employer is required to refund amounts paid to former employer(s). Copyright 2014 Uniting Church Last updated: 08/01/2014 Page 8 of 10

9 9. Naturalisation 9.1 GENERAL Employees required to attend interviews and ceremonies to receive their naturalisation certificates are eligible to be paid for any reasonable loss of normal working hours up to the maximum of one (1) day Payment will be made upon receipt of proof of requirement to attend for interview and/or ceremony. The employee should complete An Application for Leave Form (Annexure 54) and have it approved and authorised by their manager Payment will be at the normal single hourly rate, which the employee receives when engaged on a normal day of work. 10. Parental Leave 10.1 GENERAL For Parental Leave entitlements please refer to the National Employment Standards. 11. Personal/Carer s Leave 11.1 GENERAL For Personal/Carer s leave entitlements please refer to the National Employment Standards PROCEDURE Employees must advise their manager, verbally, prior to the commencement of their absence or their rostered shift, of their inability to attend work due to illness or injury including the expected length of the absence; Where the absence involves carer s leave, the name of the person requiring care and their relationship to the employee, the reasons for taking such leave and the estimated length of absence; Employees must complete an Application for Leave Form (Annexure 54) immediately upon their resumption of duties and if applicable, attach all relevant documentation for approval and authorisation by their manager; Managers may, at their discretion, forego the presentation of medical certificates for single or two day absences but medical certificates must be supplied by the employee for each sickness absence of more than two (2) consecutive working days; In the case of absences of more than five (5) consecutive working days or prolonged illnesses a medical certificate will be required at least every two weeks. The employee will, in addition, be required to produce a medical certificate prior to their resumption of duties which states that they are fully fit to resume pre-illness duties Where an employee has a non work related illness/injury and their treating doctor requests that the employee be placed on suitable or light duties for the period of recuperation, there is no obligation on the part of Copyright 2014 Uniting Church Last updated: 08/01/2014 Page 9 of 10

10 the employer to agree to the treating doctor s request. Where an employer does agree to the provision of suitable or light duties, the employee must provide the employer with a medical certificate detailing the exact nature of the suitable or light duties, any limitations in respect to the employee safely performing such duties and the duration of the recuperative period. At the end of the recuperative period the employee must also provide a medical clearance stating that the employee is fully fit to resume pre-illness duties Where an employee has been on unpaid sick leave for an extended period of time, not related to Workers Compensation, and can no longer perform the inherent requirements of the job for which they were employed, the employer is under no legislative obligation to provide such employee with suitable duties or light duties. The employer may commence a review of that employee s employment, including invoking the termination provisions as contained within policies, awards, agreements or individual contracts of employment. 12. Study and Exam Leave 12.1 GENERAL Refer to further Education Assistance Policy Section 6 Part 2 of this manual. Copyright 2014 Uniting Church Last updated: 08/01/2014 Page 10 of 10