Furniture
and Furnishing Trades (State) Award
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
COMMISSION OF NEW SOUTH WALES
FAMILY PROVISIONS CASE - 19 DECEMBER
2005.
(No. IRC 4201 of 2005)
VARIATION
1. Insert into
clause 33, Bereavement Leave, of the award published 22 December 2000 (321 I.G.
211), the following new item 33.6:
33.6 Bereavement
entitlements for casual employees
(i) Subject to
the evidentiary and notice requirements in 33.2 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 32.5.2(c)(ii) of clause 32, Sick
Leave.
(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.
2. Delete
32.5.2(a) of clause 32, Sick Leave, and insert in lieu thereof the following:
32.5.22(a) An
employee, other than a casual employee, with responsibilities in relation to a
class of person set out in 32.5.2(c)(ii) 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 32, Sick
Leave 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.
3. Delete
32.5.2(b) of clause 32, Sick Leave, and insert in lieu thereof the following:
32.5.2(b) The employee
shall, if required,
(1) 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
(2) 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.
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.
4. Insert the
following notation at the end of 32.5.2(d) of clause 32, Sick Leave:
Note: In the unlikely event that more than 10 days sick
leave in any year is to be used for caring purposes the employer and employee
shall discuss appropriate arrangements which, as far as practicable, take
account of the employer’s and employee’s requirements.
Where the parties are unable to reach agreement the
disputes procedure at clause 12, Procedures for the Avoidance and Settlement of
Industrial Disputes, should be followed.
5. Delete 32.5.3
of clause 32, Sick Leave, and insert in lieu thereof the following:
32.5.3 Unpaid Leave For
Family Purpose
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 32.5.2(c)(ii) above who is ill or who requires
care due to an unexpected emergency.
6. Insert the
following new item 32.5.4, as follows:
32.5.4 Annual Leave
(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.
(b) Access to
annual leave, as prescribed in paragraph (a) of this subclause, shall be
exclusive of any shutdown period provided for elsewhere under this award.
(c) An employee
and employer may agree to defer payment of the annual leave loading in respect
of single day absences, until at least five consecutive annual leave days are
taken.
(d) 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.
7. Insert the
following new item 32.6 into clause 32, Sick Leave, as follows:
32.6 Personal Carers Entitlement for casual employees -
(1) Subject to the
evidentiary and notice requirements in 32.5.2(b) and 32.5.2(d) 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 32.5.2(c)(ii) of this clause who
are sick and require care and support, or who require care due to an unexpected
emergency, or the birth of a child.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
8. Delete clause
34, Parental Leave, and insert in lieu thereof the following:
34. Parental Leave
(1) 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).
(2) An employer
must not fail to re-engage a regular casual employee (see section 53(2) of the
Act) because:
(a) the employee
or employee's spouse is pregnant; or
(b) the employee
is or has been immediately absent on parental leave.
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.
(3) Right to
request
(a) An employee
entitled to parental leave may request the employer to allow the employee:
(i) to extend the
period of simultaneous unpaid parental leave use up to a maximum of eight
weeks;
(ii) to extend the
period of unpaid parental leave for a further continuous period of leave not
exceeding 12 months;
(iii) to return
from a period of parental 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) Employee's
request and the employer's decision to be in writing
The employee's request and the employer's decision made
under 3(a)(ii) and 3(a)(iii) must be recorded in writing.
(d) Request to
return to work part-time
Where an employee wishes to make a request under
3(a)(iii), 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 parental leave.
(4) Communication
during parental leave
(a) Where an
employee is on parental 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 parental 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 parental leave.
(b) 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 parental
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.
(c) 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 (a).
9. This order shall
take effect on and from 19 December 2005.
NOTE: This variation
is made pursuant to section 50 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996, to
give effect to the orders made by the Industrial Relations Commission of New
South Wales (Full Commission: Wright J,
President, Sams DP, Staff J and Ritchie C) on 19 December 2005, published 27 January 2006 (353 I.G. 731).
G. M. GRIMSON Industrial Registrar.
____________________
Printed by the authority of the Industrial Registrar.