Crown
Employees (Parliamentary Electorate Officers) Award
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
COMMISSION OF NEW SOUTH WALES
Review of Award pursuant to Section 19 of the Industrial
Relations Act 1996.
(No. IRC 607 of 2007)
Before The Honourable
Mr Deputy President Harrison
|
31 July 2007
|
REVIEWED AWARD
PART A
1. Arrangement
Clause No. Subject Matter
1. Arrangement
2. Definitions
3. Salaries
4. All
Incidence of Employment Allowance
5. Commencing
Salaries
6. Higher Duties
Allowance
7. Saving of
Rights
8. Hours of
Work
9. Overtime
10. Relief
Arrangements
11. Anti
Discrimination
12. Training
13. Recreation
Leave
14. Sick Leave
15. Family and
Community Service Leave, Personal/Carer’s Leave and Flexible Use of other Leave
Entitlements.
16. Termination
of Employment
17. Separation
from Service Provisions
18. Government
and Related Employees Tribunal Act
19. Consultative
Committee
20. Grievance
and Dispute Handling Procedures
21. Deduction
of Union Membership Fees
22. Secure
Employment
23. Area,
Incidence and Duration
PART B
MONETARY RATES
Table 1 - Salaries
Table 2 - Remuneration
Table 3 - Other Rates and Allowances
2. Definitions
"Act" means the Industrial Relations Act 1996.
"Award" means an enterprise award or an industrial
award under the former Act.
"Association" means the Public Service Association
and Professional Officers Association Amalgamated Union of New South Wales.
"Commission" means the Industrial Relations
Commission of New South Wales.
"Legislature" means The Legislative Assembly of
The Parliament of New South Wales.
"Member" means a person who is an elected member
of the Legislative Assembly of The Parliament of New South Wales.
"Officer" means and includes all persons employed
by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of The Parliament of New South Wales
as an Electorate Officer or Research Assistant to an Independent Member.
"Speaker" means The Speaker of The Legislative
Assembly of The Parliament of New South Wales.
3. Salaries
(a) Electorate
Office staff shall be paid the annual salary rates set out in Table 1 -
Salaries, of Part B, Monetary Rates.
(b) Special Salary
Scale
Provided that, where a Member certifies in writing that
an Electorate Officer, Grade 1 performs under limited, or no supervision and in
an on-going manner, the following duties for a majority of time:
research work; and
speech writing; and
interviewing constituents; and
preparing non-routine correspondence
Such Electorate Officer may be appointed, or promoted,
by the Member, to the special salary scale as set out in the said table 1 of
Part B.
Progression through the special salary is dependent
upon the Electorate Officer, Grade 1 continuing to perform such duties for a
majority of the officer's time. If any
Electorate Officer, Grade 1 ceases to perform the required duties, or performs
them for a lesser time, consideration may be given by the Member to reducing
the salary to the level appropriate to the work performed, or to retaining the
Electorate Officer Grade 1 on his or her current salary.
(c) Research
Assistants shall be paid the annual remuneration rates set out in Table 2 -
Remuneration, of Part B, Monetary Rates.
Independent Members of the Legislative Assembly are
entitled to an additional position of Research Assistant - the remuneration in
Table 2 Part B is remuneration for all incidence of employment including any
additional hours of worked outside the standard office hours.
4. All Incidence of
Employment Allowance
(a) In addition to
the salary payable in clause 3, Salaries, officers will be entitled to an
allowance on the following scale.
(i) Electorate
Officer, Grade 1 - an amount per annum as set out in Item 1 of Table 3 - Other Rates
and Allowances, of Part B, Monetary Rates.
(ii) Electorate
Officer, Grade 1 Special Salary Scale - an amount per annum as set out in Item
2 of Table 3 - Other Rates and Allowances, of Part B, Monetary Rates.
(iii) Electorate
Officer, Grade 2 - an amount per annum as set out in Item 3 of Table 3 - Other
Rates and Allowances, of Part B, Monetary Rates.
(b) The All
Incidence of Employment Allowance is defined as salary for superannuation and
leave purposes.
(c) The All
Incidence of Employment Allowance shall be regarded a salary for the purpose of
the application of salary movements.
5. Commencing
Salaries
(a) Electorate
Officer Grade 1
University graduates with at least one year office
experience or persons with four years of more office experience shall commence
on the 7th year of the scale for Electorate Officer, Grade 1.
(b) Electorate
Officer Grade 2
(i) Persons with
at least four years clerical/administrative experience; or
(ii) with special
skills such as computer training and/or experience; and/or
(iii) persons with
an appropriate tertiary qualification, may be offered a commencing salary up to
the second year rate of the scale for Electorate Officer, Grade 2.
(c) An officer
with at least six years clerical/administrative experience may be offered a
commencing salary up to the third year rate of the scale for Electorate
Officer, Grade 2.
6. Higher Duties
Allowance
(a) An Electorate
Officer, Grade 1 who acts in a position of Electorate Officer, Grade 2 for 1 working
day or more and who, in the opinion of the Member, assumes the whole of the
responsibilities of that position during that period shall be paid by allowance
any difference between the officer's present salary and the salary to which the
officer would be entitled if appointed to that position.
Higher duties will be paid where the absence of the
Electorate Officer, Grade 2 is due to approved leave. No relief will be paid during an Officer’s travel to Parliament
House for training or familiarisation with the organisation and the officer is
otherwise considered on duty.
(b) Where a public
holiday falls at the beginning of a period of relief it will not be paid. Where the period of relief is less than 5
days and a public holiday is at the end of the relief period the allowance will
not be paid for the public holiday.
Where the period of relief is 5 days or more and a public holiday falls
at the end of the relief period and on or before the Friday of the week relief
is being worked the allowance will be paid for the public holiday.
(c) However, where
an officer has an absence of 5 days or more during a period of relief,
including public holidays or any other form of approved leave, higher duties
allowance will not be paid for that period of absence.
(d) Officers who
have acted for 12 months or more in the same higher graded position and who
continue to act in that position are eligible for payment of higher duties
allowance for any recreation, extended, sick or family and community leave
which is taken during the further period of relief after 12 months.
7. Saving of Rights
(a) At the time of
making of this award, no officer covered by this award will suffer a reduction
in his or her rate of pay.
(b) The
Association and Legislature intend that any variation to the Crown Employees
(Public Sector -Salaries 2007) Award or an Award replacing that award, Officers
covered by this award will maintain the same salary and allowance relationship
to the rest of the public service.
The Association and Legislature intend that any such
salary or allowance increase will be reflected in this award either by
variation to it, or by the making of a new award.
8. Hours of Work
(a) The ordinary
hours of work shall be 9:00a.m. to 5:00p.m., Monday to Friday, regardless of
whether duties are performed at the electorate office or Parliament House, with
one hour for lunch. Flexible working
hours will not apply.
(b) The Member may
require an Officer to perform duty beyond the hours determined under subclause
(a) of this clause but only if it is reasonable for the Officer to be required
to do so. An Officer may refuse to work
additional hours in circumstances where the working of such hours would result
in the Officer working unreasonable hours.
In determining what is unreasonable the following factors shall be taken
into account:
(i) the Officer’s
prior commitments outside the workplace, particularly the Officer’s family and
carer responsibilities, community obligations or study arrangements,
(ii) any risk to the
Officer ‘s health and safety,
(iii) the urgency
of the work required to be performed during additional hours, the impact on the
operational commitments of the organisation and the effect on client services,
(iv) the notice (if
any) given by the Department Head regarding the working of the additional
hours, and by the Officer of their intention to refuse the working of
additional hours, or
(v) any other
relevant matter.
9. Overtime
The remuneration prescribed in this Award includes payment
for all incidents of work including overtime.
Work will not be conducted on weekends or public holidays without
reasonable prior consultation with the Officer or the Association.
10. Relief
Arrangements
Where an Electorate Officer is absent for one working day or
longer on approved leave (including where an Electorate Officer, Grade 1
relieves in a position of Electorate Officer, Grade 2), relief may be engaged
by the Member subject to the following conditions:
(a) Members are
responsible for the selection of relief staff;
(b) No relief may
be engaged while staff are attending word processing or other training courses
or in instances where staff travel to Sydney for familiarisation with
parliamentary business and;
(c) Relief staff
are paid a daily rate for the number of days worked, calculated by dividing the
annual salary for Electorate Officer Grade 1 or 2, by 260.8929 including 1/12th
of total earnings on termination;
(d) Relief staff
are not entitled to any paid leave during their period of relief.
11. Anti-Discrimination
(a) It is the
intention of the parties bound by this award to seek to achieve the object in
section 3(f) of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 to prevent and
eliminate discrimination in the workplace.
This includes discrimination on the grounds of race, sex, marital
status, disability, homosexuality, transgender identity, age, and
responsibilities as a carer.
(b) It follows
that in fulfilling their obligations under the dispute resolution procedure prescribed
by this award the parties have obligations to take all reasonable steps to
ensure that the operation of the provisions of this award are not directly or
indirectly discriminatory in their effects. It will be consistent with the
fulfilment of these obligations for the parties to make application to vary any
provision of the award which, by its terms or operation, has a direct or
indirect discriminatory effect.
(c) Under the Anti-Discrimination
Act 1977, it is unlawful to victimise an employee because the Officer has
made or may make or has been involved in a complaint of unlawful discrimination
or harassment.
(d) Nothing in
this clause is to be taken to affect:
(i) any conduct
or act which is specifically exempted from anti-discrimination legislation;
(ii) offering or
providing junior rates of pay to persons under 21 years of age;
(iii) any act or
practice of a body established to propagate religion which is exempted under
section 56(d) of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977;
(iv) a party to
this award from pursuing matters of unlawful discrimination in any State or
federal jurisdiction.
(e) This clause
does not create legal rights or obligations in addition to those imposed upon
the parties by the legislation referred to in this clause.
12. Training
Training will be provided to electorate office staff as per
the Legislative Assembly Staff Training and Development Policy subject to the
following conditions:
(a) All efforts
will be made to ensure that staff are released from their normal duties to
attend training provided sufficient notice has been given of intention and
provided the relevant authorities have been obtained.
(b) Release to
attend training will be at the discretion of the Member where that discretion
is based on the need to ensure the proper functioning of the electorate office
and maintenance of appropriate levels of service.
(c) Where an
application to attend training has been refused, the officer may utilise the
grievance and dispute resolution procedures contained within this award should
they wish to seek further clarification regarding the reasons for refusal.
(d) No provision
of relief will be provided for training other than those provisions that exist
within the aforementioned policy specifically relating to electorate office
staff.
13. Recreation Leave
(a) All leave
entitlements for Electorate Officers will be administered in accordance with
the policies of the NSW Legislative Assembly and the New South Wales
Parliament.
(b) All officers working
under job-share arrangements are eligible to the leave entitlements, contained
within this clause, which will accrue on a pro-rata basis.
(c) Officers shall
be eligible, after completion of each 12 months of service, to recreation leave
in the following amount;
(i) 4 weeks
(accrued at the rate of 1.66 days per month) in addition to any public holiday
occurring during such period of recreation leave.
(ii) or officers
working in areas designated as "Western Division", 5 weeks (accrued
at the rate of 2.08 days per month).
(d) An amount of
leave may be taken, on or pro-rata basis, within the first 12 months of service
and during each 12 months of service thereafter, where a sufficient amount of
leave has been accrued up to the date upon which the leave is to be taken.
(e) Limits on
Accumulation of recreation leave and direction to take leave
(i) At least two
(2) consecutive weeks of recreation leave (or a combination of recreation leave
and public holidays, extended leave or, if the Officer elects, leave without
pay) shall be taken by an Officer every 12 months for recreation purposes,
except by agreement with the Clerk in special circumstances.
(ii) Where the
operational requirements permit, the application for leave shall be dealt with
by the Clerk according to the wishes of the Officer.
(iii) The Clerk
shall notify the Officer in writing when accrued recreation leave reaches 6
weeks or its hourly equivalent, and at the same time may direct an Officer to
take at least 2 weeks recreation leave within 3 months of the notification.
(iv) The Clerk
shall notify the Officer in writing when accrued recreation leave reaches 8
weeks or its hourly equivalent and may direct the Officer to take at least 2
weeks recreation leave within 6 weeks of the notification.
(f) Conservation
of recreation leave -
(i) If the Clerk
is satisfied that an officer is prevented by operational or personal reasons
from taking sufficient recreation leave to reduce the accrued leave below an acceptable
level of less than 8 weeks, or its hourly equivalent the Clerk shall:
(ii) specify in
writing the period of time during which the excess shall be conserved; and
(iii) on the
expiration of the period during which conservation of leave applies, grant
sufficient leave to the officer at a mutually convenient time to enable the
accrued leave to be reduced to an acceptable level below the 8 week level
specified.
The Clerk will inform an officer in writing on a
regular basis of the officer’s recreation leave accrual.
14. Sick Leave
Electorate Officers are entitled to 15 days paid sick leave
per year which accrues from year to year where the entitlement is renewed each
calendar year. Part time staff are
entitled to sick leave on a pro rata basis to the full time rate of 15 days per
year.
15. Family and
Community Service Leave, Personal/Carer’s Leave and Flexible Use of Other Leave
Entitlements.
1. Definitions
The definition of "family" and
"relative" for these purposes is the same as that provided in the
Standard Clause of the State Personal/Carer's Leave Case (30 August 1996). The person who needs the Officer's care and
support is referred to as the "person concerned" and is:
(a) a spouse of
the Officer; or
(b) a de facto
spouse, who, in relation to a person, is a person of the opposite sex to the
first mentioned person who lives with the first mentioned person as the husband
or wife of that person on a bona fide domestic basis although not legally
married to that person; or
(c) 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 or legal guardian),
grandparent, grandchild or sibling of the Officer or of the spouse or de facto
spouse of the Officer; or
(d) a same sex
partner who lives with the Officer as the de facto partner of that Officer on a
bona fide domestic basis; or
(e) a relative of
the Officer who is a member of the same household, where for the purposes of
this paragraph:
1. 'relative' means
a person related to blood, marriage or affinity;
2. 'affinity'
means a relationship that one spouse because of marriage has to blood relatives
of the other; and
3. 'household'
means a family group living in the same domestic dwelling.
2. Family and
Community Service Leave - general
(i) The
appropriate employer may grant family and community service leave to an
Officer:
(a) for reasons
related to the family responsibilities of the Officer, or
(b) for reasons
related to the performance of community service by the Officer, or
(c) in a case of
pressing necessity.
(ii) Family and
Community Service Leave replaces Short Leave.
(iii) An Officer is
not to be granted family and community service leave for attendance at court to
answer a criminal charge, unless the appropriate employer approves the grant of
leave in the particular case.
3. Family and
Community Service Leave - entitlement.
(i) The maximum
amount of family and community service leave on full pay that may be granted to
an Officer is:
(a) 2.5 working
days during the first year of service and 5 working days in any period of 2
years after the first year of service, or
(b) 1 working day
for each year of service after 2 years' continuous service, minus any period of
family and community service leave already taken by the Officer, whichever is
the greater period.
(ii) Family and
Community Service Leave is available to part-time Officers on a pro rata basis,
based on the number of hours worked.
(iii) Where family and
community service leave has been exhausted, additional paid family and
community service leave of up to 2 days may be granted on a discreet, 'per
occasion' basis to an Officer on the death of a person as defined in sub-clause
1 above.
4. Use of sick leave
to care for a sick dependant - general
When family and community service leave, as outlined in
subclause 3 above, is exhausted, the sick leave provisions under subclause 5
may be used by an Officer to care for a sick dependant.
5. Use of sick
leave to care for a sick dependant - entitlement
(a) The
entitlement to use sick leave in accordance with this clause is subject to:
(i) the Officer
being responsible for the care and support of the person concerned, and
(ii) the person
concerned being as defined in subclause (1) of this clause.
(b) An Officer
with responsibilities in relation to a person who needs their care and support
shall be entitled to use sick leave available from that year's annual sick
leave entitlement minus any sick leave taken from that year's entitlement to
provide care and support for such persons when they are ill.
(c) Sick leave
accumulates from year to year. In
addition to the current year's grant of sick leave available under 5(b) above,
sick leave accrued from the previous 3 years may also be accessed by an Officer
with responsibilities in relation to a person who needs their care and support.
(d) The employer
may, in special circumstances, make a grant of additional sick leave. This grant can only be taken from sick leave
accrued prior to the period referred to in subclause 5(c) above.
(e) The Officer
shall, if required, establish either by production of a medical certificate or
statutory declaration, the illness of the person concerned and that the illness
is such to require care by another person.
(f) The Officer
has the right to choose the method by which the ground for leave is
established, that is, by production of either a medical certificate or
statutory declaration.
(g) The Officer is
not required to state the exact nature of the relevant illness on either a
medical certificate or statutory declaration.
(h) The Officer
shall, wherever practicable, give the employer notice prior to the absence of the
intention to take leave, the name of the person requiring care and that
person's relationship to the Officer, the reasons for taking such leave and the
estimated length of absence. If it is
not practicable for the Officer to give prior notice of absence, the Officer
shall notify the employer by telephone of such absence at the first opportunity
on the day of absence.
(i) In normal
circumstances, the Officer must not take leave under this subclause where
another person has taken leave to care for the same person.
6. Time Off in
Lieu of Payment for Overtime
There is no provision for time off in lieu of overtime
as clauses 4, All Incidence of Employment Allowance, and clause 9, Overtime,
replace payment for overtime with an annual allowance prescribed in this award.
7. Use of
make-up time
(a) An Officer may
elect, with the consent of the employer, to work "make-up time". "Make-up time" is worked when the
Officer takes time off during ordinary hours for family or community service
responsibilities, and works those hours at a later time, during the spread of
ordinary hours, at the ordinary rate of pay.
(b) An Officer on
shift work may elect, with the consent of the employer, to work "make-up
time" (under which the Officer takes time off during ordinary hours for
family or community service responsibilities and works those hours at a later
time) at the shift work rate which would have been applicable to the hours
taken off.
8. Use of other
leave entitlements
The appropriate employer may grant an Officer other
leave entitlements for reasons related to family responsibilities, or community
service by, the Officer. An Officer may
elect, with the consent of the employer, to take:
(a) recreation
leave;
(b) extended
leave; and
(c) leave without
pay.
9. Grievance and
dispute handling process
In the event of any grievance or dispute arising in
connection with any part of the provisions of this determination, such a
grievance or dispute shall be processed in accordance with the grievance and dispute
handling provisions of the relevant organisation.
16. Termination of
Employment
(a) Electorate
Office staff are employed by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.
(b) An Electorate
Officer's services may be terminated by the giving of 2 weeks notice by either
the Speaker, being the employer, or the individual officer or upon the end of
the term of office of the Member for whom the officer works.
(c) Termination of
service other than by way of resignation or voluntary withdrawal of service may
only be made by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.
17. Separation from
Service Provisions
At general election time, or upon a seat in the Legislative
Assembly becoming vacant for any reason, every endeavour will be made to retain
the services of currently employed Electorate Officers having regard to the
wishes of each incoming Member.
Where an officer's services are terminated (other than at
the officer's own request or where the officer is found guilty of a breach of
discipline), the following termination arrangements are to apply:
(a) Basis of
entitlement
Electorate Officers whose services are terminated in
circumstances where the relevant Member of the Legislative Assembly has ceased
to hold office for any reason and provided that:
(i) the Electorate
Officer continues to work at the existing location and the incoming Member
notifies the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, within three months of the
declaration of the poll, of his/her intention not to continue with the existing
staffing arrangements, or
(ii) the officer
continues to work for the incoming Member and,
(1) after the
expiration of two months and before the expiration of the third month from the
date of the declaration of the poll, and
(2) to that date
the member has not given to the officer/s a clear indication regarding an offer
to continue employment, and
(3) the officer
identifies that they can no longer continue with the existing arrangements, and that they notify the Speaker of the Legislative
Assembly of this, they shall be entitled to separation payments as provided
hereunder in subclause (b), however,
(iii) Should an
offer of employment be made and the Electorate Officer declines to accept the
offer on grounds other than those identified above and this voluntary
withdrawal of service is either before the third month or after the third
month, it shall be treated as voluntary resignation and so not attract an
entitlement to payment of the separation provisions.
(b) Separation
payments
(i) Officers
whose employment is terminated under subclause (a) of this clause will be
entitled to termination payments and non-monetary support programs as agreed
between the parties in the Electorate Officers Entitlements on Termination of
Employment Agreement and the guidelines and policies of the Parliament of New
South Wales.
(c) Exclusions
Excluded from entitlement to separation payments are:
(i) Relief
Electorate Officers;
(ii) Electorate
Officers on workers' compensation whose claim is based on compensation for
termination or officers awaiting determination of claims against the employer
for termination of services;
(iii) Electorate
Officers subject to termination on the grounds of misconduct or unsatisfactory
services;
(iv) Electorate Officers
who resign for any reason other than in circumstances envisaged in (a)(i) or
(a)(ii) above;
(v) Electorate
Officers whose appointments were facilitated by way of leave without pay from
the Public Service (on the basis that they will return to employment in the
Public Service upon displacement).
(d) Repayment of
separation monies
(i) Electorate
Officers who have received payment of monies in consideration of separation
from the service, do so on the understanding that they are liable to reimburse
the employer, being the Speaker of the N.S.W. Legislative Assembly, all or part
thereof (on a pro-rata basis) any sum paid where they are reappointed to
another position as an Electorate Officer or to any other position in Crown
employment.
(e) Superannuation
Fund entitlements
The Fund entitlements for contributors under subclause
(b) above will be as follows:
(i) Officers who
are contributors to either the State Authorities Superannuation Scheme (SASS) or
the State Superannuation Fund (SSF) who are eligible for separation payments in
accordance with subclause (b) shall be regarded as having been retrenched, as
defined in the State Authorities Superannuation Act 1987, for the
purpose of determining their entitlements to benefits under those schemes.
(ii) Officers who
are contributors to either of those schemes who are not eligible for separation
payments in accordance with subclause (b) shall be regarded as having resigned
for the purpose of determining their entitlements benefits under those schemes.
18. Government and
Related Employees Tribunal Act
Notwithstanding anything contained in this Award, the
provisions of the Government and Related Employees Appeal Tribunal Act shall
continue to apply.
19. Consultative
Committee
An Electorate Officers joint consultative committee shall be
established to monitor the implementation of this Award and make
recommendations to the Speaker on any changes to the Award that may be thought
appropriate during its period of operation.
Any variation/s approved by the Speaker shall be processed in accordance
with the relevant legislation applying at the time the variation is sought.
The Committee shall consist of a representative of the
Speaker and a representative of the Association, the latter chosen at the
Association's discretion. In addition,
no more than 4 staff representatives nominated by the Association may be
co-opted onto the consultative committee.
A representative of the Premier's Department may be co-opted to assist
the Committee as required.
20. Grievance and
Dispute Handling Procedures
(a) It is agreed
between the parties that, wherever possible, informal means will be used to
resolve any industrial dispute.
(b) Should a
dispute arise, in the first instance, the Officer(s) will notify (in writing or
otherwise) the Member, or other appropriate person, as to the substance of the
grievance/dispute, request a bilateral meeting to discuss it, and state the
remedy sought. A meeting should be held
within 1 week of notification.
(c) If the matter
is not resolved in this meeting, the matter shall be further discussed by the
Officer(s), and, at their request, the workplace delegate, or other appropriate
person, the Member and where practicable, a senior officer of the Legislative
Assembly. This should take place within
1 week of the completion of step (b).
(d) If the matter
remains unresolved, the matter shall be further discussed by the Officer(s),
and, at their request, the workplace delegate, or other appropriate person, the
Member and a more senior management representative. This should take place within 1 week of the completion of step
(c) where possible or advice given to the time frame required to arrange a meeting.
(e) If the matter
remains unresolved and the Officer(s) is/are union member(s), it should be
discussed/negotiated between representatives of the Association and the Clerk
or the Speaker (or both) of the Legislative Assembly. If the Officer is not a member of the union they may nominate a person
to act on their behalf. These actions
should take place as soon as it is apparent that the earlier discussions will
not resolve the grievance/dispute. In
addition, in the case of a grievance, if the matter has not been resolved at
the conclusion of this stage of discussions, the employer must provide a
written response to the grievance, including reasons for not implementing any
proposed remedy.
(f) A matter
relating to the conditions of employment fixed by this Award may be submitted by
one or the other of the parties when all other steps have been exhausted in
sub-clauses (a) to (e) above, to the relevant industrial tribunal which may
exercise its functions under the Industrial Relations Act 1996.
(g) Where the
issue in dispute relates to a change of a work or management practice, the
pre-existing practice shall be allowed to continue until the issue has been
finally resolved. Neither party shall
be prejudiced as to the final settlement by the continuance of work in
accordance with this sub-clause.
21. Deduction of
Union Membership Fees
(a) The
Association shall provide the Presiding Officers with a schedule setting out
Association fortnightly membership fees payable by members of the Association
in accordance with the Association's rules.
(b) The
Association shall advise the Presiding Officers of any change to the amount of
fortnightly membership fees made under its rules. Any variation to the schedule of Association fortnightly
membership fees payable shall be provided to the Presiding Officers at least
one month in advance of the variation taking effect.
(c) Subject to (a)
and (b) above, the Presiding Officers shall deduct Association fortnightly
membership fees from the salary of any Officer who is a member of the
Association in accordance with the Association's rules, provided that the
Officer has authorized the Presiding Officers to make such deductions.
(d) Monies so
deducted from Officers' salary shall be forwarded regularly to the Association
together with all necessary information to enable the Association to reconcile
and credit subscriptions to Officers' Association membership accounts.
(e) Unless other
arrangements are agreed to by the Presiding Officers and the Association, all
Association membership fees shall be deducted on a fortnightly basis.
(f) Where an
Officer has already authorized the deduction of Association membership fees
from his or her pay prior to this clause taking effect, nothing in this clause
shall be read as requiring the Officer to make a fresh authorization in order
for such deductions to continue.
22. Secure Employment
(a) Objective of
this Clause
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) Casual
Conversion
(i) A casual
employee engaged by a particular employer on a regular and systematic basis for
a sequence of periods of employment under this Award during a calendar period
of six 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) Every
employer of such a casual employee shall give the employee notice in writing of
the provisions of this sub-clause within four weeks of the employee having
attained such period of six 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 (b)(i), upon receiving notice under
paragraph (b)(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
disputes settlement procedure.
(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 (b)(iii), the employer
and employee shall, in accordance with this paragraph, and subject to paragraph
(b)(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 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 disputes settlement procedure.
(viii) An employee
must not be engaged and re-engaged, dismissed or replaced in order to avoid any
obligation under this subclause.
(c) 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) Any employer
which 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 (c) 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.
(d) 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 disputes settlement procedure of this award.
(e) 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.
23. Area, Incidence
and Duration
This award applies to all officers of the Legislative
Assembly employed as Electorate Office Staff to members of the Legislative
Assembly.
This award is made following a review under section 19 of
the Industrial Relations Act 1996 and rescinds and replaces the Crown
Employees (Parliamentary Electorate Officers) Award published 30 July 2004 (345
I.G. 521) and all variations thereof.
The changes made to the award pursuant to the Award Review
pursuant to section 19(6) of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 and
Principle 26 of the Principles for Review of Awards made by the Industrial
Relations Commission of New South Wales on 28 April 1999 (310 I.G. 359) take
effect on and from 31 July 2007.
This award remains in force until varied or rescinded, the
period for which it was made having already expired.
PART B
MONETARY RATES
Effective from the
beginning of the first pay period to commence on or after 1.7.07
Table 1 - Salaries
Electorate Officer
Grade 1
|
Salary (per annum)
|
|
$
|
1st year of service or 18 years
|
27,055
|
2nd year of service, min at 20 years
|
32,723
|
3rd year min. at 21 years
|
35,266
|
4th year of service
|
36,229
|
5th year of service
|
37,762
|
6th year of service
|
38,448
|
7th year of service
|
39,400
|
8th year of service
|
40,857
|
9th year of service
|
42,338
|
10th year of service
|
43,903
|
Electorate Officer Grade 2
|
|
|
|
First Year
|
55,010
|
Second Year
|
56,701
|
Third Year
|
61,128
|
Fourth Year
|
63,056
|
Electorate Officer Grade 1 Special Salary Scale
|
|
|
|
First Year
|
49,012
|
Second Year
|
50,356
|
Third Year
|
51,784
|
Fourth Year
|
53,344
|
Table 2 -
Remuneration Rates
Research Assistant-to independent Members of the
Legislative Assembly
|
Remuneration
|
|
(per annum)
|
|
$
|
Research Assistant
|
76,896
|
Table 3 - Other
Rates and Allowances
Item
|
Clause No
|
Brief Description
|
Amount
|
|
|
|
$
|
1
|
4(a)(i)
|
Electorate Officer, grade 1
|
4,010
|
2
|
4(a)(ii)
|
Electorate Officer, grade 1 Special Salary Scale
|
4,810
|
3
|
4(a)(iii)
|
Electorate Officer, grade 2
|
6,413
|
R.
W. HARRISON D.P.
____________________
Printed by
the authority of the Industrial Registrar.