Energy
Australia Award 2004
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
COMMISSION OF NEW SOUTH WALES
Application by Energy
Australia.
(No. IRC 331 of 2006)
|
Before The Honourable
Justice Wright, President
|
3 February 2006
|
VARIATION
1. Insert in the
Arrangement of the award published 3 June 2005 (351 I.G. 487) the following new
clause:
28A. Bereavement
Entitlements for Casual Employees
2. Delete
subclause 28.1, of clause 28 Special Leave and insert in lieu thereof the following:
28.1 Special Leave
may be granted for the following purposes:
* Bereavement (other than a casual employee),
* Blood donations,
* Attending to union matters, including training and
official conferences,
* Attending Employee Assistance Program,
* Personal.
3. Insert after
clause 28, Special Leave, the following new clause:
28A. Bereavement
Entitlements for Casual Employees
28A.1 Subject to the
evidentiary and notice requirements in subclauses 29.2 and 29.4 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 29.3.2 of
Clause 29 Personal/Carers Leave.
28A.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.
28A.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 engage a casual employee are otherwise not affected.
4. Insert in clause
29.1, of clause 29, Personal/Carer's Leave after the words "for absences
to provide care and support for such persons when they are ill", the
following:
"or who require care due to an unexpected
emergency".
5. Insert at the
end of subclause 29.1 of clause 29 of the following notation:
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 5 should be followed.
6. Delete
subclause 29.2, of clause 29 Personal/ Carer's Leave and insert in lieu thereof
the following:
29.2 The employee
shall, if required,
29.2.1 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
29.2.2 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.
7. Insert at the
end of subclause 29.5, of clause 29, the following:
"or who requires care due to an unexpected
emergency"
8. Delete clause
29.6 of clause 29 and insert in lieu thereof the following:
29.6 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, for the purposes of providing care to a class of
person set out in subclause 29.3.2.
9. Insert after
subclause 29.6, of clause 29 the following new paragraph.
29.6.1 An employee may
elect with the employer's agreement to take annual leave at any time within a
period of 24 months from the date at which it falls due.
10. Insert after
subclause 29.16, of clause 29 the following new subclauses:
29.17 Personal Carers
Entitlement for casual employees
29.17.1 Subject
to the evidentiary and notice requirements in subclauses 29.2 and 29.4, 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 29.3.2 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.
29.17.2 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.
29.17.3 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.
11. Insert at the
end of subclause 30.1, of clause 30 Parental Leave the following:
"The following provisions shall also apply in
addition to those set out in the Industrial Relations Act 1996.
12. Insert after
clause 30.2, of clause 30 the following new subclauses:
30.3 An employer
must not fail to re-engage a regular casual employee (see section 53(2) of the Industrial
Relations Act 1996) because:
30.3.1 the employee or
employee's spouse is pregnant; or
30.3.2 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.
30.4 Right to
request
30.4.1 An employee
entitled to parental leave may request the employer to allow the employee:
30.4.1.1 to
extend the period of simultaneous unpaid parental leave use up to a maximum of
eight weeks;
30.4.1.2 to
extend the period of unpaid parental leave for a further continuous period of
leave not exceeding 12 months;
30.4.1.3 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.
30.4.2 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.
30.4.3 Employee's
request and the employer's decision to be in writing
The employee's request and the employer's decision made
under clause 30.4.1.2 and 30.4.1.3 must be recorded in writing.
30.4.4 Request to
return to work part-time
Where an employee wishes to make a request under clause
30.4.1.3 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.
30.5 Communication
during parental leave
30.5.1 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:
30.5.1.1 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
30.5.1.2 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.
30.5.2 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.
30.5.3 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
30.5.1.
13. This variation
shall take effect from 19 December 2005.
F. L. WRIGHT J,
President.
____________________
Printed by the
authority of the Industrial Registrar.