CLERICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EMPLOYEES (CATHOLIC PERSONAL CARER'S LEAVE) AWARD

 

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMISSION OF NEW SOUTH WALES

 

Notice of Award Review pursuant to Section 19 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996.

 

(No. IRC932 of 2001)

 

 

REVIEWED AWARD

 

1.  Arrangement

 

Clause No.      Subject Matter

 

1.         Arrangement

2.         Definitions

3.         Catholic Personal/Carer’s Leave

4.         Bereavement Leave

5.         Sick Leave

6.         Grievance and Dispute Settling Procedures

7.         Area, Incidence and Duration

 

2.  Definitions

 

"Parent Award" means the Clerical and Administrative Employees (State) Award published 14 February 1997 (296 I.G. 619), as varied.

 

3.  Catholic Personal/Carer’s Leave

 

3.1        Use of Sick Leave to Provide Care and Support for a Family Member -

 

(a)        An employee, other than a casual employee, with responsibilities in relation to a family member as set out in subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (c) of this subclause, who needs the employee’s care and support shall be entitled to use, in any year, in accordance with this subclause, any current or accrued sick leave entitlement, provided for at clause 5, Sick Leave, for absences to provide care and support for such persons when they are ill.  Such leave may be taken for part of a single day.

 

(b)        If required, the employee shall establish the illness of the person concerned either by production of a medical certificate, statutory declaration, written statement or other evidence and that the illness is such as to require care and support by the employee.  An employee is not entitled to family leave under this subclause where another person has taken leave to care for the same person.

 

(c)        The entitlement to use sick leave in accordance with this subclause is subject to:

 

(i)         the employee being responsible for the care of the person concerned; and

 

(ii)        the family member being a parent, step-parent, spouse, grandchild, sibling, grandparent, child, step-child, foster child, adopted child and foster parent of the employee or spouse.

 

3.2        Use of Sick Leave for a Pressing Domestic Necessity -

 

(a)        Subject to paragraph (c) of this subclause, for the purposes of this clause "pressing domestic necessity" means any reason at the discretion of the employer, provided that such discretion is not unreasonably withheld and is exercised so as not to contravene any applicable provisions of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977.

 

(b)        An employee, other than a casual employee, with sick leave credits may apply to utilise such credits up to five of any current or accrued sick leave entitlement days in any one year of the employee’s service, for any pressing domestic necessity other than to care for or support a person as defined in subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (c) of subclause 3.1 of this clause.

 

(c)        Where an employee, other than a casual employee, is not entitled to utilise sick leave credits pursuant to paragraph (a) of the said subclause 3.1, he/she may access any current or accrued sick leave for any pressing domestic necessity, where the employee is responsible for the care or support of a person not referred to in the said subparagraph (ii).

 

(d)        The yearly entitlement for the purpose of pressing domestic necessity, as set out in paragraph (b) of this subclause, is non-cumulative.

 

(e)        If required, an employee shall provide a written statement or other evidence supporting the application for personal/carer’s leave for the purpose of pressing domestic necessity.

 

3.3        Notification of Intention to Take Leave - In relation to subclauses 3.1 and 3.2 of this clause, wherever practicable, an employee shall give the employer notice, prior to the absence, of the intention to take leave.  The employee shall also provide the name of the person requiring care, that person’s relationship to the employee, the nature of any pressing domestic necessity, the reasons for taking such leave and the estimated length of absence.  If it is not practicable for the employee to give prior notice of absence, the employee shall notify the employer by telephone of such absence at the first opportunity on the day of absence.

 

3.4        Unpaid Leave for Family Purpose -

 

(a)        With the consent of the employer, an employee may elect to take unpaid leave for the purpose of providing care and support to a person referred to in subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (c) of subclause 3.1 or paragraph (c) of subclause 3.2 of this clause who is ill.

 

3.5        Annual Leave -

 

(a)        An employee may elect, with the consent of the employer, subject to the Annual Holidays Act 1944, to take annual leave not exceeding five 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.

 

3.6        Time Off in Lieu of Payment for Overtime -

 

(a)        An employee may elect, with the consent of the employer, to take time off in lieu of payment for overtime at a time or times agreed with the employer within 12 months of the said election.

 

(b)        Overtime taken as time off during ordinary time hours shall be taken at the ordinary time rate, that is, an hour for each hour worked.

 

(c)        If, having elected to take time as leave in accordance with paragraph (a) of this subclause, the leave is not taken for whatever reason, payment for time accrued at overtime rates will be made at the expiry of the 12-month period or on termination.

 

(d)        Where no election is made in accordance with paragraph (a) of this subclause, the employee shall be paid overtime rates in accordance with the award.

 

3.7        Make-up Time -

 

(a)        An employee may elect, with the consent of the employer, to work "make-up time" under which the employee takes time off ordinary hours and works those hours at a later time, during the spread of ordinary hours provided in the parent award, at the ordinary time rate of pay.

 

(b)        An employee on shift work may elect, with the consent of the employer, to work "make-up time" (under which the employee takes time off ordinary hours and works those hours at a later time), at the shift work rate which would have been applicable to the hours taken off.

 

3.8        Rostered Days Off -

 

(a)        An employee may elect, with the consent of the employer, to take a rostered day off at any time.

 

(b)        An employee may elect, with the consent of the employer, to take rostered days off in part day amounts.

 

(c)        An employee may elect, with the consent of the employer, to accrue some or all rostered days off for the purpose of creating a bank to be drawn upon at a time mutually agreed between the employer and employee, or subject to reasonable notice by the employee or the employer.

 

(d)        This subclause is subject to the employer informing each union which is both party to the award and which has members employed at the particular enterprise of its intention to introduce an enterprise system of RDO flexibility, and providing a reasonable opportunity for the union(s) to participate in negotiations.

 

4.  Bereavement Leave

 

(a)        An employee, other than a casual employee, shall be entitled to up to two days bereavement leave without deduction of pay on each occasion of the death of a person prescribed in subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (c) of subclause 3.1 of clause 3, Catholic Personal/Carer’s Leave.

 

(b)        The employee must notify the employer as soon as practicable of the intention to take bereavement leave and will, if required by the employer, provide to the satisfaction of the employer proof of death.

 

(c)        Bereavement leave shall be available to the employee in respect of the death of a person in relation to whom the employee could have utilised personal/carer’s leave or equivalent in the said clause 3, provided that, for the purpose of bereavement leave, the employee need not have been responsible for the care of the person concerned.

 

(d)        An employee shall not be entitled to bereavement leave under this clause during any period in respect of which the employee has been granted other leave.

 

(e)        Bereavement leave may be taken in conjunction with other leave available under the said clause 3.  Where such other available leave is to be taken in conjunction with bereavement leave, consideration will be given to the circumstances of the employee and the reasonable operational requirements of the employer.

 

5.  Sick Leave

 

(i)         Weekly employees shall, subject to the production of a medical certificate or other evidence satisfactory to the employer (which may include a statutory declaration) be entitled to seven days sick leave during the first year of service and ten days during the second and subsequent years of service on full pay; provided that a statutory declaration shall be sufficient proof of sickness in respect of the first two single day's absence of an employee in any year.

 

Provided further that where an employee works more than eight ordinary hours in any day the employee shall not be entitled to leave in excess of 53.2 hours of ordinary working time in the first year of service and 76 hours of ordinary working time in the second and subsequent years of service.

 

(ii)       

 

(a)        The employee shall, wherever practicable, before the commencement of absence, inform the employer of such employee's inability to attend for duty and, as far as possible, state the nature of the injury or illness and the estimated duration of the absence.

 

(b)        Where an employee does not notify the employer of the employee's inability to attend for duty prior to the commencement of the absence, the employee shall produce a medical certificate or the said employee shall not be entitled to payment for the first eight hours of such absence.

 

NOTE:  An employee's entitlement to sick leave in accordance with subclause (i) of this clause shall not be reduced as a consequence of the operation of this paragraph.

 

(iii)       The payment for any absence on sick leave in accordance with this clause during the first three months of employment of an employee may be withheld by the employer until the employee completes such three months of employment, at which time the payment shall be made.

 

(iv)       An employee shall not be entitled to sick leave on full pay for any period in respect of which such employee is entitled to workers' compensation, provided, however, that an employer shall pay to an employee who has sick leave entitlement under this clause, the difference between the amount received as workers' compensation and full pay.  If an employer pays such difference, the employee's sick leave entitlement under this clause shall, for each week during which such difference is paid, be proportionately reduced.

 

(v)        If the full period of sick leave is not taken in any year, the whole or any untaken portion shall be cumulative from year to year, provided that an employer shall not be bound to credit an employee for sick leave which accrued more than 12 years before the end of the last completed year of service.

 

(vi)       Part-time employees shall, subject to the provisions of this clause, be entitled to a proportionate amount of sick leave.   The amount of sick leave to which a part-time employee is entitled in any year shall bear the same ratio to sick leave prescribed during that year of service for weekly employees as the part-time employee's normal ordinary hours of work for a week during such year would have borne to the number of ordinary hours worked by weekly clerical employees in the section or department in which the part-time employee is employed.

 

(vii)      Service before the date of this award shall be counted for the purpose of assessing the annual sick leave entitlement but shall not be taken into consideration in arriving at the period of accumulated leave.  An employee whose employment commenced on or before 13 March 1976 shall be entitled to the increased quantum of sick leave  prescribed by subclause (i) of this clause, according to the employee's year of service commencing on or after that date.  Accumulated leave at the credit of the employee at the commencement of this award will not be increased or reduced by the operation of this clause.

 

(viii)     If an award holiday occurs during an employee's absence on sick leave, then such award holiday shall not be counted as sick leave.

 

(ix)       Employees employed at 14 September 1995 with more than one year's service will be granted an additional two days to their accumulated sick leave.

 

6.  Grievance and Disputes Settling Procedures

 

The procedure for the resolution of grievances and industrial disputation concerning matters arising under this award shall be  in accordance with the following procedural steps:

 

(i)         Procedures relating to grievances of individual employees:

 

(a)        The employee is required to notify (in writing or otherwise) the employer as to the substance of the grievance, request a meeting with the employer for bilateral discussions and state the remedy sought.

 

(b)        A grievance must initially be dealt with as close to its source as possible, with graduated steps for further discussion and resolution at higher levels of authority.

 

(c)        Reasonable time limits must be allowed for discussion at each level of authority.

 

(d)        At the conclusion of the discussion, the employer must provide a response to the employee's grievance, if the matter has not been resolved, including reasons for not implementing any proposed remedy.

 

(e)        While a procedure is being followed, normal work must continue.

 

(f)         The employee may be represented by a nominated representative for the purpose of each procedure.

 

(ii)        Procedures relating to disputes, etc., between employers and their employees:

 

(a)        A question, dispute or difficulty must initially be dealt with as close to its source as possible, with graduated steps for further discussion and resolution at higher levels of authority.

 

(b)        Where it has not been possible for an employer to resolve their question, dispute or difficulty in the ordinary course of events at the place of employment, the employer is required to notify (in writing or otherwise) the employee as to the substance of the grievance and require the employee to attend a meeting to discuss the grievance.  The employee may bring another member of staff or a representative of the relevant union to this meeting as a witness.

 

(c)        Reasonable time limits must be allowed for discussion at each level of authority.

 

(d)        While a procedure is being followed, normal work must continue.

 

(e)        The employer may be represented by an employer representative and the employees may be represented by a nominated representative for the purpose of each procedure.

 

7.  Area, Incidence and Duration

 

(a)        This award shall apply to all classifications contained in the parent award and provided for within the jurisdiction of the Clerks (State) Industrial Committee who are employed by a Catholic employer as defined in clause 2, Definitions.

 

(b)        This award is made following a review under Section 19 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 and replaces the Clerical and Administrative Employees (Catholic Personal Carer's Leave) Award published 2 February 1996 (290.I.G. 454) and all variations thereof.

 

(c)        The award published 2 February 1996 took effect from the beginning of the first pay period to commence on or after 14 September 1995.

 

(d)        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 18 December 1998 (308 I.G. 307) take effect on and from 12 April 2001.

 

(e)        This Award remains in force until varied or rescinded, the period for which it was made being already expired.

 

 

 

P. J. SAMS  D.P.

 

 

 

 

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Printed by the authority of the Industrial Registrar.