Sydney
Water Award 2004
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
COMMISSION OF NEW SOUTH WALES
Application by Sydney
Water Corporation Limited.
(No. IRC 394 of 2006)
Before The Honourable
Justice Wright, President
|
3 February 2006
|
VARIATION
1. Delete
paragraph (i) of subclause 4.2 of clause 4, Casual Employment of the award
published 13 January 2006 (356 I.G. 1) and insert in lieu thereof the
following:
(i) Casual
employees are entitled to unpaid parental leave in accordance with the New South
Wales Industrial Relations Act 1996.
The following subclause (j) shall also apply in addition to the
provisions set out in the Act.
2. In after
paragraph (i) of subclause 4.2 - of clause 4, the following new subclause:
(j) An employer
must not fail to re-engage a regular casual employee (see section 53(2) of the
Act) because:
(i) the employee
or employee's spouse is pregnant; or
(ii) 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. Delete
paragraph (a) of subclause 22.3 of clause 22 - Personal/Carers Leave and insert
in lieu thereof the following:
(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.
4. Insert after
paragraph (c) of subclause 22.3 of clause 22, the following new paragraph:
(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.
5. Insert after
subclause 22.6 of clause 22 the following new subclause:
22.7 Personal Carers
Entitlement For Casual Employees
(a) Subject to the
evidentiary and notice requirements in 22.1(b) and 22.1(c), 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 22.1(c)(ii) of this clause who is
sick and requires care and support, or who requires care due to an unexpected
emergency, or the birth of a child.
(b) 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.
(c) 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.
6. Delete
subclause (c) of clause 23 Bereavement Leave and insert in lieu thereof the
following:
(c) Bereavement
leave shall be available to the employee in respect to the death of a person
prescribed for the purposes of personal/carer’s leave as set out in
subparagraph (ii) of subclause 22.1(c) of Clause 22 (Personal/Carer’s Leave),
provided that for the purpose of bereavement leave, the employee need not have
been responsible for the care of the person concerned.
7. Insert after
subclause (e) of clause 23 the following new subclause:
(f) Bereavement
entitlements for casual employees
(i) Subject to
the evidentiary and notice requirements in (b) and (c), 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 subparagraph (ii) of subclause 22.1(c) of
Clause 22 (Personal/Carer’s 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.
8. Insert after
subclause 24.5 of clause 24, Parental Leave, the following new subclauses:
24.6 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 24.6(a)(ii) and 24.6(a)(iii) must be recorded in writing.
(d) Request to
return to work part-time
Where an employee wishes to make a request under
24.6(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.
24.7 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
variation shall take effect on and from 19 December 2005.
F.
L. WRIGHT J , President
____________________
Printed by
the authority of the Industrial Registrar.