Other
Services (Catholic Personal/Carer's Leave) (State) Award
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
COMMISSION OF NEW SOUTH WALES
Application by New South
Wales Nurses' Association, Industrial Organisation of Employees.
(No. IRC 6615 of 2005)
Before The Honourable
Justice Wright, President
|
3 February 2006
|
VARIATION
1. Insert in
numerical order in clause 1, Arrangement of the award published 23 August 2002 (335
I.G. 1089) the following new clause 6 Parental Leave and subject matter, and
renumber existing clause 6, Area Incidence and Duration to read as clause 7.
6. Parental
Leave
7. Area,
Incidence and Duration
2. Delete paragraphs
(a) and (b) of subclause 3.1 of clause 3 Catholic Personal/Carer’s Leave and
insert in lieu thereof the following:
(a) An employee,
other than a casual employee, with responsibilities in relation to a class of
person set out in 3.1 (d) 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 the relevant parent 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.
(b) The employee
shall, if required,
(i) 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
(ii) 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.
3. Insert after
paragraph (e) of subclause 3.1, Use of sick leave to provide care and support
of clause 3 the following new paragraph (f):
(f) Personal
Carers Entitlement for casual employees
(i) Subject to
the evidentiary and notice requirements in (b) 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 (d) 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.
(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 to engage a casual employee are otherwise not affected.
4. Insert the
end of subclause 3.1 of clause 3 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 of the relevant parent award should be followed.
5. Delete
subclause 3.3, Unpaid Leave for Family and Other Purposes of clause 3, and
insert in lieu thereof the following:
3.3 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 3.1 (a)
above who is ill or who requires care due to an unexpected emergency.
6. Delete
subclause (a) of subclause 3.4 - Annual Leave of clause 3, 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.
7. Insert after
paragraph (c) of subclause 3.4 - Annual Leave, of clause 3 the following new
paragraph (d):
(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.
8. Insert after
paragraph (e) of subclause 3.8 of clause 3, Bereavement Leave the following new
paragraph (f):
(f) Bereavement
entitlements for casual employees
(i) Subject to
the evidentiary and notice requirements in 3.8 (b) 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 (d) of Clause 3.1 Catholic
Personal/Carers 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.
9. Insert after
clause 5, Grievance and Dispute Settling Procedure, in clause 1, Arrangement
the following new clause.
6. 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).
10. Renumber
clause 6 Area, Incidence and Duration to read as clause 7.
11. This variation
shall take effect on and from 19 December 2005.
F.
L. WRIGHT J , President
____________________
Printed by
the authority of the Industrial Registrar.