Delta Electricity Employees Award 2005

 

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMISSION OF NEW SOUTH WALES

 

Application by Delta Electricity .

 

(No. IRC 391 of 2006)

 

 

VARIATION

 

1.          Insert in numerical order in the Arrangement of the award published 13 January 2006 (356 I.G. 81) the following new clause number 20, Parental Leave, and renumber existing clauses 21 to 28 accordingly:

 

20.       Parental Leave

21.       Public Holidays and Picnic Day

22.       Standby Allowance

23.       Travelling Time and Fares

24.       Working Away from Headquarters

25.       Local Workplace Flexibility

26.       Grievance and Disputes Procedures

27.       Redundancy

28.       Miscellaneous

 

2.          Delete subclause 19.6 of clause 19 Personal/Carer's Leave and Bereavement Leave and insert in lieu thereof the following:

 

19.6

 

(a)        An employee may elect, with the consent of the Delta Electricity, 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.

 

(b)        An employee may elect with Delta Electricity's agreement to take annual leave at any time within a period of 24 months from the date at which it falls due.

 

3.          Insert after subclause 19.21 of clause 19 the following new subclauses:

 

19.22    Bereavement entitlements for casual employees

 

(a)        Subject to the evidentiary and notice requirements in subclauses 19.1 and 19.2 of this clause, 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 paragraph (b) of the said subclause 19.3;

 

(b)        Delta Electricity 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)        Delta Electricity must not fail to re-engage a casual employee because the employee accessed the entitlements provided for in this subclause. The rights of an employer to engage or not engage a casual employee are otherwise not affected.

 

19.23    Personal Carer’s entitlements for casual employees

 

(a)        Subject to the evidentiary and notice requirements in the said subclauses 19.1 and 19.2, 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 paragraph (b) of the said subclause 19.3 who are sick and require care and support, or who require care due to an unexpected emergency, or the birth of a child.

 

(b)        Delta Electricity 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)        Delta Electricity must not fail to re-engage a casual employee because the employee accessed the entitlements provided for in this subclause. The rights of Delta Electricity to engage or not to engage a casual employee are otherwise not affected."

 

4.          Insert after clause 19 Personal/Carer’s Leave and Bereavement Leave, the following new clause:

 

20.  Parental Leave

 

20.1      Refer to the Industrial Relations Act 1996. The following provisions shall also apply in addition to those set out in the Industrial Relations Act 1996.

 

20.2      Delta Electricity must not fail to re-engage a regular casual employee (see section 53(2) of the Industrial Relations Act 1996) 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 Delta Electricity in relation to engagement and re-engagement of casual employees are not affected, other than in accordance with this clause.

 

20.3      Right to request

 

(a)        An employee entitled to parental leave may request Delta Electricity 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)        Delta Electricity 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 Delta Electricity’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 Delta Electricity’s decision to be in writing

 

The employee’s request and Delta Electricity’s decision made under subparagraphs (ii) and (iii) of paragraph (a) of this subclause must be recorded in writing.

 

(d)        Request to return to work part-time

 

Where an employee wishes to make a request under subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (a) of this subclause, 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.

 

20.4      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, Delta Electricity 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 Delta Electricity 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 Delta Electricity of changes of address or other contact details which might affect Delta Electricity’s capacity to comply with paragraph (a) of this subclause."

 

5.          Renumber clauses 20 to 27 as clauses 21 to 28 (including subclause numbers and references) accordingly.

 

6.          Amend the references to clause numbers in the following subclauses:

 

 

7.          This variation shall take effect from 19 December 2005.

 

 

 

F. L. WRIGHT J , President

 

 

 

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Printed by the authority of the Industrial Registrar.