Leave for AWAs

Policy

Murdoch University recognizes the value of employees being able to achieve a balance between work responsibilities and personal commitments.

Murdoch University offers various leave entitlements for its employees. The range and accessibility to the different forms of leave depends on the Agreement that applies to the employee. The following policy provides detail regarding the types of leave available broadly within the University, but employees should refer to their individual employment arrangements to determine their leave entitlements.

Employees and Managers/Supervisors should consult regarding the leave type that applies in the particular situation and ensure that all the necessary information is provided at the earliest opportunity. Where the timing of leave is discretionary, there should be an appropriate balance between Murdoch University’s business needs and the needs of employees.

Leave Guidelines

There are many different forms of leave. Eligibility to the various leave types depends upon the Agreement that applies to an employee. Approval of some forms of leave can be at a Manager/Supervisors’ discretion.

Core Leave

• Annual Leave
• Sick Leave or Absence on Account of Illness, Injury or Caring
• Long Service Leave
• Parental Leave
• Holidays and Christmas Closedown
• Compassionate Leave

Other Leave – for specific purposes or circumstances

• Purchased Leave
• Leave without Pay
• Study and Professional Development Leave
• English Language Training Leave
• Defence Training Leave
• Leave for International Sporting Events
• Paid Leave for Emergency Service Volunteers
• Jury Duty Leave
• Indigenous Leave

Core Leave

Annual Leave

Employees are to consult with their relevant Manager/Supervisor to determine when their annual leave entitlements can be taken and submit an appropriate leave application. An annual leave application is subject to managerial approval.

Managers/Supervisors should develop a leave plan with their employees to ensure that they clear their full entitlements each year, before the commencement of teaching in the following year.

Academic Annual leave is not to be taken during an employee’s scheduled teaching weeks.

Sick Leave or Absence on Account of Illness, Injury or Caring

When an employee is unable to attend work because of personal illness or injury or because they are required to care for an ill or injured person to whom they have a family responsibility, they are entitled to sick leave. The amount of paid leave they have available is detailed in their relevant Agreement.

It is an employee’s responsibility to inform their Manager/Supervisor as soon as possible of their inability to attend work. An employee is then required to submit an application for the leave to cover the absence. If required or requested by the Manager/Supervisor the application should be supported with an appropriate medical certificate.

If a Manager/Supervisor should have reason to doubt the illness or the reason for the absence, they may require a further certification from another medical practitioner nominated by the Manager/Supervisor. In this instance the cost of the additional certification is to be met by the University. Should the medical practitioner not confirm the reason for the absence, then the sick leave will not be approved.

If an employee has exhausted all sick leave entitlements and there is a need for further sick leave they may access their other leave entitlements or apply for Sick Leave Without Pay. No leave accrues after three months on Sick Leave Without Pay.

In certain cases a Divisional Head or Executive Dean may approve additional paid sick leave after considering the employee’s service.

Long Service Leave

Employees are to consult with their relevant Manager/Supervisor to determine when their accrued long service leave entitlements can be taken and subsequently submit an appropriate leave application. Employees should ensure that their leave is cleared within three years of the leave accruing.

Managers/Supervisors should ensure that they develop a leave plan with their employees to ensure they clear their full long service leave entitlement during the three years after it has accrued. Managers/supervisors may approve the deferment of leave beyond three years in exceptional circumstances.

Where the Manager/Supervisor approves the deferment of long service leave, the day on which the deferred leave is due to commence until the day on which the employee commences the taking of that leave shall be excised from “continuous service”.

Approval to defer the taking of long service leave may be withdrawn or varied at any time by the Manager/Supervisor giving the employee notice in writing of the withdrawal or variation.

Long service leave should be cleared in periods no less than one week. A Manager/Supervisor may consider different options and provide flexibility in the clearance of an employee’s long service leave entitlements on a case by case basis. For an example an employee may request their long service leave to be paid at half pay, and subject to the divisions convenience a Manager/Supervisor may approve it. An employee should apply in writing at least two months in advance, though a lesser period may be negotiated with the Manager/Supervisor.

Any holiday that occurs while an employee is on long service leave, shall be considered part of the long service leave.

On termination of employment an employee shall be paid for any long service leave that has accrued but not been taken. An employee will be paid for pro-rata long service leave in the following situations:

• Where the employee retires at or over the age of 55, or on the grounds of ill health.
• When the employee dies and the leave owing is paid to their estate.
• Or when the employee’s position has been made redundant.

An employee may access up their pro-rata long service leave in the following instances:

• During the first period of service and employee may apply to take up to nine weeks’ pro-rata long service leave after seven years of continuous service.
• During the second and subsequent periods of service an employee may apply to take up to six weeks pro rata long service leave after three and a half years of service.

An employee may not access their pro-rata entitlements if their annual leave entitlement is greater than twenty days.

The University recognises prior service for long service leave from other Australian Universities. All accrued long service leave that has accrued must be paid out in full prior to the employee commencing with the University.

Employees who have worked full time and part time will have their leave entitlements converted to the average hours worked each day over the qualifying period. Employees will also have the option of converting their part time service to equivalent full time service.

Parental Leave

An employee may access parental leave for maternity, adoption and child-rearing purposes.

Employees with less than twelve months service at the commencement of the leave will be entitled to fifty-two weeks unpaid leave. An employee who gives birth or is the primary care giver in the case of an adoption of a child less than five years of age, and has more than twelve months service is eligible to receive twenty-six weeks of the leave paid. In special circumstances additional unpaid leave may be negotiated.

The employee may maintain their full superannuation contributions during the unpaid leave (both the employer and employee contributions).

Maternity Leave may be taken up to twenty weeks before the expected date of delivery if the doctor certifies the employee is unfit for work. Otherwise an employee may take the leave from six weeks before delivery, up to fifty-two weeks after the commencement of the period of leave.

Adoption Leave may be taken from the date of placement of the child up to fifty-two weeks.

Employees may request that the twenty-six weeks paid component of the leave be paid at half pay. This is subject to Manager/Supervisor approval. If the employee nominates to be paid at half pay they may request to maintain their full superannuation contributions (both the employer and employee contributions).

Employees are entitled to paid partner leave of five working days, to be taken during the period three months prior to and three months after the birth or placement of the child. If the employee is to be the primary care-giver, they are entitled to an additional fifty-one weeks unpaid leave.

An employee who has taken maternity leave is not eligible for partner leave in respect to the same child.

If the employee’s spouse is also employed by the University then the leave entitlements will be reduced by any period of maternity or adoption leave taken by the employee’s spouse.

Adoption leave may be taken by either parent, but not by both concurrently and not accessed for a child who has been living with the partner of an employee prior to the employee adopting the child.

Appropriate certification relating to the birth or adoption of the child and where appropriate, the employees legal responsibility must be produced if required by the University.

All part-time employees are paid at the proportionate fractional rate for the paid leave period.

Where an employee has a fixed term appointment, the entitlement to parental leave ceases from the end date of that appointment.

The paid parental leave counts as qualifying service for all purposes. The unpaid parental leave does not qualify as service, but will not be regarded as a break in service. During any period of unpaid parental leave no leave will accrue.

An employee is able to return to work as a casual employee during unpaid parental leave, without affecting their leave or employment status.

Employees are entitled to return from parental or childrearing leave to their existing position and conditions. If the position they held prior to their leave no longer exists then the University shall find and offer the employee an alternative position with no disadvantage to their previous conditions.

An employee will be consulted on any significant change that will impact upon their position while they are on parental leave.

Employees may request to return to work on a part time basis either for a fixed period or indefinitely. If is not possible to return to work on a part time basis in the position that they held prior to the leave, then an employee may be offered an alternative position. An employee may be offered an alternative position with a lesser salary. In this instance the employee will be offered salary maintenance for a period of up to twelve months.

If an employee has requested to revert to a part time position for a fixed period only, of up to twelve months, the employee may revert back to their substantive full time position at its completion. A continuation of the part time employment may be negotiated between the employee and Manager/Supervisor. In this instance should a more continuous period of part time work be agreed to then the employee may lose the entitlement to revert back to a full time role.

If the employee has requested to return to work on a part time basis indefinitely then they automatically lose the right to revert back to a full time position.

Holidays and Christmas Closedown

The following days should be observed as holidays:

New Year's Day; Australia Day; Labour Day; Good Friday; Easter Monday; Anzac Day; Foundation Day; Anniversary of the Birthday of the Sovereign; Christmas Day; Boxing Day; and such other days as may be declared University holidays.

When New Year's Day, Australia Day, Anzac Day or Christmas Day falls on a Saturday or a Sunday the next following Monday is observed as the holiday in lieu.

When Boxing Day falls on a Saturday the next following Monday is observed as the holiday in lieu.

When Boxing Day falls on a Sunday or Monday, the next following Tuesday is observed as the holiday in lieu.

If the University decides that any of the days listed above shall not be observed as holidays on the appointed day, one day's leave in lieu will be granted in each case, subject to it being taken between the Christmas and New Year holidays or immediately after the New Year holidays, as determined by the University.

The University will grant paid leave during the Christmas closedown to an employee who, having commenced employment during the year, has worked less than the number of open public holidays required to qualify for paid leave for the Christmas closedown.

Where the University would normally re-open on a Thursday or Friday after the Christmas closedown, the University may direct employees to take either annual leave, flexi leave or leave without pay for the Thursday and/or Friday to extend the closedown period to the weekend. Flexi leave may be taken in advance to cover this.

Compassionate Leave

An employee is entitled to five days of compassionate leave on the following occasions:

• when a household member or member of the employee's immediate family suffers a personal illness or injury that poses a serious threat to that persons life;
• when a household member or member of the employee's immediate family dies; or
• any other compassionate circumstance approved by the line manager.

Compassionate leave can be taken as single days, in a block of 5 days or in any combination of single days and blocks of days, provided that the total number of days per occasion does not exceed 5 days.  The University may require evidence of the illness, injury or death to which the application for compassionate leave applies.

Other Leave – for specific purposes or circumstances

Purchased Leave

The practice of purchasing leave enables an employee to spread the cost of the leave over an agreed period by purchasing additional leave entitlements. An employee may apply to reduce their annual salary in exchange for additional periods of leave.

The request to purchase leave is generated entirely by an employee and they must submit an expression of interest to apply. A request is subject to Manager/Supervisor approval. A Manager/Supervisor may reject a request for purchased leave based on the assessed impact on the operational needs of the area.

Approval to purchase leave may be granted for an agreed period. Such approval does not necessarily ensure approval to participate for further periods.

If an application is approved the University will provide the employee a variation to contract letter for the period of the purchased leave. This will authorize the university to reduce the staff member's gross salary by such an amount as agreed between the employee and the University. Employees will be required to sign the application form requesting this variation to their terms and conditions of employment. Purchased leave may be used for many purposes, including but not restricted to, self-development, study, career break, or to meet family responsibilities.

Purchased leave does not imply that employees may be paid out on accrued annual or long service leave in lieu of taking leave.

Leave without Pay

Managers/Supervisors may approve leave without pay in special circumstances for a period that will not normally exceed twelve months. An employee cannot access leave without pay until they have exhausted all other leave entitlements. During a period of leave without pay no other forms of leave will accrue.

Study and Professional Development Leave

Employees may be granted paid or unpaid leave to attend lectures, tutorials and approved courses of study held during normal working hours. A maximum of up to five hours paid time per week (inclusive of travelling time) is available.

An employee is required to submit an application for leave to their manager for the time required. It is subject to approval by the Manager/Supervisor and is subject to:

• The University’s convenience;
• The employee undertaking an acceptable study load in their own time;
• The employee making satisfactory progress with their studies;
• The course of study being relevant to the employee’s career development and of value to the University.

Employees may also be released during working hours to attend short courses run by professional or similar organisations and where their attendance is beneficial to the University. For example the course objective may be to attain skills or knowledge in Workplace Relations.

English Language Training Leave

An employee from a non-English speaking background may be granted paid leave to attend accredited English language training. This leave is subject to a needs assessment and the aim is to achieve an acceptable level of vocational English proficiency.

Defence Training Leave

Leave may be granted for the purposes of attending a training camp, school, class or course of instruction for employees who are a members of the Australian Defence Force Reserves or the Cadet Force.

An employee’s application for defence training leave needs to be supported by evidence of the requirement to attend. At the end of the leave period the employee needs to provide certification of attendance.

An employee may be granted up to ten (10) working days on full pay in a calendar year to attend a camp for obligatory training. An extra four (4) days may be granted if a Commanding Officer of a unit certifies the employee is required to be at the camp in an advance or rear party.

An employee may be granted additional leave of up to sixteen (16) days for attendance at one special school, class or course of instruction per calendar year. It is not to be used for another routine camp.

An employee may elect to use their annual leave where the amount of time required exceeds the amount of leave available or they may opt to take leave without pay. Where employees do not use their annual leave entitlements they may be provided with a top up salary, if their Defence Force salary is less than their University salary. The employee is required to provide a detailed certificate of the defence force payment and the University will carry out an appropriate calculation of the difference.

Leave without pay for Defence training leave will not affect service and it is to be regarded as continuous service.

An employee, who is a member of both the Australian Defence Force Reserves and the Cadet Force, is only entitled to leave to attend one camp of continuous training and one additional special school or course of instruction in a calendar year.

Leave for International Sporting Events

An employee may be granted up to a maximum of ten (10) days special paid leave per year, if chosen to represent Australia as a competitor or as an official at a sporting event. The event must be a recognised international sport of national significance, or it is a world/international regional competition. No contribution is to be made by the sporting organization towards the normal salary of the employee.

Paid Leave for Emergency Service Volunteers

Employees who are members of the State Emergency Service, St John Ambulance Brigade or a volunteer member of a Bush Fire Brigade may be granted paid leave for the duration of their attendance at an emergency.

This is granted if the employee is not required for the University’s own essential operations and emergency services. The employee must obtain from the voluntary organization certification that the employee was required for the specified period.

Jury Duty Leave

An employee may be granted paid leave for the period they are required to carry out duties as a juror.

An employee is required to provide certification of their attendance in support of their application for jury duty leave.

An employee is not entitled to retain any juror’s fees and shall pay all fees received to the University.

Indigenous Leave

Employees who identify and are accepted as members of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander communities and of descent, shall be entitled, to paid leave up to maximum of three working days and leave without pay of up to a maximum of ten working days per calendar year.

This is for the purpose of fulfilling ceremonial obligations of a traditional or urban nature and may include relevant cultural events, initiation, birthing and naming, funerals and smoking or cleansing and sacred site or land ceremonies.

Employees should consult with their Manager/Supervisor on the nature and length of the leave required.

Responsibilities

The Employee

• Consults with Manager/Supervisor for discretionary leave and gives sufficient notice of request for leave.
• Advises Manager/Supervisor as soon as possible for unplanned leave.
• Provides all necessary supporting documentation.

The Manager/Supervisor

• Consults with an employee regarding leave type available.
• Consults with employee timing of leave for discretionary leave.
• Approves entitled leave for staff members in line with relevant Agreement
• Ensures all supporting documentation id provided with leave applications.