POLICY CONTENT

Our School is committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace that supports employees to take breaks away from the workplace to balance work with rest, recreation and family responsibilities. 

The Staff Leave Entitlement Policy aims to comply with Government legislation and workplace laws to provide clear guidelines in relation to employment conditions and entitlements set by Fair Work Australia through the National Employment Standards and relevant Awards, including but not limited to Children’s Services 2010 Modern Award and Education Services (Teachers) 2020 Modern Award. 
 

NATIONAL QUALITY STANDARD (NQS) 

QUALITY AREA 4: Staffing Arrangements

4.1	Staffing arrangements	Staffing arrangements enhance children’s learning and development.
4.1.1	Organisation of Educators	The organisation of Educators across the School supports children's learning and development.
4.1.2	Continuity of staff	Every effort is made for children to experience continuity of Educators at the School.

RELATED LEGISLATION  

NSW Anti-Discrimination Act 1977	Fair Work Act 2009
Federal and State Occupational Safety and Health Legislation	Federal and State Equal Opportunity Legislation and any other relevant industrial awards
Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010	Children and Young Persons Act 1998

 

PURPOSE 

This policy has been developed to communicate expectations and obligations regarding applying for leave from the School including- Annual leave, Personal/Carer’s Leave, Parental Leave Pay, Dad and Partner Pay, Long Service Leave, Community Service Leave, Family and Domestic Violence Leave, Compassionate Leave, Rostered Days Off, Superannuation, Termination/Resignation of employment and Overtime/ Time in Lieu. 
 

SCOPE 

This policy applies to staff, educators, approved provider, nominated supervisor and management the School. This policy does not apply to any contractors of the School. 
   

IMPLEMENTATION 

Our School will commit to providing leave arrangements for all employees as legislated by the Australian Government through relevant industrial Awards and the National Employment Standards as set by Fair Work Australia.  We will offer an opportunity for staff to access paid and unpaid leave for a range of purposes to support a healthy and productive workplace.  This policy provides guidelines for staff to request and apply for leave.   
All documentation relating to Leave Entitlements is to be stored confidentiality in individual staff files.  
 

DEFINITIONS 

Family Member. Fair Work Australia defines an immediate family member as a:  

• spouse or former spouse 
• de facto partner or former de facto partner 
• child 
• parent 
• grandparent 
• grandchild 
• sibling, or 
• child, parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling of the employee's spouse or de facto partner (or former spouse or de facto partner).

 
This definition includes step-relations (e.g., step-parents and step-children) as well as adoptive relations. 
A household member is any person who lives with the employee.
 

Types of Employment: Full Time/ Part Time/ Casual 

A full-time employee is engaged to work an average of 40 ordinary hours per week. 
A part-time employee is an employee who is engaged to work on a regular basis for less than 38 hours per week. 
Casual employment means employment on a day-to-day basis.  
 

National Employment Standards (NES) 

The NES sets minimum employment standards and conditions for employees within Australia including maximum weekly hours, requests for flexible working arrangements, offers and requests to convert from casual to permanent employment, parental leave and related entitlements, annual leave, personal/ carer's leave, compassionate leave and unpaid family and domestic violence leave, community service leave, long service leave, public holidays and notice of termination and redundancy pay. 

ANNUAL LEAVE 

Annual Leave will be accrued at the rate as stated in the relevant Award and NES. 
The NES, Children’s Services Award and Educational Services (Teachers) 2020 state full time employees will be entitled to 4 weeks Annual Leave every 12 months.  Part time employees are entitled to Annual Leave on a pro rata basis. For example, if an employee works 20 hours per week, they will be entitled to 2 weeks Annual Leave every 12 months.  Casuals are not entitled to Annual Leave. 
 
Annual Leave begins to accumulate from the first day of employment.  Annual Leave accumulates when employees are on leave including paid leave, such as paid annual leave and paid sick and carer's leave, community service leave including jury duty and long service leave. 
 
Annual leave does not accumulate when the employee is on unpaid annual leave, unpaid sick/carer's leave, unpaid parental leave and unpaid family and domestic violence leave. 
Annual Leave does not accumulate when an employee is on leave on the Paid Paternity Leave Scheme. 
The balance of Annual Leave at the end of each year carries over to the next year. 

Employees must use their accrued Annual Leave when requesting time off. Leave Without Pay can only be used when an employee has no accrued annual leave left. 

In the interests of maintaining continuity of care and maintaining energy levels, team members should take their annual leave within the year it is accrued. The Director has the discretion to modify this, understanding both the needs of the team member and the School.


 

Requesting Annual Leave 

Annual leave must be accumulated before it can be taken as paid leave. 
To request Annual Leave, employees must lodge a Leave Request on Employment Hero. Employees will be notified electronically via Employment Hero (Swag app) if the request has been approved. No more than two staff members are to be on annual leave for the same time period. Depending on the business needs of the School, a third employee may be approved for Annual Leave, which depends on the child:staff ratios. 
Employees working in the same studio are not required to have annual leave at the same time unless it is an emergency. Leave requests must be submitted at least 2 weeks before the leave is requested so that there enough time for rostering and ratio planning purposes. 
Studio Leaders and Early Childhood Teachers who are working in the same studio are not to be on Annual Leave at the same time. 
 
All leave will be subject to approval by the School Director within a time frame of two weeks to ensure the operational and key staff requirements of the business will be taken into consideration prior to leave being approved. This includes ensuring the Education and Care Services National Regulations (2011) requirements for staffing are always met. Management team (Nominated Supervisors) members are not to be on Annual Leave at the same time unless it is an emergency. At important times of the year like Christmas/New Year time/Easter Nominated Supervisors are to be available to families and to close the School down safely whilst not in operation. 

If the School Director is on annual leave for more than two weeks (three weeks or more) then then Mrs Natalie Sebbag (Co-Founder and CFO) can be contacted via email and ask for approval if the School Director is not returning within a two week time frame. This is only in an emergency and should not be done when the School Director is present at the School.

Direction to take Annual Leave 

It may be suggested to employees to take Annual Leave if the employee has an excessive accumulation of Annual Leave, usually if the balance of Annual Leave is over 6 weeks. 

Christmas Shut Down 

Our School closes over the Christmas holiday period. During this time employees are directed to take Annual Leave. If the employee does not have sufficient Annual Leave accumulated, they will be directed to take Leave Without Pay during the shutdown period. 

As per the Children’s Services Award provisions, where a business shuts down over the Christmas break, staff are required to use Annual Leave (rather than Leave without Pay) for any non-public holiday days. However, in very exceptional circumstances, the business will approve an employee who is employed under the Children’s Services Award to use Leave without Pay. 

For annual leave applications that are around the Christmas period, the Director will review leave applications and approve leave according to the educator: child ratios required. Overlaying this process, it may be necessary for the School to institute a process to ensure that all team members are given equal access to this key family time – it is only fair that all team members are given the opportunity to spend time with their families during this period. If necessary, the Director will discuss this with the team at a team meeting (or other appropriate forum) and agree a system that is fair/fairer for all team members. 

PERSONAL/ CARER’S LEAVE 

Personal Leave will be accrued at the rate as stated in the relevant Award and NES. 
The NES, Children’s Services Award and Educational Services (Teachers) 2020 state Personal Leave will be accrued at the rate as stated in the relevant award or agreement. All permanent full-time staff are entitled to 10 days Personal Leave each year, and pro-rata for part-time staff.  Casual staff are not entitled to Personal Leave. 
 
Personal Leave provides provisions for an employee take time off to help them deal with personal illness, caring responsibilities and family emergencies. Personal Leave can be used when an employee is ill or injured.  An employee may have to take time off to care for an immediate family or household member who is sick or injured or help during a family emergency. This is known as Carer's Leave, but it comes out of the employee's Personal Leave balance. 
 
Personal Leave begins to accumulate from the first day of employment. Personal leave must be accumulated before it can be taken as paid leave. Personal Leave accumulates when employees are on leave including paid leave such as paid annual leave and paid sick and carer's leave, community service leave including jury duty and long service leave and Paid Parental leave.  
 
Personal leave does not accumulate when the employee is on- unpaid annual leave, unpaid sick/carer's leave, unpaid parental leave and unpaid family and domestic violence leave.  
 
The balance of personal leave at the end of each year carries over to the next year. 

LEAVE WITHOUT PAY / UNPAID LEAVE

Leave Without Pay will not be approved unless all existing annual has been granted. 

To request Leave Without Pay, employees must lodge a Leave Request on Employment Hero. Employees will be notified electronically if the request has been approved. Leave will generally not be granted to any two (2) employees for the same period. Leave request forms must be submitted at least 2 weeks before the leave is requested. 

There are some factors that the business will consider when deciding wether we can accomodate your leave request:

1. Where the employee has provided reasonable notice (ie. 2 weeks before the leave is requested)
2. The operational needs of the business during the proposed period of the requested leave
3. The time of the year of your leave request. This point is in relation to the operations of the School and the enrolling and transitioning of children in Studios. 
4. Your particular role, position and responsibility in the School especially in relation to the time of the year of your request.

Notification of Absence 

If you are unwell and cannot attend your rostered shift you must contact the Nominated Supervisor at least four (4) hours before the commencement of your shift. Ideally, if you can contact the Nominated Supervisor or assigned nominee the afternoon or evening prior to your rostered shift that is preferable. If you advise your nominated supervisor that you cannot attend your shift, and this is after business hours, you are permitted to send them a text message. If you are notifying the Nominated Supervisor that you cannot attend your shift on the same day as your shift, you must phone the School office by 7am of the day in question. Under no circumstances are messages to be left with a colleague. Emails and Private Messages on social media platforms are not an acceptable form of communication.  
If you do not notify the Nominated Supervisor/Responsible Person and do not attend for your shift, it will be considered that you have abandoned your responsibilities.

Requesting Personal Leave

Personal leave should not be requested in advance. We encourage all medical appointments to be arranged outside of work hours. If a medical appointment or elective surgery is pre-arranged and it is advised the employee is unfit to work, then this will be discussed with the Nominated Supervisor prior to leave being approved.   

Medical Certificate Request 

For those in permanent positions, personal leave will only be paid when a doctor’s certificate or statutory declaration is provided. If you are unable to gain a doctor’s certificate for the personal leave you will not be paid for your absence. 
All personal leave approval is at the discretion of the School Director. 
A medical certificate request will be enforced with the personal leave falls on a Monday or a Friday, on either side of a Public Holiday, School closure day or a Wellness Leave Day.  

Unpaid Personal Leave 

All employees, including casual workers, are entitled to 2 days unpaid Personal/Carer’s Leave each year.  Employees get 2 days unpaid carer’s leave each time an immediate family member or household member of the employee needs care and support because of: 

• illness 
• injury or 
• an unexpected emergency.

Full time and Part time employees are unable to use unpaid Personal leave if they have any accumulation of Personal Leave.
 

Health of Employee 

Employees may be requested to provide a medical clearance if management is concerned that the employee may have an injury or illness that provides a risk to their own health or wellbeing or the health or wellbeing to children or colleagues.  The employee may be requested to take Personal Leave or Leave without Pay until a medical clearance is arranged.   

PANDEMIC LEAVE  

Employees may be entitled to a Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment if they are not receiving income from paid work.  Employees should see Services Australia directly for more information.  
 

PARENTAL LEAVE  

Parental leave lets employees take time away from work for the birth or adoption of a child. The term ‘parental leave’ can include: 

• unpaid parental leave 
• government-funded payments- 
  • Paid Parental Leave  
  • Dad and Partner Leave
• employer-funded paid parental leave.

Unpaid Parental Leave  

Under the National Employment Standards in the Fair Work Act 2009, an employee employed with the same employer for 12 months or more before they or their partner gives birth or adopts a child, may be entitled to up to 12 months of unpaid parental leave. An employee can also request an additional 12 months’ unpaid leave (Including long-term casuals).  

Paid Parental Leave 

The Paid Parental Leave scheme is an entitlement for working parents of children born or adopted on or  
after 1 January 2011. Eligible working parents can get up to 18 weeks of government funded Parental Leave Pay at the National Minimum Wage.  
If the child’s birth or adoption is on or after July 1, 2020, 30 of these days will be flexible- 12 weeks (60 days of payable days) and 30 Flexible Paid Parental Leave days. Flexible Days may be taken within 2 years of the child’s birth or adoption Flexible Paid Parental Leave may be given to another person caring for the child if the parent chooses to return to work or are no longer the primary carer for the child.  

Full- time, part-time, casual, seasonal, contract, and self-employed workers may be eligible for help under the scheme.  

Parental Leave Pay doesn’t change an employee’s existing leave entitlements or provide a new entitlement to leave. 

servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centreli... 

Dad and Partner Pay  

Fathers and other eligible partners can apply for government entitlements to a two-week Dad and Partner Pay to help them take time off work to support new mothers in their caring role and to be involved in the care of their new baby right from the start. Dad and Partner Pay is income tested. 
The School requires a minimum of 10 weeks written notice if a staff member plans to take parental leave; this will be acknowledged in writing by management. Further information can be found on the Services Australia website. 

Employer Funded Parental Leave/ Entitlement

Primary Caregiver

• Entitled to 4 weeks paid parental leave following the live birth of a child where you are the child’s primary caregiver. 
• If there is a case of multiple births, the entitled is not increased and remains at 4 weeks. 
• The Akidamy defines a primary caregiver as the parent who takes primary responsibility for care of the child during the typical work hours. 
• In addition, an employee cannot receive more than 4 weeks of paid parental leave in a rolling 12 month period, regardless of whether more than one birth occurs within this 12 month time frame. 
• The 4 weeks payment will be compensated at 100% of the employees’ regular hours prior to the commencement of parental leave. 
• In the case where an employee was working reduced hours temporarily prior to commencing parental leave (as a result of their capacity), the paid parental leave would still get paid at their ordinary contracted hours. 
• For clarification purposes, if an employees regular hours prior to commencing parental leave was 16 hours per week, their payment will be for 16 hours per week for 4 weeks. 
• This payment will be made on a fortnightly basis over two fortnights in line with the Akidamy’s regular pay cycles. 
• To be entitled, you must have been an employee of the Akidamy for period of at least 12 continuous months prior to applying for this payment. 
• This entitlement will be paid the first fortnight following the birth of your child upon the School Director receiving copies of birth documents. 
• You will not be permitted to perform any work at the School during receipt of this 4 weeks of payment. 
• The entitlement is based on your return to the School for a minimum of 12 continuous months of service following your return from parental leave. 
• Failure to return to employment at the School will result in the repayment of these funds within 30 days. 
• Cessation of employment prior to the 12 month period following your return to work will result in the repayment (pro-rata) of the funds. 
• For clarification purposes, if an employee returns from parental leave and ceases employment after 4 months following their return, 66.66% (being 8 out of 12 months) of the payment they received will need to be returned to the School.  
• The School reservices the right to take all necessary recovery and legal action with regards to amounts unpaid but owing to the School if any of the terms and conditions of this policy are not adhered to. 
• Upon termination of an employees employment at the School, there will be no pay out of any unused paid parental leave for which an employee was eligible. 
• No Annual Leave loading applies to this payment and no Annual Leave or Personal/Carer’s Leave accrues with regards to this leave period. 
• Superannuation guarantee does not apply to this payment as it is not considered Ordinary Time Earnings. 
• Confirmation of birth documents need to be provided to the Director. 
• This policy applies to full time and part time employees only ie. it does not apply to Casual employees or Trainees.

Request for Paid Parental Leave

• Employees must provide the School Director with notice of the request for paid parental leave at least 30 days prior to the proposed date of the leave (where foreseeable). 
• The Akidamy reserves the exclusive right to interpret this policy as it sees fit.

Safe Jobs  

An employee who’s been on unpaid parental leave is entitled to come back to the job they had before going on leave. 
An employee on unpaid parental leave can shorten their leave, if the employer agrees. If the employer doesn't agree, then the employee has to return to work on the planned date.   
Our School requests 4 weeks’ notice for any changes to the planned return to work date.  
 

Request for flexible working conditions

Employers and employees can agree to change standard working arrangements to help employees  
balance work with other aspects of their lives.  The employee must have worked with the employer for at least 6 months and the request should generally fit into one of the following categories:  

• a parent of, or have responsibility for the care of, a child who is school age or younger 
• a carer (within the meaning of the Carer Recognition Act 2010) 
• a person with disability 
• has study obligations that relate to their gainful employment at the School 
• aged 55 or older 
• experiencing family violence, or 
• providing care or support to a family member, or someone they live with, who is experiencing family violence.

The employee must make the request in writing and the employer must consider their request, discuss the request with the employee to try to reach an agreement about changes to their working conditions and respond in writing within 21 days.  
The employer must state whether the request is granted or refused and provide reasons if the request is refused and only refuse a request on reasonable business grounds.   
 

LONG SERVICE LEAVE    

Long service leave applies to employees who are full-time, part-time or casual. If an employee has been working for the same employer for 10 years, they are entitled to 2 months (8.67 weeks) paid leave, to be paid at the employees ordinary gross weekly wage under the Long Service Leave Act 1955 (the Act). 
 
Employees are entitled to Long Service Leave as per state/territory laws or provisions. Contact the long service leave agency in your state or territory for further information.  
 
Under the Long Service Leave Act, an employee may be eligible for long service leave when they leave a job after 7 years’ continuous employment, and may be entitled to take long service leave after 10 years’ continuous employment. 
To request Long Service Leave, employees must lodge a Leave Request Form and hand it to the Nominated Supervisor. Employees will be notified in writing if the request has been successful and approved. Leave will not be granted to any two (2) employees for the same period. Leave request forms must be submitted at least 2 weeks before the leave is requested. 
 

VOLUNTEERING DAY (1 day p.a)

The volunteering day is available to full time and part time employees.  

Part time employees will be eligible to access this day where they are employed for 24hrs per week or more at the School. 

The volunteering day needs to be performed at an approved Charity signed off by the Director. 

To facilitate staffing across the School the timing of this day must be pre-approved by the Director with a minimum of 2 weeks’ notice. The Director will consider the employee’s request in conjunction with the business and operational needs of the School. 

Simply making a request for a volunteering day does not automatically entitle an employee to take this day. The Director may refuse to authorise the day on the grounds of the operational requirements of the School or if the employee has provided insufficient notice of their desire to take the day. The Director will not unreasonably refuse to approve a volunteering day or deny an employee a volunteering day which has already been authorised.  
We encourage employees to utilise this volunteering day but ultimately accessing this day is voluntary. There won’t be any adverse action for employees who choose not to access the day, however it cannot be accrued and is not cumulative from year to year- it will be foregone if not accessed. 

The volunteering day does not accrue annual leave and carries 0% leave loading. Superannuation guarantee does not apply to the day as it is not considered Ordinary Time Earnings. The day can be used within the 12 month period of any year from 1 July to 30 June. The volunteering day cannot be accessed following the resignation of an employee. An employee is not entitled to receive payment for the balance of the unused volunteering day accrued but untaken when they cease employment. 

WELLNESS DAYS (2 days p.a)  

Our 2 Wellness days per year are available to full time and part time employees to promote health and wellbeing. The days allow employees time away from the School whilst still receiving their normal pay for the two days. 

Part time employees will be eligible to access these days where they are employed for 24hrs per week or more at the School. For part time employees the Wellness day will be paid for their usual hours of work. For example, if their usual work hours are 6hrs/day, they will receive two lots of 6hrs of Wellness leave per annum (ie. not 8hrs). 

The two Wellness days can be accessed by full time or part time employees (part time staff members working greater than 24hrs/week) following the 6 month anniversary of the commencement of their employment at the School. So for example, if an employee starts employment in January, they will have access to their Wellness days from June. Each subsequent year, their Wellness days will "refresh" in June.

We encourage employees to utilise these wellness days but ultimately accessing these days is voluntary. There won’t be any adverse action for employees who choose not to access these days, however they cannot be accrued and are not cumulative from year to year. 
The two Wellness days can be used as the employee chooses on any personal, health or wellbeing matters of their choice. The two days can be used within the 12-month period of any year from 1 July to 30 June. The two days cannot be accessed together and require a 6-month period between the 1st and 2nd days being taken. Neither of the two days can be taken either immediately prior to or following a Public Holiday, an Annual Leave day, RDO or immediately prior to or following a School closure day. 

In order to facilitate staffing across the School, each of these days must be pre-approved by the Director with a minimum of 2 weeks’ notice. The School Director will consider the employee’s request in conjunction with the business and operational needs of the School Director.
Simply making a request for a wellness day does not automatically entitle an employee to take this day. The Director may refuse to authorise a day on the grounds of the operational requirements of the School or in the event the employee has provided insufficient notice of their desire to take leave. 

Wellness days will not be approved to be taken if an employee has any outstanding certifications due on Employment Hero. Where an employee has outstanding certifications, the employee will be redirected to complete these prior to the Wellness Day being approved.

The School Director will not unreasonably refuse to approve a wellness day or deny an employee a wellness day which has already been authorised unless extenuating circumstances occur and the operational needs of the school require the employee to reschedule. In this instance the director will work with the the employee to suitably reschedule their wellness day.

Neither of these days accrues Annual Leave and carries 0% leave loading. Superannuation guarantee does not apply to these days as they are not considered Ordinary Time Earnings. Wellness days cannot be accessed following the resignation of an employee. 

Wellness days also cannot be accessed if it comes to the attention of the School Director or management that an employee is actively looking for alternative employment.  

Such an example may be, but is not limited to, the School Director, management or another member of staff being contacted to provide a reference check for a current employee or situations similar to this in nature and outcome. 

An employee is not entitled to receive payment for the balance of any unused wellness days accrued but untaken when they cease employment. 
An employee does not accrue the entitlement to the two Wellness days (or part thereof) whilst on their period of parental leave from the School. 

STUDY LEAVE (3 days p.a paid and 2 days p.a unpaid)  

At the Akidamy, we fully support our employees in their pursuit of higher qualifications in the Education field.  Study Leave cannot be accessed following the resignation of an employee. Study Leave cannot be accessed if it comes to the attention of the School Director or management that an employee is actively looking for alternative employment.  

Such an example may be, but is not limited to, the School Director, management or another member of staff being contacted to provide a reference check for a current employee or situations similar to this in nature and outcome. 
 

Request for Paid and Unpaid Study Leave

Employees must provide the Director with notice of the request for paid and unpaid study leave at least 14 days prior to the proposed date of the leave (where foreseeable). The Akidamy reserves the exclusive right to interpret this policy as it sees fit. 
 
Our Study Leave days are available to full time and part time employees allowing them time away from the School whilst still receiving their normal pay for the 3 days and provides an additional 2 days without pay. 

Part time employees will be eligible to access these days where they are employed for 24hrs per week or more at the School. 
This policy applies to full time and part time employees only ie. it does not apply to Casual employees or Trainees. 
We encourage employees to utilise these Study Leave days but ultimately accessing these days is voluntary. There won’t be any adverse action for employees who choose not to access these days, however they cannot be accrued and are not cumulative from year to year. 
The 3 days paid plus the 2 days unpaid per year can be used once only within the 12-month period of any year from 1 July to 30 June. 
Note that if a module/course is repeated due to failure of the module/course, study leave does not apply to the re-sitting of the exams for the module/course. 

This policy only applies to approved modules/courses that have a direct benefit to the School. The study leave needs to be pre-approved by the Director with a minimum 2 weeks’ notice. 

In determining whether to grant study leave, the Director will consider matters such as the relevance of the proposed study to the employee’s employment, alignment to organisational goals and the reasonable operational requirements of the School. 

This study leave will  be granted only to an employee preparing for an exam (subject to all other conditions listed) ie. it will not be granted to an employee preparing for assignments, projects or other similar deliverables.

Written evidence of attendance at the exam needs to be provided to the Director following the exam. 

The entitlement to this leave is based on a continuous period of employment with the School of 12 months of service prior to applying for the leave. 
The entitlement to this leave is based on the employees ongoing employment with the School for a minimum of 12 continuous months of service following the course/module completion. 
Cessation of employment for any reason prior to the 12 months will result in the repayment of the 3 days of payment you received back to the School. 
For clarification purposes, if an employee receives the paid study leave and ceases employment after 4 months following their completion of the exam, 66.66% (being 8 out of 12 months) of the 3 days payment they received will need to be returned to the School.  
The School reserves the right to take all necessary recovery and legal action with regards to amounts unpaid but owing to the School if any of the terms and conditions of this policy are not adhered to. 

Upon termination of an employee’s employment at the School, there will be no pay out of any unused study leave for which an employee was eligible but not taken. 

This study leave is intended for employees studying for the following accredited certifications: Certificate III, Diplomas, Degrees, or 5-day (approved) training courses. 

The 3 paid days do not accrue Annual Leave and carry 0% leave loading. 

Superannuation guarantee does not apply to this payment as it is not considered Ordinary Time Earnings. 
 

COMMUNITY SERVICE LEAVE

Community Service Leave covers voluntary emergency management activities, such as RFS/SES.  Community service leave is unpaid, except for Jury Duty. 
An employee engages in a voluntary emergency management activity if: 

• the activity involves dealing with an emergency or natural disaster 
• the employee engages in the activity on a voluntary basis 
• the employee was either requested to engage in an activity, or it would be reasonable to expect that such a request would have been made if circumstances had permitted, and 
• the employee is a member of or has a member-like association with a recognised emergency management body.

An employee is entitled to take community service leave while they are engaged in the activity and for reasonable travel and rest time. There is no limit on the amount of community service leave an employee can take.  
 

JURY DUTY

Employees must advise their employers of the period or expected period of leave as soon as possible. If an employee requests leave, they need to provide evidence showing they attended jury selection or jury duty. 
Employees are paid by the court a portion of their base pay rate per day.  Employers may be required to provide make-up payment for the ordinary hours worked, for up to 10 days.  

FAMILY AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LEAVE

The NES provides conditions for all employees to request 5 days unpaid family and domestic violence leave each year. Family and Domestic Violence Leave does not accumulate from year to year if it isn’t used. The 5 days of leave renew every 12 months.   

COMPASSIONATE LEAVE

All employees (including casual employees) are entitled to compassionate leave. 

Compassionate leave can be taken when a member of an employee's immediate family or household: 

• dies  
• contracts or develops a life-threatening illness or injury 
• a baby in their immediate family or household is stillborn 
• they have a miscarriage 
• their current spouse or de factor partner has a miscarriage  

Full-time and part-time employees receive paid compassionate leave and casual employees receive unpaid compassionate leave. 
Full-time and part-time employees are paid at their base pay rate for the ordinary hours they would have worked during the leave.  Compassionate leave cannot be cashed out. 

Employees are entitled to 2 days compassionate leave each time they meet the criteria.

Employees can take compassionate leave as:

• a single continuous 2 day period
• 2 separate periods of 1 day each
• any separate periods as agreed with their employer.

Employees don't accumulate compassionate leave and it's not a part of their sick and carer's leave entitlement. Employees can take compassionate leave any time they need it.

If an employee is already on another type of leave (for example, annual leave) and needs to take compassionate leave, they can use compassionate leave instead of the other leave.

An employee taking compassionate leave has to give their employer notice as soon as they can (this may be after the leave has started). The employee has to tell the employer how much leave they are taking, or expect to take, and when.

An employer can request evidence about the reason for compassionate leave (for example, a death or funeral notice or statutory declaration). This request for evidence has to be reasonable. If the employee doesn't provide the requested notice or evidence they may not get compassionate leave.

SUPERANNUATION  

All employees will be entitled to superannuation paid at the statutory rate from 1 July 2022 on Ordinary Time Earnings. The only exception is if the employee is under 18 years of age, in which case they will need to have worked for at least 30 hours in the week to be eligible. Our Superannuation provider is Prime Super. If you wish to have your Superannuation paid to your fund of choice you can select this fund when you enter your Super Fund details into Employment Hero. 

Temporary residents are also eligible for super.

Super has to be paid at least every 3 months and into the employee's nominated account.

  

TERMINATION/RESIGNATION CONDITIONS

Notice of termination of employment will be as per relevant Award. In the event of instant dismissal, the notice period may be paid, and the employee asked to leave immediately.  
 
Employees who fail to give the required notice must forfeit the relevant termination pay. Notice to terminate employment must be given in writing to the Nominated Supervisor. 
Children’s Service Award 2010  

Employee's period of continuous service with the employer at the end of the day the notice is given	Period of notice
Not more than one year	1 week
More than 1 year but not more than 3 years	2 week
More than 3 years but not more than 5 years	3 week
More than 5 years	4 week

 
An employee/employer has to provide an extra week of notice if they are over 45 years old and have worked for the employer for at least 2 years. 
 

Educational Services (Teachers) Award 2020 
Period of notice - 4 weeks’ notice 
An employee/employer has to provide an extra week of notice if they are over 45 years old and have worked for the employer for at least 2 years. 
 

Absence from employment without notification

An employee may be taken to have abandoned their employment if they do not provide notification of absence.  The Nominated Supervisor will make reasonable attempts to contact the employee, if the employee does not respond to these attempts the termination of employment procedure will be instructed. 
 

OVERTIME  

Overtime may be paid in circumstances where the employee works over 40 hours per week or where employees are required to work or attend meetings or training outside of general ordinary hours 7am to 6pm.  Overtime rates will be paid as per award.  Overtime must be approved by the Nominated Supervisor prior to the employee working additional hours. 

SOURCE

Australian Government. Fair Work Ombudsman  
Australian Government. Fair Work Ombudsman. Community service leave 
Australian Government. Fair Work Ombudsman. Flexible working arrangements  
Australian Government. Fair Work Ombudsman. Jury duty 
Australian Government. Fair Work Ombudsman. Long Service Leave 
Australian Government. Fair Work Ombudsman. Maternity & parental leave 
Australian Government. Fair Work Ombudsman. Modern Award. Children’s Services Award 2010  
Australian Government. Fair Work Ombudsman. Modern Award. Educational Services (Teachers) Award 2020 
Australian Government- Fair Work Ombudsman Parental Leave Best Practice Guide 
Australian Government. Fair Work Ombudsman. Pregnant employee entitlements 
Australian Government. Fair Work Ombudsman. Sick & carer's leave 
Australian Government Services Australia Paid Parental Leave Scheme Employer Toolkit (updated 2020). 
servicesaustralia.gov.au/organisations/business/servic... 
Education and Care Services National Regulations. (2011).      
Guide to the Education and Care Services National Law and the Education and Care Services National Regulations. (2017).