60.1
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An employee will be able to access Personal Leave as follows:
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a) Personal Leave for sick purposes (Personal Leave - Sick) taken by an employee because of a personal illness, or injury, of the employee; or
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b) Personal Leave for caring purposes (Personal Leave - Carer’s) taken by an employee to provide care or support to:
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i. a member of the employee’s immediate family or household; or
ii. another person for whom the employee has a caring responsibility, who requires care or support because of:
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a. a personal illness, or injury, of that person; or
b. an unexpected emergency affecting that person.
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Accrual of paid Personal Leave
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60.2
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An ongoing employee who has been employed with the ATO since before 30 November 2011 will be credited with 3.4 weeks paid Personal Leave on each personal leave anniversary.
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60.3
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An ongoing employee engaged with the ATO on or after 30 November 2011 will be credited with:
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a) one week of paid Personal Leave on the date of engagement, and each annual anniversary thereafter; and
b) 0.2 weeks on the date of engagement and each monthly anniversary thereafter.
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60.4
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Notwithstanding subclause 60.2, an employee who:
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a) moves to the ATO from another agency on or after 30 November 2011 (excluding a return from a temporary move); or
b) returns to the ATO at the end of a temporary move after the commencement of this Agreement
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will be credited with leave on the basis of subclause 60.3, except that their anniversary date for monthly and annual credit will be based on the anniversary date the employee brings with them from their previous agency.
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60.5
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Any unused leave credits will remain part of an employee’s Personal Leave credit.
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Advancement of credit
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60.6
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An employee who accrues Personal Leave as per subclause 60.3 and who has exhausted their accrued paid Personal Leave credits, may be advanced some or all of the remainder of their annual entitlement:
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a) where a minimum of one day Personal Leave is required, and
b) satisfactory documentation is provided.
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Deferral of credit dates
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60.7
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An employee’s anniversary and monthly accrual dates will be deferred by the whole period of leave without pay, if more than 30 calendar days leave without pay not to count as service have been taken since the employee's last annual anniversary date.
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Recognition of prior service
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60.8
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Where leave is not recognised under subclause 54.10, service in an APS agency, the ACT Government or the Parliamentary Service may be recognised as service for the purpose of Personal Leave accrual, provided any break in service does not exceed two months. Credit dates and amounts for prior and current service are determined as if the prior service was with the ATO as an ongoing employee engaged after the commencement of this Agreement.
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Reduced accrual of Personal Leave credits
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60.9
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Where leave to undertake employment outside the ATO counts as service, any Personal Leave credits accrued shall be reduced by:
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a) where records of personal leave granted to the employee are available - the sum of those periods of leave of absence on account of illness so recorded; and
b) in any other case - nine hours for each three months the employee was on leave.
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Satisfactory documentation
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60.10
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The delegate may approve Personal Leave for an employee (other than EL2 employees) without requiring satisfactory documentation for absences:
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a) of not more than three consecutive working days; and
b) up to a total of eight days of absences in a personal leave year.
The delegate may approve more than eight days without documentation, but only as unpaid personal leave, and only if it is warranted by the circumstances.
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All other applications for Personal Leave are required to be supported by satisfactory documentation.
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60.11
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For EL2 employees, the delegate may require satisfactory documentation before approval is given for an EL2 employee to take Personal Leave or to continue on leave.
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60.12
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Satisfactory documentation in support of Personal Leave is:
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a) for the purposes of Personal Leave – Sick:
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i. a medical certificate from a registered health practitioner; or
ii. if it is not reasonably practicable for the employee to provide a medical certificate, a statutory declaration made by the employee;
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b) for the purposes of Personal Leave – Carer’s (if the care or support is required because of a personal illness, or injury):
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i. a medical certificate from a registered health practitioner; or
ii. if it is not practicable for the employee to provide a medical certificate, a statutory declaration made by the employee;
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c) for the purposes of Personal Leave - Carer’s (if the care or support is required because of an unexpected emergency):
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i. a statement from a relevant authority; or
ii. if it is not practicable to obtain a statement from a relevant authority; a statutory declaration made by the employee.
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Satisfactory documentation for a recurring medical condition
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60.13
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In addition, if an employee suffers from a recurring medical condition, a statement of fact confirming that they suffer from a recurring medical condition will be accepted in the following circumstances:
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a) it is provided by a registered health practitioner and states that the employee suffers from a particular medical condition that may cause them to be unfit for work; and
b) the absence is for a total of up to a week in a Personal Leave year and each absence is two consecutive days or less.
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60.14
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The statement of fact will be valid for a maximum of 12 months.
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60.15
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The delegate may require separate documentation for any absence provided that prior notice is given to the employee.
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Unpaid and Half Pay Personal Leave
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60.16
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A delegate may approve unpaid Personal Leave when:
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a) an employee has exhausted Personal Leave credits; or
b) an employee is not entitled to paid Personal Leave; or
c) an employee requests unpaid Personal Leave and the delegate determines it is warranted in the circumstances; or
d) the delegate determines that it is not appropriate to grant paid personal leave for caring purposes (caring for ‘another person’).
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60.17
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An employee is entitled to up to 2 days unpaid Personal Leave – Carer’s under subclause 60.16(a) for each occasion when the employee is required to provide care or support to a member of the employee’s immediate family or household because of personal injury or illness of, or unexpected emergency affecting, the member.
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60.18
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A delegate may approve the conversion of Personal Leave credits to half pay for the period of leave required for the purpose of personal illness or injury. This will result in the period of leave for which the employee is absent being double the amount of leave deducted from the employee’s credits.
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Additional leave credits for compassionate purposes
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60.19
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Where an employee has no Personal Leave credits and the Commissioner decides special and compassionate circumstances exist, additional credits may be approved.
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Access to other leave types when Personal Leave with pay has been exhausted
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60.20
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Subject to the relevant provisions of this Agreement, an employee who is unfit for work for a period of at least one week may be granted Annual Leave, Purchased Leave or Long Service Leave where they have utilised all paid Personal Leave.
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60.21
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Managers may waive the one week period in 60.20 when medical treatment is being undertaken for a long term illness, or on an ad hoc basis, over a long term period.
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Personal leave during periods of other leave
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60.22
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If an employee produces satisfactory documentation that they were unfit for work while on Annual Leave or Purchased Leave, or unfit for work for one day or more while on Long Service Leave and/or Flex Leave, their Annual Leave, Purchased Leave, Long Service Leave and/or flex credits will be reinstated and Personal Leave – Sick granted.
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60.23
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If an employee produces satisfactory documentation that they were required to provide care or support for a member of their immediate family or household while on Annual Leave, their Annual Leave credits will be reinstated and Personal Leave – Carer’s granted.
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Limit of carer’s leave for ‘another person’
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60.24
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The maximum continuous period of paid Personal Leave – Carer’s to care for a person for whom the employee has caring responsibilities (but who is not a member of the immediate family or household) (‘another person’) is two weeks per occasion.
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60.25
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If the employee has accessed ten days of Personal Leave – Carer’s in the employee’s Personal leave year to care for ‘another person’ for whom the employee has caring responsibilities the maximum continuous period of paid Personal Leave on a single occasion should not exceed one week but a manager may, having regard to all the circumstances of a case, approve up to two weeks.
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Leave to count as service
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60.26
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When an employee has been absent from work due to illness or injury for a continuous period of 78 weeks, any leave without pay after 78 weeks has passed will not count as service for any purpose other than Long Service Leave.
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60.27
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Personal Leave – Carer’s without pay will count as service, except for the purposes of the Long Service Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Act 1976 unless otherwise approved, to a maximum of 30 calendar days each Personal Leave year.
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