Victoria State Emergency Service Agreement 2020

1

Fair Work Act 2009 
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Victoria State Emergency Service Authority T/A Victoria State Emergency 
Service
(AG2021/8380)

VICTORIA STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE AGREEMENT 2020

State and Territory government administration

COMMISSIONER LEE MELBOURNE, 3 DECEMBER 2021

Application for approval of the Victoria State Emergency Service Agreement 2020

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the 
Victoria State Emergency Service Agreement 2020 (the Agreement). The application was 
made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Victoria 
State Emergency Service Authority T/A Victoria State Emergency Service. The Agreement is 
a single enterprise agreement.

[2] The Employer has provided written undertakings. A copy of the undertakings is 
attached in Annexure A. I am satisfied that the undertakings will not cause financial detriment 
to any employee covered by the Agreement and that the undertakings will not result in 
substantial changes to the Agreement. The undertakings are taken to be a term of the 
agreement.

[3] Subject to the undertakings referred to above, I am satisfied that each of the 
requirements of ss.186, 187, 188 and 190 as are relevant to this application for approval have 
been met.

[4] The Community and Public Sector Union being a bargaining representative for the 
Agreement, has given notice under s.183 of the Act that it wants the Agreement to cover it. In 
accordance with s.201(2) I note that the Agreement covers the organisation.

[5] I observe that the following provisions are likely to be inconsistent with the National 
Employment Standards (NES): 

 Clause 16.4 – Abandonment of Employment. 
 Clause 44.4(a) – Substitution of Public Holiday.

However, noting the undertaking provided, I am satisfied the more beneficial entitlements of 
the NES will prevail where there is an inconsistency between the Agreement and the NES.

[2021] FWCA 6967

DECISION


AUSTRALIA FairWork Commission




 



[2021] FWCA 6967

2

[6] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 
10 December 2021. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 20 March 2024.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

AE514142  PR736418


WORK COMMISSION THE SEA OF THE FA




 



[2021] FWCA 6967

3

Annexure A


IN THE FAIR WORK COMMISSION FWC Matter No: AG2021/7380 Applicant: Victoria State Emergency Service Authority t/a Victoria State Emergency Service Section 185 - Application for approval of a single enterprise agreement Undertakings - Section 190 of Fair Work Act 2009 1, Sharon Kelsey, Project Executive, Victoria State Emergency Service, have the authority given to me by Victoria State Emergency Service Authority t/a Victoria State Emergency Service, to give the following undertakings with respect to the Victoria State Emergency Service Agreement 2020 ("the Agreement.") 1. Supported Wage System Employees Notwithstanding the provisions of Schedule D, Clause 1.3 of the Agreement, the minimum amount payable to an Employee shall not be less than $90 per week. 2. General NES Precedence This Agreement shall be read and interpreted in conjunction with the National Employment Standards (NES.) Where there is an inconsistency between this agreement and the NES, and the NES provides a greater benefit, the NES provision will apply to the extent of the inconsistency. These undertakings are provided on the basis of issues raised by Fair Work Commission in the application before the Fair Work Commission. 29/11/2021 Signature Date




 



VICTORIA STATE EMERGENCY 
SERVICE AGREEMENT 2020 






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Undertaking Stamp



2 

VICTORIA STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE AGREEMENT 2020 

SECTION I – CORE TERMS AND CONDITIONS 
OF EMPLOYMENT 

1 TITLE 

PART 1 – APPLICATION AND OPERATION 
OF AGREEMENT 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

This agreement will be known as the Victoria State Emergency Service Agreement 
2020. 

 

2 ARRANGEMENT 
 

SECTION I CORE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT 

Part 1 Application and operation of Agreement 

1 Title 

2 Arrangement 

3 Definitions 

4 Commencement date and period of operation 

5 Application of Agreement and Parties covered 

6 No further claims 

7 Savings provisions and relationship with other awards and 

agreements 

8 Anti-discrimination and Gender Equality  

9 Individual Flexibility Arrangements 

10 Right to request flexible working arrangements 

Part 2 Communication, consultation and dispute resolution 

11 Implementation of change and consultation 

12 Consultation on changes to rosters or hours of work 

13 Resolution of disputes 

14 Workload, Agility Principles and Payments 

Part 3 Employer and Employees’ duties, employment relationship 
and related arrangements 

15 Employment categories and entitlements 

16 Termination of employment 

17 Costs of employment related legal proceedings 

18 Working from home 

19 Redundancy and Redeployment 

20 Management of unsatisfactory work performance 

21 Management of misconduct 

Part 4 Salary and related matters 

22 Application 

23 Classifications and salaries – General 

24 Progression within a value range 

25 Salary increases 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

26 Casual Employees – Loading 

27 Supported Wage System 

28 Payment of salaries 

29 VICSES Service Vehicles 

30 Allowances – work or conditions 

31 Reimbursement of expenses 

32 Superannuation 

Part 5 Hours of work and related matters 

33 Hours of work 

34 Overtime 

35 Meal breaks 

36 Childcare 

37 Declared operations 

Part 6 Leave of absence and public holidays 

38 Leave of absence – general 

39 Annual leave 

40 Cashing out of annual leave 

41 Purchased leave 

42 Infectious diseases 

43 Dangerous medical conditions 

44 Public holidays 

45 Personal/Carer’s leave 

46 Family violence leave 

47 Military service sick leave 

48 Compassionate leave 

49 Parental leave 

50 Leave to attend rehabilitation program 

51 Cultural & ceremonial leave 

52 Long service leave 

53 Surrogacy Leave 

54 Defence reserve leave 

55 Jury service 

56 Leave for blood donations 

57 Leave to engage in voluntary emergency management activities 

58 Leave to engage in voluntary community activities 

59 Participation in sporting events 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

60 Study leave 

61 Leave without pay 

Part 7 Occupational health and safety 

62 Accident make-up pay 

63 Occupational health and safety and rehabilitation 

64 Industrial relations/occupational health and safety training 

65 Facilities, equipment and accommodation – general 

66 Agreement compliance and union related matters 

67 Right of entry 

SCHEDULE A REDEPLOYMENT 

SCHEDULE B SALARIES 

SCHEDULE C CLASSIFICATION DESCRIPTORS 

SCHEDULE D 

SCHEDULE E 

SCHEDULE F 

SUPPORTED WAGE SYSTEM 

IMT PAYMENTS 

TEMPORARY CLASSIFICATIONS DURING DECLARED 
OPERATIONS/INCIDENT MANAGEMENT 

 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

 

3 DEFINITIONS 

In this document, unless otherwise provided: 

3.1 “Accredited Representative of a Union” means an officer or employee of a Union or 
a workplace delegate accredited by an authorised officer of a Union; 

3.2 A "Declared Operations" is a co-ordinated service response to an emergency event 
and/or readiness for an emergency event which will require the allocation of 
personnel and resources. A Declared Operation can only be invoked and closed by the 
Chief Officer Operations or authorised Delegate. During this time the Chief Officer 
Operations or their delegate will be able to direct employees to their place of work 
and when they will be rostered for duty, having given consideration to any risk to the 
Employee’s health and safety; 

3.3  “Employee” means a person employed by the Victoria State Emergency Service 
Authority pursuant to section 30 of the Victoria State Emergency Service Act 
2005 (Vic) other than an executive employee; 

3.4 “Employer” means the Victoria State Emergency Service Authority; 

3.5 “Excess Travel Time” means the additional travel time required where an 
Employee is temporarily required to undertake duties at a location other than his 
or her usual place or places of work. 

3.6 “FWC” means the Fair Work Commission or its successor; 

3.7 “Fair Work Act 2009” and “FW Act” means that Act, as may be amended from time 
to time and any successor to that Act; 

3.8 “IRV” means Industrial Relations Victoria 

3.9 “Machinery of Government Change” means a change arising from the allocation 
and reallocation of functions between Victorian government departments and/or 
Agencies which is set out in a General Order allocating Acts of Parliament to 
Ministers signed by the Premier, an Administrative Arrangements Order made under 
the Administrative Arrangements Act 1983 (Vic) or an order or declaration made 
under the Public Administration Act 2004 (Vic); 

3.10 “Party” means the Victoria State Emergency Service Authority and the Union. 

3.11 “Public Administration Act 2004 (Vic)” means that Act as may be amended 
from time to time, or any successor to that Act; 

3.12 “Public Holiday” means a day that is a public holiday pursuant to clause 44; 

3.13 “Remuneration” means payment or accrual of Time In Lieu (TIL) 

3.14 Rostered In Position” means where an employee has been requested to perform a shift 
during an emergency operation at a designated facility or field control point (e.g.: ICP, ICC, 
RCC, SCC) and it has been recorded in an approved roster by the Chief Officer Operations 
(or delegate). 

3.15 “Salary” or “Substantive Rate” means the wage or salary rate, including all on-going 
progression payments, which an Employee receives in the normal course of his or her duty; 
provided that Salary does not include any payment for overtime, Shift allowance, Commuted 
Allowance, Standing-By for Recall to Duty for an Anticipated Event, Duty Officer Outside 
of Ordinary Hours of Work, Agility payments, Incident Management Team payments, 
travelling allowance, incidental expenses or any payment of a temporary character; 

3.16 “Union” means a union covered by this Agreement in accordance with clause 5; and 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

3.17 “VPS” means the Victorian Public Service. 

3.18 “VICSES” means the Victoria State Emergency Service 

 

4 COMMENCEMENT DATE AND PERIOD OF OPERATION 

4.1 This Agreement will commence operation seven (7) days after it is approved by the 
FWC and will have a nominal expiry date of 20 March 2024. 

4.2 Employees to whom this Agreement applies will receive: 

(a) Salary increases as provided for in clause 25, with the first increase payable 
with effect from 20 March 2020; and 

(b) Agility payments as provided for in clause 14, with the first payment payable 1 
July 2020; and 

(c) Allowances, reimbursements and payments will take effect at the date of effect 
from the commencement of operation of this Agreement unless otherwise 
specified in the clause relating to that allowance, reimbursement or payment. 

4.3 Alterations to conditions of employment provided for in this Agreement will apply 
with effect from the commencement date of this Agreement.  There will be no 
retrospectivity with regard to any provisions in this Agreement other than for 
Salary increases clause 25 and Agility payments clause 14. 

4.4 Renegotiation Period 

(a) With the aim of avoiding protracted negotiations for a new agreement, the 
parties agree to be ready to commence negotiations within two weeks of 
written advice to VICSES from IRV (or their delegated representative with 
regard to nexus agencies to the Victorian Public Service) that the Victorian 
Public Service agreement has been approved and that the VICSES EBA 
negotiations may formally commence.  

(b) To meet this objective, the parties agree that: 

(i) Each will provide any proposals for change to the agreement by 1 
February 2024. 

(ii) The parties will meet regularly from the date of commencement of 
enterprise bargaining to progress negotiations in good faith. In this 
connection, small working groups may be established to examine 
particular areas of disagreement. 

(iii) The person/s responsible for negotiating will bring with them the 
necessary authority to finalise an agreement. 

(iv) Where the negotiations have reached a point where progress is being 
impeded by the parties’ views or other relevant factors, including factors 
external to VICSES, the parties will discuss whether they should seek 
the assistance of a mutually agreed conciliator or the FWC. This does 
not prevent the parties seeking assistance, by agreement, on any 
individual issue which is creating an impasse. 

(v) Should conciliation be sought, then the parties to the conciliation may 
agree to an extension to the negotiation period. 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

(c) During this period the parties will not act in a manner that is designed to 
frustrate good faith bargaining. 

 

5 APPLICATION OF AGREEMENT AND PARTIES COVERED 

5.1 This Agreement is made under Part 2-4 of the FW Act. 

5.2 This Agreement applies to and covers: 

(a) the Victoria State Emergency Service Authority in respect of all Employees (as 
defined in clause 3); 

(b) all Employees whose employment is, at any time when this Agreement is in 
operation, subject to this Agreement;  

(c) the Community and Public Sector Union; and 

(d) In accordance with Part 2-8 of the FW Act, where there is a transfer of business 
to a new employer, the new employer is bound by this Agreement as a 
transferable instrument to the extent that it relates to the whole or part of the 
business transfer. 

 

6 NO FURTHER CLAIMS 

6.1 It is a term of this Agreement that no party to the Agreement will pursue any extra 
claims relating to wages or conditions of employment, whether dealt with in this 
Agreement or not, where such claims are intended to take effect during the term of 
this Agreement. 

 

7 SAVINGS PROVISIONS AND RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER AWARDS 
AND AGREEMENTS 

7.1 This Agreement sets out all of the terms and conditions of employment for the 
Employees covered by this Agreement.  This Agreement operates to the exclusion 
of all previous awards and orders of the FWC, and replaces all previous certified 
agreements in respect of the Employees. However any entitlement in the nature of 
an accrued entitlement to an individual’s benefit that has accrued under any such 
previous certified agreement will not be affected by the making of this Agreement.  

7.2 No Employee will, on balance, have his or her overall pay and conditions reduced as a 
result of the making of this Agreement. 

7.3 No Employee’s overall terms and conditions of employment shall, on balance, be 
reduced as a result of any Machinery of Government Changes that occur during the 
life of this Agreement. 

7.4 A dispute or grievance that is being considered pursuant to clause 11 of the Victoria 
State Emergency Service Agreement 2016 at the time this Agreement is made by the 
FWC may continue to be considered pursuant to clause 13 of this Agreement. 

 

8 ANTI-DISCRIMINATION AND GENDER EQUALITY  

8.1 It is the intention of the Parties covered by this Agreement to achieve the principal 
object in section 336(c) of the FW Act through respecting and valuing the diversity of 
the workforce by helping to prevent and eliminate discrimination on the basis of race, 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

colour, sex, sexual preference, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, family 
or carer’s responsibilities, pregnancy, religion, political opinion, national extraction or 
social origin. 

8.2 Accordingly, in fulfilling their obligations under the procedures in clause 13 
(Resolution of Disputes), the Parties must make every endeavour to ensure that neither 
the Agreement provisions nor their operation are directly or indirectly discriminatory 
in their effects. 

8.3 Nothing in this clause is to be taken to affect: 

(a) any different treatment (or treatment having different effects) which is 
specifically exempted under the Commonwealth anti-discrimination legislation; 

(b) an Employee, Employer or Union pursuing matters of discrimination in any 
State or Federal jurisdiction, including by application to the Australian Human 
Rights Commission; or 

(c) the exceptions in section 351(2) and 772(2) of the FW Act or the operation of 
sections 772(3) and 772(4) of the FW Act. 

8.4 The Employer will act in accordance with its obligations under: 

(a) the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic)  

(b) the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities and 

(c) the Gender Equality Act 2020 (Vic). 

These obligations apply to the Employer but do not form part of the Agreement. 

8.5 Gender Equality Indicators 

VICSES is committed to making reasonable and material progress in relation to the 
following indicators of gender equality: 

(a) Gender pay equity 

(b) Gender composition at all levels of the workforce 

(c) Gender composition of governing bodies 

(d) Workplace sexual harassment 

(e) Recruitment and promotion 

(f) Gendered workforce segregation and 

(g) Leave and flexibility. 

8.6 Gender Pay Equity 

(a) To ensure gender pay equity by interpreting the provisions of this Agreement 
consistently with the following provisions: 

(i) Establishing equal pay for work of equal or comparable value: 
Equal or comparable value refers to work valued as equal in terms 
of skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions. This includes 
work of different types 

(ii) Freedom from bias and discrimination: Employment and pay 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

practices are free from the effects of unconscious bias and 
assumptions based on gender 

(iii) Transparency and accessibility: Employment and pay practices, pay 
rates and systems are transparent. Information is readily accessible 
and understandable 

(iv) Relationship between paid and unpaid work: Employment and pay 
practices recognise and account for different patterns of labour 
force participation by workers who undertake unpaid and/ or caring 
work  

(v) Sustainability: Interventions and solutions are collectively 
developed and agreed, sustainable and enduring and 

(vi) Participation and engagement: Workers, unions and employers 
work collaboratively to achieve mutually agreed outcomes. 

(b) Meaning of ‘Pay’  

In this clause, ‘pay’ refers to remuneration including but not limited to salary, 
bonuses, overtime payments, allowances and superannuation. 

8.7 Commitment to collaborative approach to systemic gender equality 

The Employer will work collaboratively with Employees and stakeholders including 
the CPSU to identify, support and implement strategies designed to eradicate the 
gender pay gap, gender inequality and discrimination, and systemic gender equality 
issues in the Employer’s organisation.   

(a) Systemic gender equality issues 

A systemic gender equality issue means an issue of a systemic nature within the 
Employer organisation that adversely affects a class or group of employees of 
the Employer relating to: 

(i) The gender composition of any or all workforce levels of the 
Employer and/or 

(ii) The gender composition of governing bodies and/or 

(iii) Equal remuneration for work of equal or comparable value across 
any or all workforce levels of the Employer, irrespective of gender 
and/or 

(iv) Sexual harassment in the workplace and/or 

(v) Recruitment and promotion practices in the workplace and/or 

(vi) Availability and utilisation of terms, conditions and practices in the 
workplace relating to family violence leave, flexible working 
arrangements and working arrangements supporting Employees 
with family or caring responsibilities and/or  

(vii) Gendered workplace segregation.  

(b) Gender Equality Action Plans 

The Employer will consult with key stakeholders including the CPSU in the 
preparation of Gender Equality Action Plans under the Gender Equality Act 
2020 (VIC).   








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

(c) VICSES Staff Consultative Forum 

Gender Equality will be a standing Agenda item on meetings of the VICSES 
Staff Consultative Forum (see Clause 11.5). 

(d) Review of decisions 

A Review Panel will be established by the Employer to review any decision of 
the Employer on application to the Employer by an employee, that is 
considered by the Review Panel to have potential to adversely impact on a 
systemic gender equality indicator. 

The Employee that makes application for a review of a decision by the 
Employer under this clause needs to be directly impacted by the decision. 

The Review Panel will be comprised of an Executive of the Employer, a 
member of the People and Organisational Development team and two Gender 
Equality Champions.  

The Review Panel will have authority to make any recommendation to the 
Employer. 

 

9 INDIVIDUAL FLEXIBILITY ARRANGEMENTS 

9.1 An Employee and the Employer may enter into an individual flexibility arrangement 
pursuant to this clause in order to meet the genuine needs of both the Employee and 
the Employer. An individual flexibility arrangement must be genuinely agreed to by 
the Employee and Employer. 

9.2 An individual flexibility arrangement may vary the effect of clause 33 (Hours of 
Work). 

9.3 An Employee may nominate a representative to assist in negotiations for an individual 
flexibility arrangement. 

9.4 The Employer must ensure that the terms of the individual flexibility arrangement: 

(a) are about permitted matters under section 172 of the FW Act; and 

(b) are not unlawful terms under section 194 of the FW Act; and 

(c) result in the Employee being better off overall than the Employee would be if 
no arrangement was made. 

9.5 The Employer must ensure that an individual flexibility arrangement is in writing and 
signed by the Employee and Employer. If the Employee is under 18, the arrangement 
must also be signed by a parent or guardian of the Employee. 

9.6 The Employer must give a copy of the individual flexibility arrangement to the 
Employee within 14 days after it is agreed to. 

9.7 The Employer must ensure that any individual flexibility arrangement sets out: 

(a) which terms of this Agreement will be affected or varied by the individual 
flexibility arrangement; 

(b) how the individual flexibility arrangement will vary or affect the terms of this 
Agreement; 

(c) how the Employee will be better off overall in relation to the terms and 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

conditions of his or her employment as a result of the individual flexibility 
arrangement; 

(d) the day on which the individual flexibility arrangement commences; and 

(e) provides for the individual flexibility arrangement to be terminated: 

(i) by either the Employee or Employer giving a specific period of 
written notice, with the specified period being not more than 28 
days; and 

(ii) at any time by written agreement between the Employee and 
Employer. 

 

10 RIGHT TO REQUEST FLEXIBLE WORKING ARRANGEMENTS 

10.1 A permanent employee of any length of service may request a change in their 
working arrangements on the basis of the following circumstances: 

(a) the employee is the parent, or has responsibility for the care, of a child who is of 
school age or younger; 

(b) the employee is a carer (within the meaning of the Carer Recognition Act 
2010); 

(c) the employee has a disability; 

(d) the employee is 55 or older; 

(e) the employee is experiencing violence from a member of the employee’s 
family; 

(f) the employee provides care or support to a member of the employee’s 
immediate family, or a member of the employee’s household, who requires care 
or support because the member is experiencing violence from the member’s 
family. 

Note: Examples of changes in working arrangements include changes in hours of 
work, changes in patterns of work and changes in location of work. 

10.2 To avoid doubt, and without limiting clause 10.1, an Employee who: 

(a) is a parent, or has responsibility for the care, of a child; and 

(b) is returning to work after taking leave in relation to the birth or adoption of the 
child; 

may request to work part-time to assist the Employee to care for the child. 

10.3 A casual employee is not entitled to make a request under this clause unless the Employee: 

(a) is a long term casual Employee of the Employer immediately before making the 
request; and 

(b) has a reasonable expectation of continuing employment by the Employer on a 
regular and systematic basis. 

10.4 A request made under this clause must be made in writing and set out details of 
the change sought and the reasons for the change. 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

10.5 On receipt of a request by an Employee under this clause, the Employer must give 
the Employee a written response within 21 days, stating whether the Employer 
grants or refuses the request. 

10.6 The Employer may only refuse the request on reasonable business grounds. 

10.7 Without limiting what are reasonable business grounds for the purposes of clause 
10.6, reasonable business grounds include the following: 

(a) that the new working arrangements requested by the Employee would be too 
costly for the Employer; 

(b) that there is no capacity to change the working arrangements of other 
Employees, or recruit new Employees, to accommodate the new working 
arrangements requested by the Employer; 

(c) that it would be impractical to change the working arrangements of other 
Employees, or recruit new Employees, to accommodate the new working 
arrangements requested by the Employee; 

(d) that the new working arrangements requested by the Employee would be likely 
to result in a significant loss in efficiency or productivity; 

(e) that the new working arrangements requested by the employee would be likely 
to have a significant negative impact on customer service. 

10.8 If the Employer refuses the request, the written response under clause 10.5 must 
include details of the reasons for the refusal. 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

 

PART 2 – COMMUNICATION, CONSULTATION AND 
DISPUTE RESOLUTION 

 

11 IMPLEMENTATION OF CHANGE AND CONSULTATION 

11.1 Where the Employer has developed a proposal for major change likely to have a 
significant effect on Employees, such as a restructure of the workplace, the 
introduction of new technology or changes to existing work practices of Employees, 
the Employer will advise the relevant Employees and the relevant Union covered by 
this Agreement of the proposed change as soon as practicable after the proposal has 
been made. The Employer will advise the relevant Employees and the relevant Union 
covered by this Agreement of the likely effects on the Employees’ working conditions 
and responsibilities. The Employer will advise of the rationale and intended benefits of 
any change, including improvements to productivity, if applicable. 

11.2 For the purpose of this clause, a major change is likely to have a significant effect on 
Employees if it results in: 

(a) the termination of the employment of Employees; 

(b) major change to the composition, operation or size of the Employer’s workforce 
or to the skills required of Employees; 

(c) the elimination or diminution of job opportunities (including opportunities for 
promotion or tenure); 

(d) the alteration of hours of work; 

(e) the need to retrain Employees; 

(f) the need to relocate Employees to another workplace; 

(g) the restructuring of jobs 

11.3 The Employer will regularly consult with relevant Employees and the relevant Union 
covered by this Agreement and give prompt consideration to matters raised by the 
Employees or the Employees relevant Union covered by this Agreement and where 
appropriate provide training for the Employees to assist them to integrate successfully 
into the new structure. 

11.4 In accordance with this clause, the relevant Employees and the relevant Union covered 
by this Agreement may submit alternative proposals which will meet the indicated 
rationale and benefits of the proposal. Such alternative proposals must be submitted in 
a timely manner so as not to lead to an unreasonable delay in the introduction of any 
contemplated change. If such a proposal is made the Employer must give considered 
reasons to the relevant Employees and the relevant Union covered by this Agreement 
if the Employer does not accept its proposals. 

Indicative reasonable timeframes are as follows: 

Step in process 
Number of working days in which to 
perform each step 

Employer advises Employees and relevant 
Union covered by this Agreement 

 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

Response from Employees or the relevant 
Union covered by this Agreement 

5 days following receipt of written 

Meeting convened (if requested) 5 days following request for meeting 

Further Employer response 

(if relevant) 

5 days following meeting 

Alternative proposal from Employees or  

relevant Union covered by this Agreement 

(if applicable) 

10 days following receipt of Employer 

 

Employer response to any alternative 
proposal 

10 days following receipt of alternative 
proposal 

11.5 The Employer will facilitate a regular meeting with employee representatives and the 
relevant Union covered in this Agreement called the VICSES Staff Consultative Forum 
(SCF). The purpose of the forum is for the consultative development of workplace 
change and improvement strategies. The SCF will discuss issues, progress of any 
change management underway and provide advice and an opportunity for broad staff 
driven improvement initiatives. A Terms of Reference will describe the administrative 
arrangements associated with the SCF.  

11.6 The SCF does not preclude the Employer consulting with staff directly through other 
means, including forums, working groups, project teams, taskforces, etc. 

11.7 The VICSES Staff Consultative Forum (SCF) will comprise ideally of no more than 14 
participants and include a mix of: 

(a) Management Representatives 

(b) Employee Representatives 

(c) Union Delegates 

(d) Union Organisers 

11.8  From time to time other staff of the VICSES, subject matter experts or other presenters may 
be invited to attend as agreed by the SCF. 

11.9  The Chairperson position will be on a rotational role between management and 
employees. VICSES will provide the Secretariat. 

11.10 Where the Employer has developed a proposal for any new provision including a 
significant new policy or procedure, likely to have a significant effect on Employees, 
the Employer will advise and consult the relevant Employees and the relevant Union 
covered by this Agreement of the proposal, through the VICSES Staff Consultative 
Forum, unless the Employer determines it to be time critical.  

11.11  Any dispute concerning the Parties' obligations under this clause shall be dealt with in 
accordance with clause 13 (Resolution of Disputes).  

 

12 CONSULTATION ON CHANGES TO ROSTERS OR HOURS OF WORK 

12.1 This clause applies if the Employer proposes to introduce a change to the regular 
roster or ordinary hours of work of Employees. 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

12.2 The Employer must notify the relevant Employees of the proposed change. 

12.3 The relevant Employees may appoint a representative for the purposes of the 
procedures in this clause. 

12.4 If: 

(a) a relevant Employee appoints, or relevant employees appoint, a representative 
for the purposes of consultation; and 

(b) the Employee or Employees advise the Employer of the identity of the 
representative; 

the Employer must recognise the representative. 

12.5 As soon as practicable after proposing to introduce the change, the employer must: 

(a) discuss with the relevant Employees the introduction of the change; and 

(b) for the purposes of the discussion—provide to the relevant Employees: 

(i) all relevant information about the change, including the nature of the 
change; and 

(ii) information about what the employer reasonably believes will be the 
effects of the change on the Employees; and 

(iii) information about any other matters that the Employer reasonably 
believes are likely to affect the Employees; and 

(c) invite the relevant Employees to give their views about the impact of the change 
(including any impact in relation to their family or caring responsibilities). 

12.6 However, the Employer is not required to disclose confidential or commercially 
sensitive information to the relevant Employees. 

12.7 The Employer must give prompt and genuine consideration to matters raised about 
the change by the relevant Employees. 

 

13 RESOLUTION OF DISPUTES 

13.1 For the purposes of this clause 13, a dispute includes a grievance. 

13.2 Unless otherwise provided for in this Agreement, a dispute about a matter arising 
under this Agreement or the National Employment Standards set out in the FW Act, 
other than termination of employment, must be dealt with in accordance with this 
clause. For the avoidance of doubt, a dispute about termination of employment cannot 
be dealt with under this clause. 

13.3 This clause does not apply to any dispute regarding a matter or matters arising in the 
course of bargaining in relation to a proposed enterprise agreement. 

13.4 A person covered by this Agreement may choose to be represented at any stage by a 
representative, including a Union representative or Employer’s organisation. 

The Union may raise a dispute and be a party to a dispute in its own right or in a 
representative capacity for an Employee or group of Employees, solely in relation to 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

the application of this Agreement. 

13.5 Obligations 

(a) The parties to the dispute and their representatives must genuinely attempt to 
resolve the dispute through the processes set out in this clause and must 
cooperate to ensure that these processes are carried out expeditiously. 

(b) Whilst a dispute is being dealt with in accordance with this clause, work must 
continue in accordance with usual practice, provided that this does not apply to 
an Employee who has a reasonable concern about an imminent risk to his or her 
health or safety, has advised the Employer of this concern and has not 
unreasonably failed to comply with a direction by the Employer to perform 
other available work that is safe and appropriate for the Employee to perform. 

(c) No person covered by this Agreement will be prejudiced as to the final 
settlement of the dispute or by any other subsequent proceedings by the 
continuance of work in accordance with this clause. 

13.6 Agreement and Dispute Settlement Facilitation 

(a) For the purposes of compliance with this Agreement (including compliance 
with this dispute settlement procedure) where the chosen Employee 
representative is another Employee of the Employer, he/she must be released by 
the Employer from normal duties for such periods of time as may be reasonably 
necessary to enable him/her to represent Employees concerning matters 
pertaining to the employment relationship including but not limited to: 

(i) Investigating the circumstances of a dispute or an alleged breach of this 
Agreement; 

(ii) Endeavouring to resolve a dispute arising out of the operation of this 
Agreement; or 

(iii) Participating in conciliation, arbitration or any other agreed 
alternative dispute resolution process. 

(b) The release from normal duties referred to in this clause is subject to the proviso 
that it does not unduly affect the operations of the Employer. 

 

13.7 Discussion of Dispute 

(a) The dispute must first be discussed by the aggrieved Employee(s) with the 
immediate supervisor of the Employee(s). 

(b) If the dispute is not settled, the aggrieved Employee(s) can require that the 
dispute be discussed with another representative of the Employer appointed for 
the purposes of this procedure. 

13.8 Internal Process 

(a) If any party to the dispute who is covered by this Agreement refers the dispute 
to an established internal dispute resolution process, the matter must first be 
dealt with according to that process, provided that the process is conducted as 
expeditiously as possible and: 

(i) is consistent with the rules of natural justice; 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

(ii) provides for mediation or conciliation of the dispute; 

(iii) provides that the Employer will take into consideration any views on 
who should conduct the review; and 

(iv) is conducted with as little formality as a proper consideration of the 
dispute allows. 

(b) If the dispute is not settled through an internal dispute resolution process, the 
matter can be dealt with in accordance with the processes set out below. 

(c) If the matter is not settled either party to the dispute may apply to the FWC to 
have the dispute dealt with by conciliation. 

13.9 Disputes of a Collective Character 

(a) The Parties acknowledge that disputes of a collective character concerning more 
than one Employee may be dealt with more expeditiously by an early reference 
to the FWC. 

(b) No dispute of a collective character may be referred to the FWC directly unless 
there has been a genuine attempt to resolve the dispute at the workplace level 
prior to it being referred to the FWC. 

13.10 Conciliation 

(a) Where a dispute is referred for conciliation, a member of the FWC shall do 
everything that appears to the member to be right and proper to assist the parties 
to the dispute to agree on settlement terms. 

(b) This may include arranging: 

(i) conferences of the parties to the dispute presided over by the 
member; and 

(ii) for the parties to the dispute to confer among themselves at 
conferences at which the member is not present. 

(c) Conciliation before the FWC shall be regarded as completed when: 

(i) the parties to the dispute have reached agreement on the 
settlement of the dispute; or 

(ii) the member of the FWC conducting the conciliation has, either 
of their own motion or after an application by a party to the 
dispute, satisfied themselves that there is no likelihood that, 
within a reasonable period, further conciliation will result in a 
settlement; or 

(iii) The parties to the dispute have informed the FWC member that 
there is no likelihood of agreement on the settlement of the 
dispute and the member does not have substantial reason to 
refuse to regard the conciliation proceedings as completed. 

13.11 Arbitration 

(a) If the dispute has not been settled when conciliation has been completed, a party 
to the dispute may request that the FWC proceed to determine the dispute by 
arbitration. 








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(b) Where a member of the FWC has exercised conciliation powers in relation to 
the dispute, the member shall not exercise, or take part in the exercise of, 
arbitration powers in relation to the dispute if a party to the dispute objects to 
the member doing so. 

(c) Subject to sub-clause (d) below, the Determination of the FWC is binding upon 
the persons covered by this Agreement. 

(d) Determination of a single member of the FWC made pursuant to this clause 
may, with the permission of the Full Bench of the FWC, be appealed. 

13.12 General Powers and Procedures of the FWC 

Subject to any agreement between the parties in relation to a particular dispute and the 
provisions of this clause, in dealing with a dispute through conciliation or arbitration, 
the FWC may conduct the matter in accordance with Subdivision B of Division 3 of 
Part 5-1 of the FW Act. 

 

14 WORKLOAD, AGILITY PRINCIPLES AND PAYMENTS 

14.1 Workload 

(a) The Employer acknowledges the benefits to both the organisation and 
individual Employee gained through Employees having a balance between 
both their professional and family life. The Employer further recognises that 
the allocation of work must include consideration of the Employee’s hours of 
work and their health, safety and welfare. Work will be allocated so that there 
is no routine allocation of work to be undertaken beyond an Employee's 
ordinary hours of work (refer clause 33) subject to: 

(i)  the requirements of the Agility Principles as set out in clause 14.2 and 
14.3, and  

(ii) clause 33.2(b)(iii) which relates to the requirements for rostering during a 
Declared Operation and 

(iii) clause 30.7 Duty Officer Outside of Ordinary Hours of Work.  

(b) An Employee or group of Employees may request a review of their workload, 
if they believe the workload is unreasonable. The request must be made in 
writing and set out details of the workload of the Employee or group of 
Employees and the reasons why the workload is considered unreasonable. 

(c) On receipt of a request by an Employee or group of Employees under this 
clause, the Employer must give the Employee a written response within 21 
days, stating whether the Employer agrees to or refuses the request. If the 
Employer refuses the request for a review, the written response must include 
details of the reasons for the refusal.  

(d) If the Employer agrees to the request, a review of the workload of the 
Employee or group of Employees will be conducted. Following the completion 
of the review, the Employee or group of Employees and the Employer shall 
agree on any necessary adjustments that are required to be implemented to 
ensure the workload for the Employee or group of Employees is reasonable. 

 








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14.2 Agility Principles 

The Parties agree to interpret and apply this Agreement consistently with the following 
principles aimed at promoting workforce agility: 

(a) The work required of VICSES as an emergency management agency is not 
static but always changing, due to factors such as: volunteer service delivery 
needs and expectations, government priorities, population growth, climate 
change, the pace and scale of technological advancement, changing community 
service delivery expectations and the need to respond to evolving complex 
public policy problems or crises. 

(b) Expecting and embracing unplanned activity and these changing priorities is 
essential to providing secure, flexible employment in the emergency 
management sector. The Parties acknowledge the importance of ensuring that 
Employees are agile with their hours of work and can be responsively deployed 
to support changing organisational priorities including a diverse volunteer 
workforce. 

(c) For clarity in the Agreement, this Clause over-rides the provisions in Clause 
11.2(f) (the need to relocate Employees to another workplace), noting the 
protections afforded to employees in Clause 14.4. 

14.3 The Parties agree that the principles set out above will be operationalised over the life 
of the Agreement, through a range of changed workplace practices, modes of work and 
service delivery. These may include: 

(a) Deploying staff in a manner which ensures services can be more easily accessed 
by the volunteer workforce; 

(b) That as an emergency service, demand can change dynamically and this 
requires employees to be flexible and adaptable with their hours of work and re-
prioritising their work with the support of their line manager;  

(c) Facilitation of greater agility in service delivery, including working across a 
wider geographical area to meet the capability gaps and demand trends at that 
time;  

(d) Development and implementation of a capability framework to facilitate better 
matching of Employee capabilities to operational need; 

(e) A model where ongoing Employees are deployed to priority projects or 
programs across the VICSES or the emergency management sector based on 
their core skills and capabilities, rather than being limited to a specific function 
in a specific area; 

(f) Interdisciplinary teams or multi-agency ventures, which change in size and 
composition over time, with shared resources and/or reporting lines outside 
traditional hierarchical structures or across VICSES business units and/or 
regions; 

(g) Ensuring service delivery is focused on when it best suits the volunteer 
workforce and/or local communities (e.g.: may require regular work outside 
normal span of hours and/or on weekends);  








21 

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(h) Development of employee capability to allow strategic deployment of VICSES 
employees across functional areas that may have changing risks or priorities, 
with common or universal skill sets; 

(i) The Employer requiring an Employee to physically relocate to another base 
location as long as Clause 15.3 (b) and (c), Clause 31.9 Permanent relocation 
provisions and Clause 31.10 Residential Relocation principles are applied;  

(j) Development and contribution to communities of practice or networks to better deliver 
services. 

14.4 The parties agree that workforce agility measures are not intended to adversely affect 
Employees’ overall employment security within VICSES or otherwise disadvantage 
Employees in their employment. In particular: 

(a) The Employer will designate a line manager for personal development, 
wellbeing, performance assessment and related support. An Employee may 
report to a number of different managers for projects or work activities. The line 
manager may consult with the Employee’s different project or work activity 
managers in assessing an Employee’s performance. The designated line manager 
will ensure an Employee’s reporting arrangements are clear; and 

(b) An Eligible Employee’s participation in workforce agility measures will be 
regarded favourably and not place that Employee at a disadvantage for the 
purposes of performance development and progression at Clause 29 
(Performance Development and Progression within a Value Range); and 

(c) The Employer will at all times apply the appropriate classification level, and 
where applicable, higher duties allowance, to work performed by an Employee; 
and 

(d) The Employer will comply with its obligations under the Agreement (see 
clauses 8 – 10) and section 65 of the FW Act regarding flexible work 
arrangements and will ensure that an Employee’s need for flexible work 
arrangements is taken into account when implementing agility measures; and 

(e) The Employer will comply with its obligations under the Agreement and the 
Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic) when implementing agility 
measures; and 

(f) Agility measures will not disadvantage an employee in their terms and 
conditions of their employment. 

14.5    The agility principles will require flexibility and responsiveness from each individual 
Employee and group of Employees with regard to efficient and flexible use of hours 
of work and agile responsiveness to allocation of duties. This requirement will be 
taken into account by the Employer in determining a reasonable workload.  

14.6  Agility Payment 

Employees will be paid an annual lump sum agility payment: 

(a) in recognition of the Parties commitment to the agility principles outlined in clause 
14 (Agility Principles) of the Agreement; and 

(b) in recognition of the fact that the work required of a modern career public sector 








22 

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agency is not static but always changing, and to acknowledge Employees are 
committed to ensuring they can be responsively deployed to support changing 
government priorities; and 

(c) to encourage Employees to gain relevant, diverse and evolving skills and 
experience across the emergency management sector to support their capability 
and career development. 

14.7  The agility payment in the tables below will be made as once off lump sum payments 
on the dates specified (pro-rata for part-time Employees): 

 

Grade Value Range 1 July 2020 1 July 2021 1 July 2022 1 July 2023 

VPS 1 1.1 $642 $655 $668 $682 

VPS 2 
2.1 $757 $772 $788 $803 

2.2 $851 $868 $886 $903 

VPS 3 
3.1 $963 $982 $1,002 $1,022 

3.2 $1,056 $1,077 $1,099 $1,121 

VPS 4 4.1 $1,222 $1,246 $1,271 $1,297 

VPS 5 
5.1 $1,373 $1,400 $1,428 $1,457 

5.2 $1,503 $1,533 $1,564 $1,595 

VPS 6 
6.1 $1,781 $1,817 $1,854 $1,891 

6.2 $2,039 $2,080 $2,122 $2,165 

VPS 7 

7.1 $2,318 $2,365 $2,412 $2,461 

7.2 $2,566 $2,618 $2,671 $2,724 

7.3 $2,815 $2,871 $2,929 $2,988 

 

 

 

  








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

PART 3 – EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEES’ DUTIES, 
EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP AND RELATED 
ARRANGEMENTS 

 

15 EMPLOYMENT CATEGORIES AND ENTITLEMENTS 

15.1 Basis of Employment 

Employees may be employed on: 

(a) an ongoing basis; 

(b) a fixed term basis; or 

(c) a casual basis. 

15.2 Secure Employment 

(a) The Employer acknowledges the positive impact that secure employment has on 
Employees and the provision of quality services to the Victorian community. 

(b) The Employer will give preference to ongoing forms of employment over 
casual and fixed term arrangements wherever possible. 

(c) Where a Union or affected Employees identify fixed term or casual 
employment that is considered not to meet the criteria established in clauses 
15.7 or 15.8, the Union or affected Employees will refer the matter to the 
Employer. If the parties cannot resolve the matter, it will be dealt with under 
clause 13 (Resolution of Disputes). 

15.3 Usual Place of Work Including Notice Periods for Changes in Usual Place of Work 

(a) The Employer must determine a usual place or places of work for the 
Employee. 

(b) The Employer may change an Employee’s usual place of work or places of 
work, on either a temporary or permanent basis, in accordance with this clause. 

(c) Where the Employer wishes to compulsorily reassign work to the Employee 
that will require a change to the work location  

(i) Two weeks’ notice must be given for a temporary relocation  

(ii) Five weeks’ notice must be given for a permanent relocation  

or a lesser period if agreed between the Employer and the Employee. 

(d) If an Employee believes that a proposed relocation would create demonstrable 
hardship, the Employer must consider any alternative proposal put by the 
Employee. 

15.4 Job Information 

(a) As soon as practicable prior to or after the commencement of employment, the 
Employee will be provided in writing or electronically with details of the job 
title, classification level and job statement for his/her position. 

(b) A fixed term Employee must be provided in writing or electronically the reason 
for their fixed term employment consistent with clause 15.8. 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

(c) The Employee will carry out the duties described in the job statement and such 
other duties as directed consistent with their skills and classification descriptors. 

(d) The Employer will provide the Employee with a copy of this Agreement and 
information regarding the role of Unions and/or Union delegates under the 
terms of this Agreement. 

(e) The Employer will ensure that an induction process is developed and 
maintained for the purpose of educating new Employees about Agency 
structures and policies within the framework of employment in Victoria State 
Emergency Service. The Employer will ensure that Unions are provided with an 
opportunity to explain their role and functions in consultative and dispute 
resolution processes provided for under this Agreement. 

15.5 Probationary Period – New Employee 

(a) The Employer may appoint an Employee or a former Employee who 
commences employment in VICSES on a probationary basis. A casual 
Employee cannot be appointed on a probationary basis. 

(b) The period of probation shall be a reasonable period having regard to the nature 
of the position but, subject to clause 15.5(d) shall be no more than three 
months. 

(c) A person initially employed on a fixed term basis who is subsequently 
employed on an ongoing basis shall have the fixed term employment taken into 
account in the determination of any probationary period. 

(d) Performance during probation 

(i) If conduct or performance issues are identified during the probationary 
period, the Employer shall counsel the Employee during the 
probationary period in relation to his or her conduct or performance 
and shall provide a written record of such counselling to the Employee. 

(ii) The probationary period may be extended by a period of not more 
than three months to allow the Employee to address performance 
issues. 

(iii) The probationary period may also be extended by not more than three 
months if non-attendance at work limits the Employer’s ability to 
properly assess an Employee. 

(e) Confirmation of employment 

Unless the employment is terminated earlier in accordance with clause 15.5(f), at the 
end of the period of probation the Employer shall confirm the Employee’s appointment 
in writing. 

(f) Termination of employment 

(i) A probationary Employee may resign at any time by giving a minimum 
of two weeks' written notice to the Employer, or a shorter period that is 
agreed with the Employer. 

(ii) In the event that the Employee’s conduct or performance during the 
probationary period is unsatisfactory, the Employer may terminate the 
probationary Employee’s employment by giving two weeks’ notice or 








25 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

two weeks’ pay in lieu of notice. 

(iii) For the avoidance of doubt, any notice period must be given no later 
than two weeks’ prior to the end of the period of probation. 
Alternatively, the Employee’s employment may be terminated by giving 
two weeks’ pay in lieu of notice prior to the end of the probationary 
period. 

(iv) A probationary Employee’s employment may be terminated without 
notice or payment in lieu of notice if the Employee has committed any 
act of serious misconduct (as defined in regulation 1.07 of the Fair Work 
Regulations 2009). 

15.6 Part-Time Employment 

(a) Provisions relating to salary, leave and all other entitlements contained within 
this Agreement apply to part-time Employees on a pro rata basis calculated on 
the number of ordinary hours worked. 

(b) Part-time employment is for not less than three consecutive hours in any day 
worked except: 

(i) where the Employee works from home by agreement with the 
Employer; or 

(ii) in exceptional circumstances with the agreement of the Employee. 

(c) Part-time employment may be worked only by agreement between the 
Employee and the Employer, where that agreement includes a roster specifying: 

(i) the days in each fortnight the Employee will work; 

(ii) the start and finish times on the days which the Employee will work; 

(iii) the number of hours the Employee will work on each day he or she 
works; and 

(iv) agreed processes for the variation of hours of work. 

(d) Rostered hours agreed under clause 15.5(c) shall be considered the Employee’s 
ordinary hours. 

15.7 Use of Casual Employment 

(a) The Employer will not use casual labour for the purpose of undermining the job 
security of ongoing Employees, for the purpose of turning over a series of 
casual workers to fill an ongoing employment vacancy or as a means of 
avoiding obligations under this Agreement. 

(b) In accordance with the principle set out in clause 15.7(a), the employment of 
casuals in all areas covered by this Agreement is limited to meeting short-term 
work demands or specialist skill requirements which are not continuing and 
would not be anticipated to be met by existing Employee levels. 

(c) Casual employment will be for not less than three consecutive hours in any day 
worked except: 

(i) where the Employee works from home by agreement with the 
Employer; or 

(ii) with the agreement of the Employee. 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

(d) Except as expressly provided for, all other provisions of this Agreement apply 
to casual Employees. 

15.8 Use of Fixed Term Employment 

(a) The Employer will not use fixed term contract positions for the purpose of 
undermining the job security or conditions of full-time ongoing Employees. 

(b) In accordance with the principle set out in clause 15.8(a), the use of fixed term 
employment in all areas covered by this Agreement is limited to: 

(i) replacement of Employees proceeding on approved leave; 

(ii) meeting fluctuating client and employment needs and unexpected 
increased workloads; 

(iii) undertaking a specified task which is funded for a specified period; 

(iv) filling a vacancy resulting from an Employee undertaking a 
temporary assignment or secondment; 

(v) temporarily filling a vacancy where, following an appropriate 
selection process, a suitable ongoing Employee is not available; or 

(vi) filling a vacant role whilst a review of the area is undertaken, provided 
that such appointment does not exceed a period of twelve months. 

(c) In other than exceptional or unforeseen circumstances, fixed term appointments 
to a specific position shall be for a maximum of four years, subject to clause 49 
(Parental Leave). 

(d) Where an Employee is posted overseas the limitations on the use of fixed term 
employment outlined in this clause do not apply. 

15.9  Advertising of New Permanent, Fixed Term roles and Secondments of 6 months or 
longer 

(a) The Employer will externally advertise and/or call for expressions of interest for all 
permanent roles, all fixed term and secondment roles of 6 months duration or longer, 
for a minimum of 10 calendar days before applications close.  

(b) Where a closing date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or Public Holiday, the closing date 
will be the following business day. 

(c) An advertised role or expression of interest for an ongoing vacancy will not be broken 
into timeframes to prevent operation of this clause as intended.  

15.10  Review of recruitment decision 

(a) An Employee may seek a formal review of a recruitment decision to a permanent role 
or fixed term role or secondment of 6 months or longer, provided that they were an 
unsuccessful applicant for that role. 

(b) The only ground(s) which will be considered with regard to any application for review 
of recruitment decision are: 

(i) relative merit for the particular role 

(ii) fair, equitable and reasonable treatment of members 

(iii) equal employment opportunity is provided 

(iv) human rights as set out in the Human Rights charter are upheld 








27 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

(c) The Employee has five (5) calendar days from the date that they are advised that they 
have been unsuccessful in gaining the role, to submit a completed review of 
recruitment decision application to the relevant Director. If the 5th day falls on a 
weekend or public holiday, then the next business day is deemed to be the closing date 
for lodgement of an appeal. 

(d) The application for a review of recruitment decision must provide evidence relying on 
information in the Employee’s application for the position and based on one or more 
of the grounds outlined in 15.10 (b) as to why they should be appointed to the 
particular role. 

(e) The deadline for submission of a review of recruitment decision may be extended at 
the discretion of the Director where there are genuine extenuating circumstances e.g. 
compassionate grounds. 

(f) The review of recruitment decision will be determined, within five (5) calendar days 
by a Director that did not make the recruitment decision that is being appealed. If the 
5th day falls on a weekend or public holiday, then the next business day is deemed to 
be the end of the review period. 

(g) If the Director considers there is a conflict of interest or other concern, the 
review of recruitment decision will be conducted by an alternate Director, to be 
determined by the Chief Executive Officer. 

(h) The outcome of the review and the reasons for the review decision, either 
overturning or affirming the original appointment decision, will be provided in 
writing to the appointee and each employee who sought a review of the 
recruitment decision on the appointment, within 7 calendar days of the decision 
being made. 

16 TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT 

16.1 Termination by Employer 

(a) The provisions of section 117 of the FW Act apply, except where varied by this 
clause. 

(b) Subject to this Agreement the Employer may terminate the employment of a 
non-executive employee— 

(i) on the ground of redundancy; or 

(ii) if the employee is found guilty of a criminal offence punishable by 
imprisonment, including an offence committed before, but not dealt 
with until after, the employee became an employee; or 

(iii) on the ground of serious misconduct; or 

(iv) if the Employer is satisfied that the employee is inefficient or 
incompetent in the discharge of his or her duties; or 

(v) if the employer is satisfied that the employee has abandoned his or her 
employment; or 

(vi) if the Employer is satisfied that the employee has, in connection with his 
or her application for employment, given false or misleading 
information; or 

(vii) for any other reason consistent with the terms and conditions of his or 
her employment. 








28 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

16.2 Notice of termination by Employer 

(a) In order to terminate the employment of an Employee, other than a casual 
Employee, the Employer must give to the Employee the following notice 
period: 

 

Employee’s period of continuous service 
with the Employer 

Minimum period of 
notice 

No more than 3 years 2 weeks 

More than 3 years 4 weeks 
 

(b) In addition to this notice, Employees over 45 years of age at the time of the 
giving of the notice with not less than two years continuous service are entitled 
to an additional week’s notice. 

(c) Payment in lieu of the notice will be made if the Employer notifies the 
Employee that the Employer does not require the Employee to work the entire 
applicable notice period. Employment may be terminated by the Employee 
working part of the required period of notice and by the Employer making 
payment for the remainder of the period of notice. 

(d) In calculating any payment in lieu of notice, the Employer shall calculate the 
salary plus these allowances (namely Commuted Allowance, First Aid 
Allowance, Higher Duties Allowance, Language Allowance) and payments 
(namely Agility Payment and IMT Payment) that the Employee would have 
received for the ordinary time they would have worked during the period of 
notice had their employment not been terminated. 

(e) The period of notice in this clause will not apply in the case of dismissal for 
serious misconduct. 

16.3 Employee Resignation 

Unless otherwise agreed by the Employer and an Employee, an Employee other 
than a probationary Employee may resign at any time by giving a minimum of 
four weeks' written notice to the Employer. 

16.4 Abandonment of Employment 

If an Employee is absent for more than 20 working days: 

(a) in circumstances where the Employer could not reasonably, after due enquiry 
have been aware of any reasonable grounds for the absence; and 

(b) without the permission of the Employer; and 

(c) without contacting the Employer to provide an explanation for the absence 

the Employer is entitled to treat the Employee as having resigned and the employment 
as having been terminated by the Employee at his or her initiative. 

16.5 Statement of Employment 

(a) The Employer must, upon receipt of a request from an Employee whose 
employment will cease or has ceased, provide to the Employee a written 








29 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

statement specifying the period of his or her employment and the classification 
of or the type of work performed by the Employee. 

(b) Where the Employer terminates an Employee's employment, the Employer 
must, at the Employee’s request, provide a written statement of the reasons for 
dismissal. 

16.6 Rights Not Limited 

This clause does not limit the rights of Employees to pursue any other legal remedy in 
respect of termination of employment. 

 

17 COSTS OF EMPLOYMENT RELATED LEGAL PROCEEDINGS 

17.1 If an Employee is required to attend or participate in a proceeding, hearing, examination, 
inquiry or investigative process on matters which arise from the performance of the 
Employee’s duties, the Employer must meet the Employee’s reasonable legal costs relating to 
the Employee’s appearance and legal representation in the matter. This includes, but is not 
limited to, a matter before a Royal Commission, Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption 
Commission, Ombudsman or a Coroner’s inquest. 

17.2 Where legal proceedings are initiated against an Employee as a direct consequence of 
the Employee legitimately and properly performing his or her duties, the Employer 
will not unreasonably withhold agreement to meet the Employee’s reasonable legal 
costs relating to the defence of such proceedings. 

17.3 Where, as a direct consequence of the Employee legitimately and properly performing 
his or her duties, it is necessary to obtain an intervention order or similar remedy 
against a person, the Employer will not unreasonably withhold agreement to meet the 
Employee’s reasonable legal costs in obtaining the order or other remedy. 

17.4 An Employee’s immediate supervisor must ensure that an application to meet 
reasonable legal costs will be referred to the appropriate person or body to enable 
the application to be decided expeditiously. 

 

18 WORKING FROM HOME 

18.1   VICSES supports employees being able to Work From Home (WFH) for part of their 
ordinary hours of work.  VICSES’ acknowledges the importance of team work and 
collaborating across all areas of the organisation and with other stakeholders. 

18.2   Working From Home arrangements, for part of an employee’s ordinary hours of work, may 
be agreed between the Employer and an individual Employee on a case by case basis, 
including consideration for disability or return to work plans post injury.  

18.3   Working From Home may occur during business as usual (including non Declared 
Operations) with the approval of the employee’s line manager and during low level Declared 
Operations with the approval of the Agency Commander. 

18.4   Working From Home during COVID-19 or any other major emergency will occur in line 
with the Chief Health Officer’s Directions, State Government Directions and/or VICSES 
Directions at the time. Only during these types of emergency situations consideration will be 
given to financial or other support as needed for WFH. 

18.5   The Employer reserves the right to require employees to attend the workplace. Any Working 








30 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

From Home arrangements may be ceased or varied by the employer where the efficiency or 
effectiveness of the arrangement is not apparent or business requirements have changed. 

19 REDEPLOYMENT 

The Victorian Govermnent's policy in relation to public sector redundancy is set out in the 
Public Sector Workplace Relations Policies 2015. The policy applies to VICSES but does 
not form part of this Agreement. 

Redeployment Principles are set out in Schedule A. 

 

20 MANAGEMENT OF UNSATISFACTORY WORK PERFORMANCE 

20.1 The purpose of this clause is to: 

(a) support Employees with unsatisfactory work performance to improve their 
performance to the required standard; 

(b) ensure that unsatisfactory work performance is addressed expeditiously; 

(c) reflect the Victoria State Emergency Service values of we pride ourselves on 
our credibility, we are part of the community, safety drives our decisions, 
focused and adaptable and together we are VICSES with the aim of ensuring 
that Employees are treated fairly and reasonably; and 

(d) provide a fair and transparent framework for action to be taken where an 
Employee continues to perform below the Employer’s expected standard. 

20.2 Application 

(a) Subject to applicable Victorian and federal legislation, action taken by the 
Employer in relation to unsatisfactory work performance will be consistent 
with this clause. 

(b) This clause applies to all Employees except casual Employees and 
Employees subject to a probationary period of employment. 

20.3 Referred unsatisfactory work performance matters 

The Employer may at any time elect, where there is reasonable cause, to manage the 
Employee’s work performance in accordance with clause 21. Once an election has been 
made by the Employer under this clause, any matters that have arisen under the process in 
this clause may be considered in the process pursuant to clause 21. 

20.4 Meaning of unsatisfactory work performance 

An Employee’s work performance is unsatisfactory if the Employee fails to behave in 
the ways described in the Code of Conduct for Victorian Public Sector Employees as 
issued under section 61 of the Public Administration Act 2004 or perform to the 
required standards or expectations of their role. 

20.5 Procedural fairness to apply 

(a) The process for managing unsatisfactory work performance will be consistent 
with the principles of procedural fairness. 

(b) All parties involved in the process will commit to completing it as quickly as 








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practicable. 

(c) Before commencing formal unsatisfactory work performance processes, the 
Employer must: 

(i) tell the Employee the purpose of the meeting; 

(ii) provide the Employee with a copy of the formal unsatisfactory work 
performance process to be followed as outlined in clause 20.9; 

(iii) provide a reasonable opportunity for the Employee to seek advice 
from the Union or a representative of their choice before the 
unsatisfactory work performance process commences; and 

(iv) allow the Employee the opportunity to provide details of any 
mitigating circumstances. 

(d) The Employer must take into account any reasonable explanation of any failure 
by the Employee to participate before making a decision under this clause 20. 

20.6 Employee representation 

An Employee is entitled to be represented by a person of their choice (including a 
Union representative) at any stage of the formal review meetings of the unsatisfactory 
work performance management process. 

20.7 Prior to commencing the process 

Prior to commencing the formal unsatisfactory work performance process, the 
Employer must: 

(a) consider organisational or personal factors that play a role in the Employee’s 
unsatisfactory work performance and consider alternatives to the unsatisfactory 
work performance process to address the problem; and 

(b) have a reasonable expectation that the Employee is capable of meeting the 
required level of performance. Where the Employer and Employee agree that 
the Employee is not capable of meeting the required level of performance the 
Employer may transfer the Employee to a suitable alternative position where 
reasonably practicable. 

20.8 Commencing the formal unsatisfactory work performance process 

Where the Employer considers that informal attempts to address an Employee’s 
unsatisfactory work performance have been unsuccessful, the Employer may proceed 
to formally manage the Employee’s unsatisfactory work performance in accordance 
with, but not limited to, all or some of the following measures: 

(a) increased supervision; 

(b) changes to the Employee’s performance plan; 

(c) mentoring; 

(d) training and professional development; 

(e) increased feedback; 

(f) coaching; and 








32 

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(g) performance improvement plan. 

20.9 First stage – formal counselling 

(a) The first stage of formal management of unsatisfactory work performance is 
formal counselling of the Employee. The Employer must: 

(i) advise the Employee of the unsatisfactory work performance and 
confirm the commencement of the formal counselling stage; 

(ii) outline the standard required of the Employee; 

(iii) provide the Employee with an opportunity to respond within a 
reasonable timeframe; and 

(iv) provide the Employee with an opportunity to improve within a 
reasonable timeframe. 

(b) The Employee will be advised of the consequences of not improving their 
performance within a reasonable period of time and of engaging in any further 
unsatisfactory work performance. 

(c) A record of the formal counselling session will be placed on the Employee’s 
personnel file. 

(d) The formal counselling record must indicate: 

(i) the standard expected of the Employee; 

(ii) where and how the Employee is not meeting this standard; and 

(iii) the consequences if the Employee fails to improve their performance 
including that continued or repeated unsatisfactory work performance 
may result in termination of the Employee’s employment. 

(e) If the Employer determines that the Employee has met the required standard of 
performance during the reasonable timeframe referred to in clause 20.9(a)(iv) 
the Employer will notify the Employee that: 

(i) the formal unsatisfactory work performance process has been 
completed; and 

(ii) no further action will be taken by the Employer unless the Employee 
engages in continued or repeated unsatisfactory work performance, in 
which case the formal unsatisfactory work performance process may 
continue to the next stage. 

A copy of this notification will be placed on the Employee’s personnel file. 

20.10 Second stage – formal written warning 

(a) The Employee will be given a formal written warning by the Employer, if: 

(i) the Employee’s performance has not improved within the reasonable 
period following formal counselling in accordance with clause 
20.9(a)(iv); and/or 

(ii) the Employee engages in further unsatisfactory work performance. 

(b) The Employer must: 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

(i) advise the Employee of the unsatisfactory work performance; 

(ii) outline the standard required of the Employee; and 

(iii) provide the Employee with an opportunity to respond within a 
reasonable timeframe; and 

(iv) provide the Employee with an opportunity to improve within a 
reasonable timeframe. 

(c) The formal written warning must indicate: 

(i) the standard expected of the Employee; 

(ii) where and how the Employee is not meeting this standard; and 

(iii) the consequences if the Employee fails to improve their performance 
including that continued or repeated unsatisfactory work performance 
may result in termination of the Employee’s employment. 

(d) The written warning will be placed on the Employee’s personnel file. 

(e) If the Employer determines that the Employee has met the required standard of 
performance during the reasonable timeframe referred to in clause 20.10(b)(iv), 
the Employer will notify the Employee that: 

(i) the formal unsatisfactory work performance process has been 
completed; and 

(ii) no further action will be taken by the Employer unless the Employee 
engages in continued or repeated unsatisfactory work performance, in 
which case the formal unsatisfactory work performance process may 
continue to the next stage. 

(f) A copy of this notification will be placed on the Employee’s personnel file. 

20.11 Third stage – final warning 

(a) The Employee will be given a final written warning by the Employer if: 

(i) the Employee’s performance has not improved within the reasonable 
time period following receipt of a formal written warning in 
accordance with clause 20.10(b)(iv); and/or 

(ii) the Employee engages in further unsatisfactory work performance. 

(b) The Employer must: 

(i) advise the Employee of the unsatisfactory work performance; 

(ii) outline the standard required of the Employee; and 

(iii) provide the Employee with an opportunity to respond within a 
reasonable timeframe; and 

(iv) provide the Employee with an opportunity to improve within a 
reasonable timeframe. 

(c) The final written warning must indicate: 

(i) the standard expected of the Employee; 

(ii) where and how the Employee is not meeting this standard; and 








34 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

(iii) the consequences if the Employee fails to improve their performance 
including that continued or repeated unsatisfactory work 
performance may result in termination of the Employee’s 
employment. 

(d) The final written warning will be placed on the Employee’s personnel file. 

(e) If the Employer determines that the Employee has met the required standard of 
performance during the reasonable timeframe referred to in clause 20.11(b)(iv), 
the Employer will notify the Employee that: 

(i) the formal unsatisfactory work performance process has been 
completed; and 

(ii) no further action will be taken by the Employer unless the Employee 
engages in continued or repeated unsatisfactory work performance, 
in which case the formal unsatisfactory work performance process 
may continue to the next stage. 

(f) A copy of this notification will be placed on the Employee’s personnel file. 

20.12 Determination of unsatisfactory work performance outcome 

(a) In the event that the Employee’s performance has not improved within the 
reasonable time period following the process set out in clauses 20.9 and 20.10 
and on receipt by the Employee of the final written warning in accordance with 
clause 20.11, the Employer will advise the Employee of the Employee’s 
continued or repeated unsatisfactory work performance and provide the 
Employee with a reasonable opportunity to respond. 

(b) After considering the Employee’s performance and response (including any 
failure to respond in accordance with clause 20.12(a)), the Employer will 
determine the unsatisfactory work performance outcome that is to apply to the 
Employee. 

(c) The possible outcomes are: 

(i) assignment of the Employee with or without their agreement to a 
role at a classification level or Value Range lower than the 
Employee’s current classification level or Value Range; or 

(ii) termination of the Employee’s employment. 

(d) The Employer will advise the Employee of the unsatisfactory work performance 
outcome in writing and a copy will be placed on the Employee’s personnel file. 

20.13 Disputes 

Any dispute arising under this clause may only be dealt with in accordance with clause 
13 (Resolution of Disputes) when any of the following are placed on the Employee’s 
personnel file in accordance with this clause (this may include whether clause 20.5 has 
been complied with in the Employer coming to a decision): 

(a) a record of formal counselling; 

(b) a formal written warning; 

(c) a final written warning; 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

(d) a notification given to the Employee pursuant to clauses 20.9(e), 20.10(e) or 

20.11(e); or 

(e) a record of unsatisfactory work performance outcome. 
 

21 MANAGEMENT OF MISCONDUCT 

21.1 The purpose of this clause is to: 

(a) establish procedures for managing misconduct or alleged misconduct of an 
Employee; 

(i) provide for Employee alleged misconduct to be investigated and 
addressed expeditiously and with minimal disruption to the workplace; 

(b) reflect the Victoria State Emergency Service values of we pride ourselves on 
our credibility, we are part of the community, safety drives our decisions, 
focused and adaptable and together we are VICSES with the aim of ensuring 
that Employees are treated fairly and reasonably; and 

(c) manage the Employee’s performance in accordance with this clause 21 instead 
of clause 20 where the Employer determines that it would be more appropriate. 

21.2 Application 

(a) Subject to applicable Victorian and federal legislation, action taken by the 
Employer in relation to misconduct will be consistent with this clause. 

(b) This clause applies to all Employees except casual Employees and Employees 
subject to a probationary period of employment. 

(c) For the purposes of this clause, misconduct includes: 

(i) a contravention of a provision of the Public Administration Act 2004 
(Vic) and the regulations to that Act, a binding code of conduct or a 
provision of any statute or regulation that applies to the Employee in the 
Employee’s employment; 

(ii) improper conduct in an official capacity; 

(iii) a contravention, without reasonable excuse, of a lawful direction 
given to the Employee as an Employee by a person authorised to 
give that direction; 

(iv) an Employee making improper use of his or her position for personal 
gain; or 

(v) an Employee making improper use of information acquired by him or 
her by virtue of his or her position to gain personally, or for anyone 
else, financial or other benefits or to cause detriment to the Victoria 
State Emergency Service. 

21.3 Referred matters under clause 20 

Any matters that have arisen under the management of unsatisfactory work 
performance process in clause 20 may be considered in the misconduct process 
pursuant to this clause 21. 








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21.4 Employee representation 

An Employee is entitled to be represented by a person of their choice (including a 
Union representative) at any stage of the misconduct process. 

21.5 Procedural fairness to apply 

(a) The process for managing Employee misconduct will be consistent with the 
principles of procedural fairness. 

(b) All parties involved in the misconduct process will commit to completing it as 
quickly as practicable. 

(c) The Employer will: 

(i) advise the Employee of the purpose of any meetings; 

(ii) provide the Employee with a copy of the formal process to be 
followed; 

(iii) provide a reasonable opportunity for the Employee to seek advice from 
the Union or a representative of their choice at any stage of the 
misconduct process; and 

(iv) allow the Employee the opportunity to provide details of any 
mitigating circumstances. 

(d) The Employer must take into account any reasonable explanation of any failure 
by the Employee to participate before making a decision under this clause 21. 

21.6 Directions 

(a) Where Employee misconduct is alleged, the Employer may do any of the 
following: 

(i) make an initial assessment of the alleged misconduct before 
commencing the formal process to determine if an investigation is 
required in accordance with clause 21.9; 

(ii) determine that it is appropriate to immediately commence an 
investigation of the alleged misconduct in accordance with clause 
21.9; 

(iii) direct the Employee to proceed immediately to perform alternative 
duties or work at an alternative place of work; 

(iv) direct the Employee not to speak to other Employees of the 
Employer about the matter or not to visit certain places of work; 
and/or 

(v) suspend the Employee with pay. 

(b) In the event that the Employer suspends the Employee with pay under clause 
21.6(a)(v), the Employer will: 

(i) review this decision no later than a date which is four weeks after the 
commencement of the suspension; and 

(ii) confirm whether the suspension is to continue or is no longer 
necessary. 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

(c) The Employer will continue to review any decision regarding an Employee’s 
suspension every four weeks thereafter, until the end of the misconduct process 
in accordance with this clause 21. 

21.7 Advising the employee 

(a) As soon as practicable after an allegation of misconduct has been made and the 
Employer has determined in accordance with clause 21.6(a)(i) or clause 
21.6(a)(ii) that an investigation is required, the Employer will advise the 
Employee of the alleged misconduct in writing. 

(b) The written advice will contain the allegation/s of misconduct made about the 
Employee. Relevant information will only be withheld where it is necessary to 
withhold that information in order to protect the personal privacy of any other 
person consistent with Federal or State legislation. 

21.8 Admissions by Employee 

(a) The Employee may at any stage elect to admit the alleged misconduct. 

(b) If the Employee admits the alleged misconduct, the Employer may: 

(i) determine that further investigation is required (for example to 
investigate partial admissions, mitigating circumstances or other 
relevant issues); or 

(ii) may proceed immediately to the determination of the misconduct 
clause 21.10 by advising the Employee of the proposed discipline 
outcome and giving the Employee a reasonable opportunity to 
respond to the findings. 

21.9 Investigation of alleged misconduct 

(a) Where an investigation is required, the Employer will appoint a person to 
conduct an investigation into the alleged misconduct. Where appropriate, the 
investigation may be conducted by the Employee’s immediate manager. The 
appointed person must not have any prior personal involvement in the matter or 
any conflict of interest 

(b) The Employer will provide the Employee with an opportunity to speak to the 
investigator if the Employee wishes to do so. 

(c) The investigation may include: 

(i) collecting any relevant materials; 

(ii) speaking with the Employee; 

(iii) speaking with any relevant witnesses; 

(iv) providing the Employee with specific particulars to allow the 
Employee to properly respond to the alleged misconduct; 

(v) seeking an explanation from the Employee; and 

(vi) investigating any explanation made by the Employee for the 
purposes of verifying the explanation so far as possible. 

(d) In relation to each allegation of misconduct, the investigator will make findings 
as to whether: 








38 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

(i) the allegation is substantiated; or 

(ii) the allegation is not substantiated. 

(e) Where the investigator makes a finding that an allegation is not substantiated, 
which is accepted by the Employer, the misconduct process will conclude in 
relation to any such allegation and the Employee will be informed accordingly. 

(f) Where the investigator makes a finding that the allegation is substantiated, the 
Employer will consider this information and propose a discipline outcome. 

21.10 Determination of discipline outcome 

(a) The Employer will consider: 

(i) the findings of the investigator; and 

(ii) any recommendations as to the appropriate disciplinary outcome; and 

(iii) any response of the Employee (including any admission of 
misconduct under clause 21.8); and 

(iv) any prior disciplinary outcomes, and then determine the discipline outcome 
that is to apply to the Employee. The discipline outcome must not be 
disproportionate to the seriousness of the matter. 

(b) The possible discipline outcomes are: 

(i) no action; 

(ii) performance management; 

(iii) formal counselling; 

(iv) formal warning; 

(v) final warning; 

(vi) assignment of the Employee with or without their agreement to a role 
at a classification level or Value Range lower than the Employee’s 
current classification level or Value Range: 

 Where no suitable positions are available at the Employee’s existing 
work location, the disciplinary outcome may also include a transfer 
of the Employee with or without their agreement to a different work 
location; 

 Where the disciplinary outcome includes a transfer of the Employee 
to a different work location, this will not preclude the Employee 
from being entitled to payment of any applicable relocation 
allowance in accordance under clause 31.9;  

(vii) transfer of the Employee with or without their agreement to a different 
work location at the Employee’s current classification level (which will 
not preclude the Employee being entitled to payment of any applicable 
relocation allowance in accordance with clause 31.9); or 

(viii) termination of employment. 

(c) The Employer will advise the Employee of the discipline outcome in writing 
and a copy will be placed on the Employee’s personnel file. 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

(d) The notice provision in clause 15.3 will not apply to any transfer which is 
related to a discipline outcome. 

21.11 Opportunity for response by Employee 

(a) As soon as practicable after the investigator has made a finding that any 
allegation of misconduct is substantiated, the Employee will be provided with 
the findings of the investigator and the proposed discipline outcome. The 
Employee will be provided with sufficient information to allow them a 
reasonable basis to respond. 

(b) The Employee will be given a reasonable time to respond to the findings or the 
material and the recommended discipline outcome. Any response must be 
provided within the above reasonable time. 

21.12 Informing Employee who raised allegation of misconduct 

If a process was conducted in accordance with this clause because of an allegation of 
misconduct by another Employee, the Employer must advise that Employee that the 
allegation has been dealt with in accordance with this clause, and may provide the 
Employee with other information as is reasonably practicable. 

21.13 Disputes 

Any dispute arising under this clause may only be dealt with in accordance with clause 
13 (Resolution of Disputes) when any of the following are placed on the Employee’s 
personnel file in accordance with this clause (this may include whether clause 21.5 has 
been complied with in the Employer coming to a decision): 

(a) a record of formal counselling; 

(b) a formal written warning; 

(c) a final written warning; or 

(d) a record of discipline outcome. 

21.14 Potential criminal conduct 

Where alleged misconduct that is the subject of a process in accordance with this 
clause 21 is also the subject of a criminal investigation or criminal proceedings, the 
Employer is not required to delay or cease the management of misconduct process 
under this clause 21 but the Employer may exercise its discretion to do so. 

  








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

 

PART 4 – SALARY, SERVICE DELIVERY PARTNERSHIP PLAN (SDPP) AND 
RELATED MATTERS 

 

22 APPLICATION 

22.1 The classification and progression arrangements are set out in clauses 23 and 24 of this 
Agreement. 

 

23 CLASSIFICATIONS AND SALARIES – GENERAL 

23.1 Positions will be classified within the VPS Structure, based on work value: 

(a) Classifications are divided into Grades and Value Ranges. 

(b) Employees will be employed within one of these Grades and Value Ranges 
based on work requirements in accordance with the Classification and Value 
Range Standard Descriptors at Schedule C to this Agreement. 

23.2 Movement Between Value Ranges 

(a) Employees and/or positions can move between Value Ranges. 

(b) Movement between the Value Ranges can occur following a job resizing 
review. The review process includes an assessment of the work the Employer 
requires to be undertaken and the performance of that work by the Employee. 
These are assessed against the benchmarks specified in the Classification and 
Value Range Standard Descriptors at Schedule C to this Agreement. 

23.3 Classification and Salary on Appointment 

(a) Employees will be appointed to a Grade and Value Range based on work 
requirements in accordance with the Classification and Value Range Standard 
Descriptors at Schedule C to this Agreement. 

(b) In determining whether to recruit an Employee above the base salary point of 
the relevant Value Range, the Employer will have regard to the following 
matters: 

(i) an assessment of whether the existing remuneration of the individual 
would require paying above the base; 

(ii) for Grades 1 to 4, appointment will be to a progression step within the 
relevant Value Range; and 

(iii) the gender equity effects of appointments. 

23.4 VPS 1 Classification 

(a) The VPS 1 classification is a training Grade for employees participating in formal 
trainee or cadetship programs or other similar VPS wide entry level employment 
programs. Employees classified as VPS 1 who are not participating in a formal 
employment program of this nature will transition to the VPS 2 classification. 

23.5 Temporary Classifications during Declared Operations / Incident 
Management Team Roles 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

(a) All employees performing higher classified roles during Declared Operations 
and VICSES-nominated periods of incident management, will be paid the 
higher temporary rate during the period that they are performing that role, as per 
Schedule F.   

(b) The appropriate VPS classifications for the temporary classifications during 
Declared Operations / Incident Management were determined through a Service 
Delivery Partnership Plan as a term of the Victoria State Emergency Agreement 
2016 (clauses 23.5 and 23.6 of that Agreement).  A joint working party met in 
2017 and reviewed the application of EMV role statements and joint standard 
operating procedures to determine the appropriate VPS classification for the 
IMT roles, specified in Schedule F – IMT payments.  

(c) The Service Delivery Plan process was concluded in 2017.  The Working 
Party’s decisions on temporary classifications for IMT roles directly informs 
the Victoria State Emergency Agreement 2020 Clause 30.9 Incident 
Management Team Payments and Schedule F.  

(d) If a new IMT role occurs during the life of the Victoria State Emergency 
Service Agreement 2020, it will be classified via a process of consultation in the 
Victoria State Emergency Service Staff Consultative Forum.  

(e) The Staff Consultative Forum will have access to EMV role statements and 
joint standard operating procedures to inform the consultation process, in 
relation to the correct classification of the required new role relative to the 
relevant Grade and Value Range Descriptors.  

 

24 PROGRESSION WITHIN A VALUE RANGE 

24.1 Progression Steps and Amounts 

(a) Within each Value Range of Grades 1 to 4 there are progression steps 
(expressed salary points) as detailed in the table at Schedule B. 

(b) Within Grades 5 to the Senior Technical Specialist Grade there are standard 
progression amounts as detailed in the table at Schedule B. The progression 
amounts are expressed in terms of dollars and are common to all Employees 
within a given Grade/Value Range. 

(c) Progression steps or amounts within Value Ranges are not points of defined 
work value. Progression within the salary structure will not be automatic, 
consistent with wage fixing principles. 

(d) Progression between progression steps or amounts will occur when an 
Employee is assessed at his or her annual performance review as meeting the 
“progression criteria” outlined in the Employee’s performance plan. 

24.2 Top of Grade or Value Range payment 

(a) An Employee at the top of their Grade or Value Range will receive a top of 
Grade or Value Range payment where the Employee is assessed at their annual 
performance review as meeting the “progression criteria” outlined in the 
Employee’s performance plan. 

(b) The top of Grade or Value Range payment will be equal to one per cent of the 
Employee’s salary as at 30 June of the relevant performance cycle. 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

24.3 Performance Cycle and Review 

(a) The performance cycle is twelve months (1 July to 30 June). 

(b) All Employees must participate in the performance development and review 
process, including in the development of performance plans and conduct of 
performance discussions and reviews. 

(c) The “progression criteria” are to be agreed with each Employee at the start of 
the performance cycle or upon the Employee’s commencement in a role. The 
“progression criteria” may be adjusted by agreement during the performance 
cycle. 

(d) The “progression criteria” for an individual Employee are to be developed using 
the performance standards outlined in clause 24.4 (Performance Standards). 

(e) All Employees can expect informal and formal feedback about their 
performance throughout the performance cycle with their supervisor or 
manager. 

(f) A performance review is undertaken at the end of each performance cycle. The 
Employee’s performance against the “progression criteria” is assessed by their 
supervisor or manager at that time. Employees must meet all of the elements of 
their individual performance plan to be eligible for progression. 

(g) An Employee will be eligible to access progression if an Employee has been in 
his or her role for 3 months or more, except in the following circumstances: 

(i) has been appointed on probation under clause 15.5 and has been in his 
or her role for less than 6 months at the time the performance review is 
undertaken. 

(ii) has been appointed to a new role within Victoria State Emergency 
Service and has been in his or her role for less than 6 months at the 
time the performance review is undertaken. 

(iii) has completed a formal underperformance process or subject to one 
under clause 20 at 30 June; or 

(iv) is subject to proven misconduct as per clause 21 during the course of the 
performance cycle. 

24.4 Performance Standards 

(a) The performance standards detailed below may be weighted and combined, 
appropriate to the role, to make up an individual Employee's "progression criteria". 

(b) Performance standards for all Grades are as follows: 

(i) achieving the performance targets; 

(ii) demonstrating Victoria State Emergency Service values and behaviours; 

(iii) applying learning and development in accordance with the requirements of their 
role including their core capabilities. 

(c) Management should facilitate an individual Employee's ability to undertake 
appropriate learning and development. An individual Employee must actively pursue 
appropriate learning and development to meet their performance standard including 
the core capabilities for their role. 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

(d) An Employee will not be disadvantaged where learning and development 
opportunities are not available. It is acknowledged that within Grades 1 to 4 the 
progression criteria will not be as onerous as those which will be required for Grades 5 
to Senior Technical Specialist. Whilst Grades 3 and 4 are clearly seen as transition 
points to higher levels of management within the structure and carry additional 
responsibility, this does not mean work at all lower levels will not be important and 
demanding. However, it is expected that in setting agreed progression criteria the 
overwhelming majority of persons within Grades l to 4 will achieve the objectives and 
should move through the salary points. This is to be contrasted with persons in Grades 
5 to Senior Technical Specialist. In these Grades agreed objectives will include 
measures of excellence and skill acquisition commensurate with the high level of 
responsibility. It is expected that progression at these levels will be both more 
challenging and difficult to achieve. 

(e) Central to progression is the need for supervisors and managers, in consultation with 
Employees, to determine what should, and can, be delivered to warrant progression 
through a combination of increasing capability, productivity, performance and 
professionalism. This interaction between managers and Employees gives authority 
and integrity to the structure and its sustainability in the long term.  

 

25 SALARY INCREASES 

25.1 Salary Increases 

Employees employed by the Employer at or after the date of commencement of this 
Agreement will receive the following salary increases: 

Date of Effect Percentage Increase 

20 March 2020 1.50% 

1 December 2020 1.25% 

1 September 2021 1.50% 

1 June 2022 1.25% 

1 March 2023 1.50% 

1 December 2023 1.00% 

 

25.2 Schedule B shows the percentage increases listed in clause 25.1 applied to the salary ranges.  

 

26 CASUAL EMPLOYEES – LOADING 

26.1 Employees employed on a casual basis will receive a loading of 25 per cent in addition 
to the applicable hourly rate of pay as compensation in lieu of any entitlement to the 
following benefits: 

(i) Public Holidays; 

(ii) annual leave and annual leave loading; 

(iii) paid parental leave; 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

(iv) paid compassionate leave; 

(v) paid personal/carer’s leave; 

(vi) jury service; 

(vii) defence reserve leave;  

(viii) accident make-up pay; 

(ix) redundancy entitlements; and 

(x) notice of termination. 

27 SUPPORTED WAGE SYSTEM 

27.1 The conditions which apply to Employees who, because of a disability, are eligible for 
a supported wage, are set out in Schedule D. 

 

28 PAYMENT OF SALARIES 

28.1 Salaries, allowances, penalty or overtime payments due to an Employee must be paid 
by the Employer by fortnightly electronic direct credit to a bank account, credit union 
or building society account nominated by the Employee. In exceptional circumstances, 
including significant delays in payment of salary, the Employer will make provision 
for off-line payments. 

28.2 Where a normal payday falls on a Public Holiday the direct credit to the Employee’s 
nominated account must be made no later than the last working day prior to the Public 
Holiday. 

28.3 Employees must be provided either in writing or electronically, with details of each 
pay regarding the make-up of their remuneration and any deductions. 

28.4 By agreement with the Employer, the Employee may authorise deductions from salary 
for forwarding to superannuation funds. 

28.5 In the event of an overpayment of salary, allowance, loading or other payment, the 
Employer must advise the Employee. Similarly, the Employee must advise the 
Employer if he or she knows there has been an overpayment. Where agreement cannot 
be reached on a repayment arrangement, the Employer may recover the overpayment 
by instalments to be paid in accordance with the Financial Management Act 1994 
(Vic) as amended from time to time or any successor to that Act. 

28.6 An Employee may enter into a salary packaging arrangement with his or her Employer 
using pre-tax salary in respect of superannuation, a novated lease and/or other 
approved benefits under State or Federal legislation. In the case of salary sacrifice to 
State Government defined benefit superannuation schemes, arrangements must 
comply with State legislation. 

28.7 All costs associated with salary packaging, including the Employer’s reasonable 
administrative costs, are to be met from the salary of the participating Employee. 

 

29 VICSES SERVICE VEHICLES 

(a) Employees will have immediate access to an appropriate VICSES service vehicle with 
communications, from the nominated VICSES location, in the following 
circumstances:  








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

(i) When an Employee is rostered on to be Standing-by for Recall to Duty for an 
Anticipated Event as per clause 30.6 (see 30.6 (k)). 

(ii) When an Employee is rostered on as Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of 
Work of the Employee as per clause 30.7 (see 30.7 (k)).  

(iii) When an Employee is rostered in position for a shift during Declared 
Operations, as per clause 37.1.  

(b) In addition to 29 (a) above, an Employee in receipt of the Commuted Allowance that 
is not rostered on as a Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work or Standing-by 
for Recall to Duty for an Anticipated Event, and has their availability shown in the 
Availability Roster as per the requirements of Clause 30.3 (e), will have a VICSES 
service vehicle provided during periods of availability including for commuter use to 
facilitate their ability to be Recalled to Duty as a legitimate business purposes. 

(c) For all other legitimate day to day business purposes the Employer will endeavor to 
provide a pool service vehicle for employees to utilise. 

(d) Where a VICSES service vehicle is not available, an Employee, required to use his/her 
private motor vehicle in the course of his/her employment will be reimbursed in 
accordance with clause 31.4 Private Motor Vehicle Use. 

 

30 ALLOWANCES – WORK OR CONDITIONS 

30.1 General provisions 

(a) Work or conditions allowances will be paid by the Employer subject to the 
Employee meeting the requirements for receipt of the allowance as set out in 
this clause. 

30.2 First aid allowance 

(a) Where an Employee, in addition to his or her normal duties, agrees to be 
appointed by the Employer to perform first aid duties: 

(i)  the Employee must hold a current first aid certificate or an equivalent 
qualification; and  

(ii)  the Employee will be paid an annual allowance payable in fortnightly 
instalments; and  

(iii) this allowance will be as follows: 

Date of Effect Amount Per Annum 

1 March 2020 $647 

1 March 2021 $660 

1 March 2022 $673 

1 March 2023 $686 

(b) The Employer must reimburse any additional costs incurred by the Employee in 
obtaining and maintaining the first aid qualification. 

30.3 Commuted Allowance 








46 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

(a) The intent of the Commuted Allowance is to enable VICSES to have ready access to 
staff by rostering staff for 11 to 13 weeks annually to be Duty Officer Outside 
Ordinary Hours of Work (as per clause 30.7) and/or Standing-by for Recall to Duty for 
an Anticipated Event (as per clause 30.6).  

(b) The Commuted Allowance is a 15% loading payable on the salary (as per Schedule B) 
at all times (at commencement of employment) including periods of all paid leave but 
excluding any period of continuous personal (sick) / carer’s leave in excess of 4 
weeks. 

(c) The Commuted Allowance is in compensation for: 

(i) The requirement to be rostered each financial year, without payment of the 
allowances contained in 30.6 and 30.7, as Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours 
of Work (this includes being rostered as Agency Commander, a Zone, Region 
or State Controller) and/or Standing-by for Recall to Duty for an Anticipated 
Event, for a minimum of 11 weeks and a maximum of 13 weeks (a week being 
5 weeknights and 2 weekend day/nights) or the Equivalent time as per the 
examples in the table below, with rostering able to occur in any pattern of 
number of days e.g. 4 days / 3 days, 5 days / 2 days.  

 Minimum / 
Maximum 
(column A + B) 

A - Equivalent  

Monday – Friday 

B - Equivalent  

weekend day/nights 

1.0 FTE 11 weeks 55 days 22 days 

13 weeks 65 days 26 days 

0.8 FTE 8.8 weeks 44 days 18 days 

10.4 weeks 52 days 21 days 

0.6 FTE 6.6 weeks 33 days 13 days 

7.8 weeks 39 days 16 days 

and 

(ii)  Accumulation of Time in Lieu (TIL) instead of overtime payment at the rates 
set out in clause 34.5(b) and  

(iii)  Management of hours by the employee such that the employee must ensure that 
they arrange their start and finish time each day to efficiently address the 
employee's actual work requirements without incurring excessive time on duty 
and accrued TIL. 

(d) Rostering of Commuted Allowance employees 

(i)  Where necessary and agreed between the employee and the relevant Agency 
Commander, a part duty roster cycle of between 1 and 5 days or day/nights for 
Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work (including Agency Commander, 
a Zone, Region or State Controller) or Standing-by for Recall to Duty for an 
Anticipated Event, will be worked to meet local requirements such as short 
term staff absences or operational readiness requirements and counts towards 
the employee’s 11 to 13 weeks. 

(ii)  The requirement for 11 to 13 weeks rostering within every 52 weeks will be 
reduced proportionately, as per the examples in the table below  

 based on the commencement date for a new employee and/or 








47 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

 by any period of long service leave, paid parental leave and/or  

 by any period of more than six weeks of annual leave during the financial 
year. 

Pro-rata in 
excess of  

6 weeks leave 

Minimum / 
Maximum 11-
13 weeks 
reduced to 

(column A + 
B) 

A - Equivalent 
Monday – Friday 

B - Equivalent  

weekend 
day/nights 

+ 4 weeks (= 
10 weeks) 
leave 

10 weeks 50 days 20 days 

12 weeks 60 days 24 days 

+ 6 weeks (= 

12 weeks) 
leave 

9.7 weeks 48.5 days 19 days 

11.5 weeks 57.5 days 23 days 

+ 8 weeks (=  

14 weeks) 
leave 

9.2 weeks 46 days 18 days 

11 weeks 55 days 22 days 

+20 weeks (= 

26 weeks/ 

6 months) 
leave 

6.7 weeks 33.5 days 13 days 

8 weeks 40 days 16 days 

 

(iii) Employees will not be disadvantaged for not achieving the minimum 11 weeks 
where circumstances are changed operationally by the employer (e.g: 
operational shifts replace their Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work).   

(iv) Employees who return to work after a prolonged period of absence due to 
injury or illness will have the requirement for 11-13 weeks temporarily adjusted 
by the Employer as per their Return to Work plan.  

(v)  In relation to either Duty Officer Outside of Ordinary Hours of Work 
Allowance and/or the Standing-by for An Anticipated Event allowance, Tier 1 
(clause 30.6 (m) and (n) and 30.7 (m) and (n)) will apply for time rostered 
between an employee’s pro rata week reduction and 13 weeks. Tier 2 will apply 
for all rostering on either Duty Officer Outside of Ordinary Hours of Work 
and/or Standing-by for an Anticipated Event, after 13 weeks. 

(vi)  A Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work (including Agency 
Commander, a Zone, Region or State Controller) or Standing-by for Recall to 
Duty for an Anticipated Event will be rostered for no more than 5 week nights 
and 2 weekend day/ nights duration consecutively.  By exception, a maximum 
of one additional day can be rostered where there is unforeseen absence or 
unforeseen operational requirement and the employee agrees. This additional 
day counts towards the 11 to 13 weeks and is remunerated by a single paid rest 
day. The rest day does not count towards the 11 to 13 weeks. 

(vii) All employees including employees in receipt of the Commuted Allowance, can 








48 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

be rostered for further periods of Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work 
and/or Standing-by for Recall to Duty for an Anticipated Event beyond 13 
weeks. Any rostering beyond 13 weeks will be remunerated in accordance with 
clause 30.6 where the rostering is on a Standing-by for Recall for an 
Anticipated Event basis or clause 30.7 where the rostering is on a Duty Officer 
Outside of Ordinary Hours basis.   

(e) Availability of Commuted Allowance employees when not rostered as a Duty 
Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work or Standing-by for Recall for an 
Anticipated Event 

(i) Employees in receipt of the Commuted Allowance that are not rostered as a 
Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work or Standing-by for Recall for an 
Anticipated Event and satisfy the following, namely: 

 respond to an Expression of Interest (EOI) to be ‘available’ for Recall to 
Duty (30.8) under the service delivery model for operational staff 
determined by the Chief Officer Operations and 

 have their EOI accepted and 

 have their availability shown in the Availability Roster  

 will have a VICSES service vehicle provided during periods of availability 
including for commuter use to facilitate their ability to be Recalled to Duty 
as a legitimate business purposes.  

(ii) To be ‘available’ to be Recalled to Duty includes being available to: 

 attend an incident scene if they’re the closest employee available or 

 form part of an Incident Management Team for a no notice event including 
VICSES command team (eg: split RAC establishing a Regional Office 
Command [ROC] team) or 

 cover unforeseen absences for a rostered Duty Officer Outside Ordinary 
Hours of Work or unforeseen operational requirements (eg: splitting the 
Agency Commander or appointing a Controller). Where the employee 
assumes a role of Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work, then this 
would count towards their 11 to 13 weeks.  The Duty Officer that is no 
longer able to perform the Duty Officer role is removed from the roster 
count. 

(iii) An employee who has made themselves available must be: 

 able to be contacted and response established within 15 minutes of first call 
by Duty Officer or delegated person by an agreed means of communication 
and  

 able to travel from their home or any other non-work location to the 
required work location within 120 minutes from the time of recall, or a 
time period as agreed with the relevant Duty Officer, if travel is occurring 
from home or a non-work location to a remote work location (eg: incident 
scene) and 

 fit for duty and sufficiently rested. 

(f) VICSES Service Delivery Model will provide for additional commuted allowance 
staff ‘available’ to provide surge capability for unforeseen absences or unforeseen 
events/incidents, 365 days 24/7, in each of the six VICSES Regions and at the State 








49 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

Tier of Command. 

30.4 Higher duties allowance 

(a) When does higher duties allowance apply 

A higher duties allowance will be paid where an Employee is required to undertake all 
or part of the duties of a higher classified position (including a position classified at a 
higher Value Range) for: 

(i) a period longer than five consecutive working days; or 

(ii) where the Employee works in the higher classified position on a 
regular and systematic basis. 

(b) Level of allowance 

The level of the allowance shall be in proportion to the extent of the higher duties 
performed, and shall be calculated on the base of the Grade or Value Range. 

(c) Leave while performing higher duties 

Paid leave taken during a higher duties assignment shall be paid inclusive of the 
allowance, provided the Employee resumes the duties of the higher duties position on 
his/her return from leave. 

(d) Progression payments 

(i) Where an Employee has been acting in a higher position for a period of 
twelve months, the Employee shall be eligible for consideration for 
progression payment for continued performance of the higher duties 
activities beyond 12 months. 

(ii) In the event an eligible Employee acting in a higher position is 
progressed to the next progression step/ amount in that higher 
position, on returning to their substantive position they will be 
deemed to have progressed to the next progression step/ amount 
within their substantive Grade (if applicable). 

30.5 Language allowance 

(a) Where the Employee, in addition to his or her normal duties, agrees to be 
appointed by the Employer to use their skills in a second language to assist 
members of the public who have low English proficiency: 

(i) the Employee must hold a current accreditation from the National 
Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI); and 

(ii) the Employee will be paid an annual allowance payable in 
fortnightly instalments as follows: 

 

Date of Effect 
Language aide 
accreditation 

Paraprofessional 
interpreter 
accreditation 

Interpreter 
accreditation or 
higher 

20 March 2020 $1,114 $1,534 $2,091 








50 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

Date of Effect 
Language aide 
accreditation 

Paraprofessional 
interpreter 
accreditation 

Interpreter 
accreditation or 
higher 

1 December 2020 $1,128 $1,553 $2,117 

1 September 2021 $1,145 $1,576 $2,149 

1 June 2022 $1,160 $1,596 $2,176 

1 March 2023 $1,177 $1,620 $2,208 

1 December 2023 $1,189 $1,636 $2,230 

 

(b) The Employer will pay the cost of the NAATI pre-testing workshop. 

(c) The Employer will also meet the cost of the NAATI test, up to two times per 
Employee per level of accreditation. The Employee must apply annually for 
renewal of the allowance. 

(d) The Employer will assess the Employee’s renewal application to determine 
whether the Employer still requires the Employee to perform interpreting 
duties. 

30.6 Standing-by for Recall to Duty for an Anticipated Event 

(a) The Employer may require an Employee to be rostered on to be Standing-by for Recall 
to Duty for an Anticipated Event outside the ordinary hours of work of the Employee.  

(b) An Employee who is rostered on to be Standing-by for Recall to Duty for an 
Anticipated Event is expected to be standing by to be recalled to their usual place or 
any place of work, including work from home (as deemed appropriate by the employer 
on a case by case basis) for an Anticipated Event. 

(c) An Anticipated Event includes the potential for an emergency event or requirement for 
business continuity that the Employer has had advance notice may occur, such as a 
predicted severe weather event.  

(d) An Employee can be rostered on to be Standing-by for Recall to Duty for an 
Anticipated Event for a minimum of a single day or days, as required, on any day of 
the week. Other than in exceptional circumstances of operational need or unforeseen 
absences, an Employee will not be rostered on for more than seven (7) consecutive 
days of Standing-by for Recall to Duty for an Anticipated Event.  

(e) If the Employee is requested to be rostered to be Standing-by for Recall to Duty for an 
Anticipated Event for an eighth consecutive day, for an unforeseen absence or an 
operational need and the Employee agrees: 








51 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

(i) staff in receipt of the Commuted Allowance, the extra day rostered as Standing-
by for Recall to Duty for an Anticipated Event counts towards the Commuted 
Allowance 11-13 weeks and is remunerated by a single paid rest day.  

(ii) staff not in receipt of the Commuted Allowance will be paid the Standing-by 
for Recall to Duty for an Anticipated Event allowance and the extra day 
rostered will be remunerated by a single paid rest day. 

(f) The Employee must not be rostered on for Standing-by for Recall to Duty for an 
Anticipated Event, for more than eight (8) consecutive days.  

(g) Where the Employee has been rostered on Standing-by for Recall to Duty for an 
Anticipated Event on one or more weekend days and is not given at least 6 hours 
notice of cancellation of one or more of the weekend days: 

(i) one day of Standing-by for Recall to Duty for an Anticipated Event will be 
included in their 11-13 week requirement if they are an employee in receipt of a 
Commuted Allowance or  

(ii) they will receive one weekend day’s allowance payment if they are an 
employee not in receipt of the Commuted Allowance.  

(h) No late cancellation provision will apply for weekday rostering.  

(i) The Employee will not be required to be Standing-by for Recall to Duty for an 
Anticipated Event where this may result in the Employee working hours that are 
unreasonable having regard to: 

(i) any risk to the Employee’s health and safety and/or 

(ii) the Employee’s personal circumstances including family responsibilities and/or 

(iii) the needs of the workplace and/or 

(iv) the notice (if any) given by the Employer of the Standing-by for Recall to Duty 
for an Anticipated Event and/or 

(v) the notice (if any) given by the Employee of their intention to refuse the 
Standing-by for Recall to Duty for an Anticipated Event and /or 

(vi) prior rostering of Standing-by for Recall to Duty for an Anticipated Event 
Outside Ordinary Hours of Work for the purpose of ensuring that rostering does 
not exceed 8 consecutive days and/or 

any other relevant matter. 

(j) An Employee who rostered to be Standing-by for Recall to Duty for an Anticipated 
Event must be: 

(i) able to be contacted and response established within 15 minutes of first call by 
Duty Officer or delegated person by an agreed means of communication and 

(ii) able to travel from their home or any other non-work location to the required 
work location within 60 minutes from the time of recall, or a longer time period 
as agreed with the relevant Duty Officer / Manager, if travel is occurring from 
home or a non-work location to a remote work location and  

(iii) fit for duty, meaning nil consumption of alcohol, drugs and/or prescription 
and/or non-prescription medication that potentially impacts their performance 
and decision making, and sufficiently rested. 








52 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

(k) An Employee who is rostered to be Standing-by for Recall to Duty for an Anticipated 
Event will have immediate access to a VICSES service vehicle with appropriate 
communications.  

(l) The Employer must pay either Tier 1 or Tier 2 of the Standing-by for Recall to 
Duty for an Anticipated Event allowance subject to clause 30.6 (m) or (n). 

(m) Tier 1 of the Standing-by for Recall to Duty for an Anticipated Event Allowance 
will be paid to employees not in receipt of the Commuted Allowance when the 
employee is contributing up to 13 weeks of rostered duty as either Standing-by for 
Recall to Duty or Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work in any financial 
year.  Tier 1 allowances are not payable to employees in receipt of the Commuted 
Allowance. This is because the Commuted Allowance is compensation for the 
mandatory 11-13 weeks of Standing by For Recall to Duty for An Anticipated Event 
and/or Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work in any financial year.  

(n) Tier 2 of the Standing-by for Recall to Duty for an Anticipated Event Allowance 
will be paid to all employees, including employees in receipt of the Commuted 
Allowance, who are rostered to be Standing-by for Recall to Duty for an Anticipated 
Event, if the employee has already completed 13 weeks in any financial year of 
being rostered on for Standing-by for Recall to Duty for an Anticipated Event and/or 
Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

30.7 Duty Officer outside ordinary hours of work 

(a) The Employer may require an Employee to be rostered on as Duty Officer Outside 
Ordinary Hours of Work of the Employee.  This may involve performing work on the 
telephone, via email and/or away from their usual place or places of work. The 
Employee may be required to “initiate action” and perform limited follow-up work in 

 

Date of Effect 

Monday to Friday 

Per night  

Weekend / Public 
Holiday Per day/night 
(24 hours) 

Standing by for Recall to 
Duty for an Anticipated 
Event 

Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 1 Tier 2 

First Full Pay Period on or 
after Date of approval of 
agreement by Fair Work 
Commission 

$93.87 $111.75 $157.52 $187.53 

1 September 2021 $95.28 $113.43 $159.88 $190.34 

1 June 2022 $96.47 $114.84 $161.88 $192.72 

1 March 2023 $97.92 $116.57 $164.31 $195.61 

1 December 2023  $98.90 $117.73 $165.95 $197.56 








53 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

response to operational communications received.  Such initiation of action and 
limited follow-up work could include: 

(i) Reporting to a higher operational level or member of a higher rank within the 
organisation and/or 

(ii) Issue warnings, advice or other information and/or 

(iii) Providing subject matter expert advice/solutions to urgent business issues 
and/or 

(iv) Scrutinising, validating or entering operational/incident data on data 
management systems and/or 

(v) Liaising with external agency representatives and/or 

(vi) Liaising with community representatives or media representatives and/or 

(vii) Contacting or activating VICSES personnel and/or resources and/or 

(viii) Coordinating VICSES personnel and/or resources and/or 

(ix) Responding to an incident scene. 

(b) The Employer will, in consultation with the Employee, establish a roster for Duty 
Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work, three months in advance. 

(c) An Employee can be rostered on Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work as 
required, on any day of the week, outside of ordinary hours of work. 

(d) Other than in exceptional circumstances of operational need or unforeseen absences, 
an Employee will not be rostered on for more than seven (7) consecutive days of Duty 
Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work.  

(e) If the Employee is requested to be rostered to be Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours 
of Work for an eighth consecutive day, for an unforeseen absence or an operational 
need and the Employee agrees: 

(i) employees in receipt of the Commuted Allowance, the extra day rostered as 
Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work counts towards the Commuted 
Allowance 11-13 weeks and is remunerated by a single paid rest day. 

(ii) employees not in receipt of the Commuted Allowance, will be paid the 
allowance, and the extra day rostered as Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours 
of Work will be remunerated by a single paid rest day. 

(f) The Employee must not be rostered on for Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of 
Work, for more than eight (8) consecutive days.  

(g) Where the Employee has been rostered on as Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of 
Work on one or more weekend days, and is not given at least 6 hours notice of 
cancellation of one or more of the weekend days: 

(i) one day of Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work will be included in 
their 11-13 week requirement if they are an employee in receipt of the 
Commuted Allowance.  

(ii) one weekend day’s allowance payment if they are an employee not in receipt of 
the Commuted Allowance.  

(h) No late cancellation provision will apply for weekday rostering.    








54 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

(i) The Employee will not be required to be a Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of 
Work if this is will result in the Employee working hours that are unreasonable having 
regard to: 

(i) any risk to the Employee’s health and safety and/or 

(ii) the Employee’s personal circumstances including family responsibilities and/or 

(iii) the needs of the workplace and/or 

(iv) the notice (if any) given by the Employer for the rostering of Duty Officer 
Outside Ordinary Hours of Work and/or  

(v) the notice (if any) given by the Employee of their intention to refuse and/or 

(vi) prior rostering of Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work for the purpose 
of ensuring that rostering does not does not exceed 8 consecutive days and/or 

(vii) frequency of rostering as Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work and/or  

any other relevant matter. 

(j) An Employee who is rostered on as Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work must be: 

(i) able to be contacted and response established within 4 minutes of first call and 

(ii) able to travel from their home or any other non-work location to the required 
work location within 60 minutes from the time of recall.   If travel is occurring 
from home or a non-work location to a remote work location, the time limit will 
be as agreed with the relevant manager on a case by case basis and   

(iii) fit for duty, meaning nil consumption of drugs and alcohol and/or prescription 
and/or non-prescription medication that potentially impacts upon performance 
and decision making, and sufficiently rested. 

(k) An Employee who is rostered to be Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work will 
have immediate access to a VICSES service vehicle with appropriate communications.  

(l) The Employer must pay either Tier 1 or Tier 2 of Duty Officer Outside Ordinary 
Hours of Work allowance subject to clause 30.7 (m) or (n).  

(m) Tier 1 of the Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work Allowance will be paid to 
employees not in receipt of the Commuted Allowance when the employee is 
contributing up to 13 weeks of rostered duty as either Standing-by for Recall to Duty 
for an Anticipated Event or Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work in any 
financial year.  Tier 1 allowances are not payable to employees in receipt of the 
Commuted Allowance. This is because the Commuted Allowance is compensation for 
the mandatory 11-13 weeks of Standing by For Recall to Duty for An Anticipated 
Event and/or Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work in any financial year.  

(n) Tier 2 of the Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work will be paid to all 
employees, including employees in receipt of the Commuted Allowance, who are 
rostered to be Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of Work if the employee has 
already completed 13 weeks in any financial year of being rostered on for Standing-by 
for Recall to Duty for an Anticipated Event and/or Duty Officer Outside Ordinary 
Hours of Work.  

 








55 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

Date of Effect 
Monday to Friday  

Per night 
 

Weekend / Public 
Holiday Per day/night 
(24 hours) 

 Tier  

Duty Officer Outside of 
Ordinary Hours of Work 

Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 1 Tier 2 

First pay period on or after 
Date of approval of 
agreement by Fair Work 
Commission 

$116.22 $151.98 $195.03 $255.03 

1 September 2021 $117.96 $154.26 $197.95 $258.86 

1 June 2022 $119.44 $156.19 $200.43 $262.10 

1 March 2023 $121.33 $158.53 $203.43 $266.03 

1 December 2023 $122.44 $160.12 $205.47 $268.69 

 

(o) Subject to 30.7 (f), the allowance is in compensation for:  

(i) the availability of being rostered as Duty Officer Outside Ordinary Hours of 
Work and  

(ii) initial limited response to any form of communication (for example, text 
message, email, a telephone call, pager, radio call) as long as the subject of, and 
follow up to, does not require time worked beyond 15 minutes in any 
continuous period and  

(iii) non-applicability of Recall to Duty (clause 30.8) minimum periods.  All time 
worked beyond 15 minutes will be remunerated as overtime (TIL for employees 
in receipt of Commuted Allowance for the first 13 weeks) on the basis of time 
worked, with no minimum engagement period. Time worked as overtime 
beyond 15 minutes will be remunerated at the rate in accordance with 34.4 for 
employees not in receipt of the Commuted Allowance and 34.5 for employees 
in receipt of the Commuted Allowance.   

(p) Employees in receipt of the Commuted Allowance and undertaking Duty Officer 
Outside Ordinary Hours of Work can accrue up to 30 minutes Time in Lieu (TIL), post 
the initial 15 minutes initiating response/follow up (total elapsed time 45 minutes) 
before needing to obtain approval for further TIL from the next level Duty Officer.  
The minimum Time in Lieu remuneration referred to in clause 30.8 does not apply as a 
Recall to Duty has not occurred.  

(q) Employees not in receipt of the Commuted Allowance and undertaking Duty Officer 
Outside Ordinary Hours of Work will receive up to 30 minutes overtime post the 
initial 15 minutes initiating response/follow up (total elapsed time 45 minutes) before 
being required to obtain approval for further overtime from the next level Duty 
Officer. The minimum overtime payment referred to in 30.8 does not apply as a Recall 
to Duty has not occurred.   

30.8 Recall to Duty 








56 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

(a) Recall to duty occurs when an employee is required to physically return to an VICSES 
nominated location or their usual place or any place of work, including work from 
home (as deemed appropriate by the employer on a case by case basis) to perform 
work as overtime or time in lieu, when they have already performed their usual daily 
ordinary hours.  

(b) This clause shall not apply for employees on a Duty Officer Outside of Ordinary 
Hours of Work roster.  This means that the overtime required for initiating 
response/follow-up circumstances described in the Duty Officer Outside Ordinary 
Hours of Work sub-clauses 30.7 (l) and (m) or (l) and (n) do not constitute a Recall to 
Duty for the purpose of this clause.  

(c) An Employee who is recalled to duty:  

(i) Is entitled to a minimum payment of four (4) hours that includes travel to and 
from wherever they are, to the location as agreed by their line manager or 
higher level duty officer or the Chief Officer Operations, or delegate and   

(ii) This minimum payment and all further work required will be at overtime rates 
for such employees. The ordinary hourly rate of payment for overtime will be 
calculated on the lower of the Employee’s salary or Grade 4.1.7 during 
Business As Usual.   

(d) During Declared Operations, the substantive rate for application of the relevant 
overtime penalty will be at the higher of the employee’s substantive rate or their 
temporary classification grade for the role they are performing, as set out in Schedule 
F. 

(e) The minimum engagement period will be paid no more than three times in any 12-
hour period. 

30.9 Incident Management Team Payments 

(a)  The intent of the Incident Management Team Payments is to encourage IMT/EMT 
skills maintenance and development. This is not a payment for training, coaching 
and/or mentoring in the role. 

(b) IMT Payments operate on the basis of set annual payments for specific roles subject to 
VICSES authorisation of evidence of accreditation or endorsement and the skills 
maintenance required for those specified roles. 

(c)  IMT Payment and Schedule E  

(i) The Incident Management Team roles specified in Schedule E will be paid an 
annual payment set out in Schedule E, subject to satisfaction of the eligibility 
criteria for each level.  

(ii)  All Incident Management Team roles must be within the IMT accreditation 
framework at the time this Agreement is approved and they must be roles 
recognised by VICSES. State Duty Officer and Regional Duty Officer will not 
be functions that attract an IMT/EM payment as they are not actively involved 
in REMT or SEMT functions as opposed to RAC and SAC. 

(iii)  The Incident Management payments in the Schedule are team based. 
Accordingly, the payments reflect the hierarchy of IMT/EM functional roles 
and responsibilities. For example, a subordinate role is paid less than the role it 
reports to.  

(iv)  VICSES will annually assess an employee’s eligibility for the payment against 
the specified eligibility criteria.  








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(v)  An employee can only receive one IMT role payment, at any given time. They 
will receive the highest level they are eligible for, notwithstanding they may 
hold various accreditations or endorsements. 

(d)  Criteria for Payment 

(i)  The employee must hold accreditation or endorsement in the specified role 
ahead of satisfying the following five criteria for payment: 

 Accreditation or endorsement must be maintained in accordance with the 
requirements of VICSES and/or the Emergency Management 
Commissioner (EMC) and 

 Undertake the accredited role during an operation and 

 Attendance at a pre-season briefing and 

 Attendance at an appropriate professional development event e.g. a 
Masterclass or exercise and 

 Emergency Management roles such as SRC, RC (including ZC), SAC 
and RAC required participation in an annual roster of a minimum of 11 
weeks.  This is based on the agreed principle that through 11 rotations, 
these positions would experience opportunities to maintain higher level 
command and control skills.   

(ii)  With regard to criterion (d) if all other criteria are satisfied except that; 

 the employee has not undertaken the accredited role during an operation 
but has undertaken a lower accredited role in the same team grouping set 
out in Schedule E during an operation, they will be eligible for the IMT 
payment applicable to the lower accredited role or 

 an individual was deployed for a higher role, but is reallocated by the 
Incident or Regional Controller for a team member role, with the express 
approval of the VICSES Agency Commander, then this will be evidence 
towards performing the role if no other opportunity to perform the higher 
role was available to the staff member in that financial year or 

 as a result of the employer’s actions, a criterion cannot be achieved by 
the employee (eg: professional development event is cancelled and an 
alternative option is not provided)  

the employee will be eligible for the IMT payment. 

(e)  Payment Process  

 Employees will make application for payment between the 1st July and the 31st August 
each year via the relevant VICSES Procedure.  Payment will be processed within 3 
pay cycles post the 31st August each year, where the application is complete and has 
not been rejected. 

(f)  Review Process 

 Any employee may lodge an appeal in respect to the payment.  The employee will be 
able to provide further evidence to support their appeal.  The appeal will be an internal 
review process conducted by the Chief Officer Operations within six weeks of the 
employee submitting their appeal. 

(g)  Transition Principle from 2016 Schedule E to 2020 Schedule E of IMT Payments. 
Where the revised Schedule E provides that a function or role has been upgraded in 








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accreditation requirements, those staff that were previously receiving an IMT payment 
for a lower level endorsed role will be supported through a deeming process to 
translate to the upgraded role e.g. Safety Adviser to Safety Officer L2 and Media to 
Media Officer L2.  

 

31 REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES 

31.1 General provisions 

(a) The Employer will reimburse the Employee his or her reasonable out of pocket 
expenses actually and necessarily incurred in the course of his or her authorised 
duties. 

(b) The Employer must apply the rulings of the Commissioner of Taxation 
(Australian Tax Office) relating to reasonable allowances in determining the 
maximum rates payable, unless otherwise agreed. 

(c) The amount of an expense will be considered reasonable where it does not 
exceed the relevant amounts set by the Australian Tax Office as adjusted from 
time to time. 

(d) Where any provision of this agreement provides for a payment for an allowable 
expense for example 34.12 overtime meal payment, the employee will receive 
the greater of the EBA payment or allowable expense but not both. 

31.2 Allowable expenses 

Allowable expenses include: 

(a) Air flights, taxi fares and parking expenses, accommodation, meals and other 
incidental expenses associated with an overnight absence from home or part day 
duties away from the normal work location; and 

(b) expenses incurred in using private mobile and home phones in accordance with 
clause 31.3; and 

(c) expenses incurred in using private vehicles in accordance with clause 31.4. 

31.3 Private mobile and home phone use 

(a) An Employee required to use his/her private mobile phone or home phone in 
the course of their employment will be reimbursed for work-related use under 
their plan. 

(b) The Employee must obtain the prior approval of the Employer before using 
their private mobile or home phone during the course of their employment. 

(c) Following use, the Employee must submit an itemised statement of the calls 
made and their cost. 

31.4 Private motor vehicle use 

(a) An Employee, required to use his/her private motor vehicle in the course of 
his/her employment, will be reimbursed for kilometre costs and any other motor 
vehicle reimbursement expenses incurred in the course of the Employee’s 
employment and authorised by the Employer. 

(b) The Employee must obtain the prior approval of the Employer before using 








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their private motor vehicle during the course of their employment. 

(c) The vehicle must be comprehensively insured and maintained adequately so 
that it is fit and safe for purpose. 

(d) Following use, the Employee must submit a declaration stating the date, the 
purpose of the trip, the number of kilometres travelled and the type of vehicle 
used. 

(e) The rates payable in respect of motor kilometre costs will be the rates 
determined by the Australian Tax Office from time to time. 

31.5 Expense claims 

(a) An Employee must submit to the Employer official receipts substantiating 
allowable expenses incurred by the Employee as soon as practical after 
incurring the expense, except where the Employee uses his/her own motor 
vehicle for work purposes in which case the Employee will submit a declaration 
in accordance with clause 31.4(d). 

(b) A signed statutory declaration from the Employee that the expense was incurred 
may be accepted by the Employer in exceptional valid circumstances if the 
official receipt is lost or misplaced, and suitable verification can be made. A 
signed statutory declaration from the Employee that an incidental expense was 
incurred may be accepted if the Employer and the Employee agree that the 
obtaining of a receipt was impractical. 

31.6 The Employer will pay the Employee money owing under this clause in a manner to 
be agreed between the Employer and Employee as soon as practicable but not later 
than two pay periods after the Employee submits a complete valid claim within three 
months of the expense being incurred. 

31.7 Upon request, the Employer will provide an advance for the expected costs 
associated with work related travel or any other exercise where an Employee is likely 
to incur work related expenses. As soon as practicable after the event, the Employee 
will provide the Employer with an account of all expenses incurred together with 
receipts (and where necessary a statement) together with any balance owed to the 
Employer. 

31.8 Excess Travel Time 

An Employee who is temporarily required to undertake duties at a location other than 
his or her usual place or places of work will have any period of additional travel time 
regarded as time worked.  Refer Clause 37 for payment of excess travel time during 
Declared Operations. 

31.9 Mandatory requirement of employer for permanent relocation of usual place of work 

(a) Subject to clause 31.9(d), an Employee who is required by the Employer to 
travel to a new work location as a result of a permanent transfer or permanent 
redeployment, will be paid a once only allowance in compensation for all 
disturbance factors arising from transfer or redeployment not otherwise 
provided for in this Agreement. 

(b) The payment in clause 31.9(c) will be as follows: 
 








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Date of Effect Payment 

Approval of this 
Agreement 

$1,475 

1 January 2021 $1,516 

1 January 2022 $1,539 

1 January 2022 $1,558 

1 January 2023 $1,597 

 

(c) The allowance(s) will be paid on the following basis: 

(i) an allowance in accordance with clause 31.9(b) for the first 30 minutes 
of additional total daily travel time required or 30 kilometres additional 
daily distance or part thereof; and 

(ii) a further equivalent allowance in accordance with clause 31.9(b) for 
each additional 30 minutes or 30 kilometres or part thereof. 

(d) An exception to this is that no such allowance will be paid where the total 
additional distance to be travelled is ten kilometres or under. 

31.10 Residential Relocation principles 

(a) Where an employee's relocation arises from: 

(i) Temporary promotion or transfer to a different position as a result of an 
advertised vacancy for a fixed term role (minimum 12 months) or  

(ii) Permanent promotion or transfer to a different position as a result of an 
advertised vacancy for an ongoing role  

but not for higher duties, the Employee will be entitled to financial relocation 
assistance considered by the relevant Manager. When an Employee submits a 
proposal, it will be considered based on the duration of the position, as outlined in the 
VICSES Staff Relocation Policy.  Leave and reasonable costs that may be considered 
include: 

Type of relocation assistance Temporary 
relocation 

(min. 12 
months) 

Permanent 
relocation 

Up to three days paid Special leave YES YES 

Short-term (4 weeks) Accommodation at the 
commencement of the position (arranged and paid 
for by VICSES) 

YES YES 

Additional accommodation costs may be met by 
VICSES for a temporary relocation. 

YES NO 

Relocation of belongings at the commencement of 
the position (arranged and paid for by VICSES) 

NOTE: value to be based on number of 

NO YES 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

dependents (family) relocating with the 
employee.   

Reimbursements of initial utility connection 
charges, insurance cover and storage costs (where 
applicable) 

NO YES 

 

(b) The relevant Manager must obtain the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the Director 
of People and Organisation Development’s written approval for the relocation 
assistance to be offered and provide the approval to People and Organisation 
Development and Finance.  

(c) The CEO has final approval of the relocation assistance offered. 

(d) People and Organisation Development will include the relocation offer as part of the 
broader offer of employment. 

31.11  Licenses 

An Employee required to hold a: 

(a) Boat Licence and/or 

(b) High Risk Licence (eg: forklift, elevated work platform) and/or 

(c) Working with Children Check 

in the course of their employment will be reimbursed for the payment incurred for that 
licence or check. 

 

32 SUPERANNUATION 

32.1 The Employee, regardless of age, will be offered by the Employer membership of a 
complying superannuation fund for the purposes of the Superannuation Industry 
(Supervision) Act 1993 (Cth) (unless they are a member of a Victorian exempt public 
sector superannuation scheme). The Employer will contribute, or will be deemed to 
contribute, to this fund or another approved fund an amount in accordance with the 
Superannuation Guarantee Administration Act 1992 (Cth). 

 
  








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PART 5 – HOURS OF WORK AND RELATED MATTERS 

 

33 HOURS OF WORK 

33.1 Ordinary Hours of Work 

(a) The ordinary hours of work for each Employee, except for casual or part-time 
Employees, will be the equivalent of 76 hours (exclusive of meal breaks), to be 
worked over an average of no more than ten days per fortnight. 

33.2 Spread of Hours 

(a) Flexible Arrangement of Hours of Work: The ordinary hours of work shall, by 
agreement, be worked flexibly to best meet both the Employer’s work requirements 
and the Employee’s personal and/or family circumstances. 

(b) Arrangement of Hours: 

(i) The actual days and hours of work will be those agreed between the Employer 
and the Employee. Either party may seek to alter the days or hours of duty. 
Agreement to such alteration shall not be unreasonably withheld, taking into 
account the personal/family circumstances of the Employee, and the work 
requirements of the Employer. In the absence of agreement, the aggrieved party 
may utilise the dispute procedure in clause 13 (Resolution of Disputes). 

(ii) The Employer may request an Employee with their agreement (e.g.: one on one 
catch-up, phone call or email) and evidenced each pay cycle through an 
approved timecard by the employee and line manager to: 

 perform ordinary hours of work outside the times of 8.00am to 8.00pm 
on any weekday (the “span of hours”) or 

 perform ordinary hours of work on Saturdays and/or Sundays or 

 work more than 2 nights in any 7-day period outside the normal span of 
hours and shall have a minimum of two days off in any 7-day period or 

 work more than 2 consecutive weekends (in whole or part) or 

 work more than 2 weekends in any calendar month. 

(iii) During a Declared Operation under clause 37, the Chief Officer Operations or 
their delegate will be able to direct employees to their place of work and when 
they will be rostered for duty. 

(iv) The Employee may perform their ordinary hours on any day, at any time by 
agreement with the Employer.   

(v) There is no requirement for 7.6 ordinary hours to be worked in one day.  

(vi) A minimum of two ordinary hours and a maximum of twelve ordinary hours 
may be worked for planned business activities in any one day 

(vii) Two or more separate periods of ordinary hours may be worked in any one day, 
by mutual agreement, provided that the minimum period is two hours and the 
maximum ordinary hours worked in one day for planned business activities is 
no more than twelve and that the employee is able to reasonably manage this 
within fatigue management guidelines. 

(viii) In determining the days and hours of duty, both the Employer and the 
Employee accept that the Employee is eligible to use the flexibility of these 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

arrangements to take time off by agreement, subject to meeting the specified 
leave requirement(s) and not unduly affecting the work requirements of the 
Employer. Agreement by the Employer will not be unreasonably withheld. 

(ix) Ordinary hours that are worked outside the span of hours of 8.00am to 8.00pm 
Monday to Friday, at the request of the Employer and with the agreement of the 
Employee, will be counted towards the 76 ordinary hours in a fortnight in 
accordance with the hourly rate table below.  

For ordinary hours worked outside the 
span of hours of 8.00am to 8.00pm 
Monday to Friday 

Ordinary hours 
penalty rate – Non-
commuted 

(ordinary hourly rate) 

Ordinary hours penalty rate – 
Employees in receipt of 
Commuted allowance   

(ordinary hourly rate) 

Monday to Friday – first three hours 1.5hrs (150%) 1.0hrs (100%) 

Monday to Friday – after three hours  2.0hrs (200%) 1.0hrs (100%) 

Saturday – first three hours 1.5hrs (150%) 1.5hrs (150%) 

Saturday – after 3 hours 2.0hrs (200%) 1.5hrs (150%)  

Sunday - in all cases except public 
holidays  

2.0hrs (200%) 1.5hrs (150%) 

(x) Ordinary hours that are worked outside the span of hours of 8.00am to 8.00pm 
Monday to Friday, at the request of the Employee to support their personal 
circumstances (not business driven requests) and with the agreement of the 
Employer, will be counted towards the 76 hours in a fortnight at an hour for 
hour basis (eg: start before 8.00am on occasions to enable childcare 
responsibilities later in the day). All such agreements must be recorded and 
signed by the employee in the form of an individual flexibility arrangement as 
per Clause 9.  

(xi) All ordinary hours will be subject to statutory superannuation.     

(xii) Ordinary hours cannot be worked on public holidays. Work on public holidays for 
employees in receipt of the commuted allowance will be remunerated as per clause 
34.7 and for employees not in receipt of the commuted allowance, as per clause 
34.4(a).  

(xiii) Where the public holiday is not worked, it is treated as a part of ordinary hours of work 
and is remunerated at single time.  

 

34 OVERTIME 

34.1 Overtime means the hours worked at the direction of the Employer, which are in 
addition to an Employee’s ordinary hours of work on any day established in 
accordance with clause 33. 

34.2 Reasonable Hours of Work 

(a) Subject to clause 34.2(b) an Employer may require an Employee to work 
reasonable overtime at overtime rates. 

(b) An Employee may refuse to work overtime in circumstances where the working 
of such overtime would result in the Employee working hours which are 
unreasonable having regard to: 








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Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

(i) any risk to the Employee’s health and safety; 

(ii) the Employee’s personal circumstances including family 
responsibilities; 

(iii) the needs of the workplace; 

(iv) the notice (if any) given by the Employer of the overtime and by the 
Employee of his or her intention to refuse it; and 

(v) any other relevant matter. 

34.3 Requirement to pay overtime for Employees not on the Commuted Allowance 

(a) An Employee who works overtime must be paid at the appropriate overtime rate 
specified in clause 34.4 below. Exceptions are provided at clause (c) below. 

(b) An Employee may request that time be granted in lieu of payment. If the 
Employer agrees, time in lieu of payment will accrue at the rate specified in 
clause 34.5 below. 

(c) Exceptions Clause 34.4 does not apply to Employees: 

(i) classified as Grade 5 or higher, except for overtime work as specified 
in clause 30.7 (Duty Officer) and clause 30.8 (Recall to Duty) and/or 
relating to a Declared Operation where the Substantive Rate (or Higher 
Duties Rate) will apply; or 

(ii) who are part-time Employees working less than 38 hours per week 
within the span of hours. 

34.4 Overtime rates of pay 

(a) Where an employee is paid for overtime, the following overtime rates will be 
paid: 

 

For overtime work on Overtime rate 

(% of ordinary hourly rate) 

Monday to Saturday – first three hours 150% 

Monday to Saturday – after 3 hours 200% 

Sunday - in all cases except public holidays 200% 

Public holiday or substituted day 250% 

The ordinary hourly rate of payment for overtime will be calculated on the 
lower of either the Employee’s salary or the highest pay point within 4.1.7. 

34.5 TIL in lieu of overtime 

(a) Employees not on the commuted allowance will have their overtime paid in 
accordance with the rates in Clause 34.4.  However a non-commuted allowance 
employee may apply for permission for overtime to be Time in Lieu (TIL) in 
lieu of payment.  If permission is granted, the TIL rate would be calculated in 
accord with Clause 34.6.  

(b) Employees on a Commuted Allowance are rewarded for overtime by TIL.  This 








65 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

is calculated in accord with Clause 34.7. 

34.6 How does time in lieu apply – Employees not on Commuted Allowance 

(a) Time in lieu is to be taken at a time mutually agreed as close as possible to 
when the time in lieu was accrued. The Employer will endeavour to permit the 
Employee to take time in lieu at a time of the Employee's choosing.  

(b) Twice per financial year a maximum of 38 hours’ t ime in  l i eu accrual may 
be converted to annual leave and/or personal/carers’ leave.  

(c) The 17.5% annual leave loading will not apply to any annual leave granted or 
paid out on termination under this clause, meaning that any leave accrued 
because of a time in lieu conversion shall never be subject to annual leave 
loading.  

(d) For those Employees not on Commuted Allowance, time in lieu may 
accumulate to a maximum of 38 hours at the conclusion of each 12 week 
period. An agreed management plan must be developed to reduce time in lieu 
accrued in excess of 38 hours by the next 12 week period.  

(e) Any time in lieu in excess of 38 hours after the agreed management plan has 
expired, unless as the result of a significant operation or other extenuating 
circumstances, as agreed by the Line Manager, has prevented the taking of the 
excess time in lieu, the employee will be directed by their manager to proceed 
on time in lieu until the excess hours are taken. 

(f) Upon termination for any reason, the Employee will be paid out a maximum of 
38 hours for time in lieu accrued to his or her credit as if it were time worked. 

34.7 How does time in lieu apply – Employees on Commuted Allowance 

(a) Time in lieu is to be taken at a time mutually agreed as close as possible to 
when the time in lieu was accrued. The Employer will endeavour to permit the 
Employee to take time in lieu at a time of the Employee's choosing.  

(b) All employees on Commuted Allowance will be eligible to accrue time in lieu 
at the rate of hour for hour Monday to Friday and the rate of one and one half 
hour for each hour worked on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday. 

(c) Twice per financial year (within first half of financial year and within second 
half of financial year) a maximum of 38 hours’ time in lieu per application may 
be converted to annual leave and/or personal/carer’s leave. The 17.5% annual 
leave loading will not apply to annual leave granted or paid out on 
termination under this clause, meaning that any leave accrued because of a time 
in lieu conversion shall never be subject to annual leave loading.    

(d) The accumulation of time in lieu is limited to 38 hours per 26 weeks. 

(e) If at the end of the 16th week of the 26 week cycle, the average weekly 
hours’ worked are in excess of 38 hours, a management plan will be 
developed by the employee and the employer.  The agreed plan shall be 
implemented to ensure time in lieu will l not exceed 38 hours at the end of the 
26 week cycle. 

(f) Any time in lieu in excess of 38 hours after the agreed management plan has 
expired, unless as the result of a significant operation or other extenuating 








66 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

circumstance, as agreed by the Chief Officer Operations, has prevented the 
taking of the agreed planned time in lieu, the employee will be directed by 
their manager to take the excess time in lieu. 

(g) Upon termination for any reason, the Employee will be paid out a maximum of 
38 hours for time in lieu accrued to his or her credit as if it were time worked. 

34.8 Overtime – minimum period 

Employees must be paid (unless time in lieu is agreed) for a minimum of three hours 
when they are recalled to duty except where 30.7 Duty Officer Outside of 
Ordinary Hours of Work or 30.8 Recall to Duty applies. 

34.9 Overtime – staff working less than 38 hours a week 

(a) A part-time Employee must be compensated for overtime in accordance with 
clause 34.3 for work performed: 

(i) after 38 hours has been worked in any week; or 

(ii) outside the span of hours in clause 33. 

(b) Additional hours performed by a part time employee classified at Grades 1 or 2 
who work hours in excess of their agreed ordinary hours, will be paid for the 
additional hours at the appropriate overtime rates as detailed in clauses 34.3 
and 34.4.  

(c) Additional hours performed by a part-time Employee classified at Grade 3 and 
above, which are performed both before 38 hours has been worked in any week, 
and within the span of hours in clause 33.2, will be compensated at the 
Employee’s ordinary rate. Additional hours compensated at the part-time 
Employee’s ordinary rate will count as service for leave accrual. 

34.10 Overtime Meal Payment 

(a) An Employee will be eligible to receive an overtime meal payment if the 
Employee is required to work a period of overtime which: 

(i) is immediately before or after a scheduled period of ordinary duty and 
is more than two hours in duration; or 

(ii) is a stand-alone period of overtime that is four hours or more in 
duration. 

(b) The overtime meal payment payable to an Employee is set out below: 

 

Date of Effect Overtime Meal Payment 

20 March 2020 $21.70 

1 December 2020 $22.00 

1 September 2021 $22.30 

1 June 2022 $22.60 








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Date of Effect Overtime Meal Payment 

1 March 2023 $22.95 

1 December 2023 $23.15 
 

The overtime meal payment is not payable where the Employer provides a meal or an 
employee’s claim for reimbursement for a meal is approved by the Employer as per 
clause 31.1.  Where the approved reimbursement is greater than the overtime meal 
payment, the Employee will receive the greater of the overtime meal payment or the 
approved reimbursement but not both.  

34.11 Rest Period After Overtime 

(a) Except in an emergency, an Employee must not be required to perform: 

(i) a further period of overtime duty; or 

(ii) a period of ordinary duty; or 

(iii) a further period of scheduled stand-by duty where: 

 either the Employee has not been provided with a ten hour rest period 
between the time of completion of one period of duty and the 
commencement of the next; or 

  the Employee has not been provided with a ten hour rest period within 
the preceding 24 hours from the time of the commencement of the 
stand-by duty. 

(b) The Employer must not make a deduction from normal salary where an Employee is 
released from normal duty to enable the Employee to observe a rest break set out 
above.  

(c) An Employee required to work, as a result of an emergency situation, during or after a 
rest period is due, will receive overtime compensation in accordance with this 
Agreement for all time worked until a rest period of at least ten hours continuous 
duration is taken.  

34.12 Timekeeping 

To ensure commonality of approach across the Service an electronic duty recording 
log will be utilised to record hours worked. This must be monitored and approved by 
the line manager at the conclusion of each fortnight. Any overtime must be discussed 
and approved by the line manager prior to working additional hours subject to the 
exceptions set out in sub-clauses 30.7(p) and (q) of Duty Officer Outside of Ordinary 
Hours of Work re TIL/overtime approval process. 

35 MEAL BREAKS 

35.1 The Employer will grant meal breaks at times suitable to operational requirements, 
taking into account the wishes of the Employee. The number and starting and finishing 
times of meal breaks will be specified. 

35.2 Except where otherwise permitted by this clause, the Employee will not be required to 
work for more than five hours without an unpaid meal break unless the Employee and 
the Employer otherwise agree. The length of the meal interval must be at least thirty 
minutes. 








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35.3 Where agreement cannot be reached as specified in clause 35.2 and the Employee is 
required to by his or her supervisor to work through their meal break in accordance 
with clause 35.5, time in lieu or overtime will be approved in accordance with this 
Agreement. 

35.4 During Declared Operations if employees are required to remain on duty, meals will 
be taken at post with a paid meal break. 

35.5 If for operational reasons it is impractical for all Employees within a work group to 
observe the same time for the taking of a meal break, meal breaks may be staggered. 

36 CHILDCARE 

Where Employees are required by the Employer to work outside their ordinary hours 
of work and where less than 24 hours’ notice of the requirement to perform such 
overtime work has been given by the Employer, the Employee will be reimbursed for 
reasonable childcare expenses incurred. Evidence of expenditure incurred by the 
Employee must be provided to the Employer as soon as possible after the working of 
such overtime. 

37 DECLARED OPERATIONS 

37.1 Definition 

A "Declared Operations" is a co-ordinated service response to an emergency event and/or 
readiness for an emergency event which will require the allocation of personnel and 
resources. A Declared Operation can only be invoked and closed by the Chief Officer 
Operations or authorised Delegate. During this time the Chief Officer Operations or their 
delegate will be able to direct employees to their place of work and when they will be 
rostered for duty, having given consideration to any risk to the Employee’s health and safety. 

37.2 When recalled to duty or rostered in position during a Declared Operation, Overtime will be 
paid at the higher rate of either the employee’s substantive position or the classification for 
the role that they are performing under clause 23.5 Schedule F Temporary Classifications 
During Declared Operations / Incident Management. 

37.3 Rostering during Declared Operations 

(a) During periods of declared operations a roster will be developed and approved by 
Agency Commander(s) at the appropriate level identifying the following:- 

(i) Employees rostered as Standby By For Recall to Duty for an Anticipated Event 
(as per clause 30.6) 

(ii) Employees expected to be rostered in position for a shift or series of up to five 
(5) consecutive shifts that comprises:  

 the starting location 

 date, start and end time, which will be a maximum period of 12 hours and a 
minimum period of four hours (in addition to a period for reasonable 
handover of no more than 30 minutes both before and at the conclusion of 
the shift). 

(b) Approval must be sought by the employee from the relevant level Agency Commander 
before an employee can extend their shift beyond 12 hours plus the reasonable 
handover period. 

37.4 Where an employee is rostered in position for a shift, any hours worked between 1900hrs and 
0700hrs will have a 17.5% night shift allowance applied on top of the overtime penalty rates 
in clause 34 (Overtime). The 17.5% night shift loading will only apply for hours worked and 








69 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

not cancelled shifts.  

37.5 A night shift allowance will not apply if the rostered in position shift is cancelled in line with 
clause 37.6 (f)  

37.6 When establishing a roster for declared operations provision for paid stand down I rest 
periods to be provided are: 
(a) zero to two paid stand down days (0-48 hours), depending on the employee’s period of 

reasonable rest ahead of a series of consecutive shifts, as approved by the Agency 
Commander in consultation with the Line Manager prior to Declared Operational 
activity. Consideration will be given to a stand-down period ahead of a planned 
rostered in position shift that involve working hours between 1900hrs to 0700hrs; 

(b) following the deployment of two 12 hour shifts, one full paid (7.6 normal hours at 
normal hourly rates) rest day (24 hour period) in addition to excess travel time (treated 
as time worked, including any applicable penalty rates); 

(c) following the deployment of three to five 12 hour shifts, two full paid (15.2 normal 
hours at normal hourly rates) rest days (48 hour period) in addition to excess travel 
time (treated as time worked, including any applicable penalty rates); 

(d) where paid rest days are applied following completion of a rostered in position shift 
that concludes between 0500hrs and 0700hrs, commencement of those paid rest days 
is from 08.00 am the following working day, in addition to travel time (treated as time 
worked, including any applicable penalty rates); 

(e) the rest day(s) must be scheduled consecutively, and as soon as operationally practical, 
but no later than three days from the conclusion of the final shift, except where the 
employee has already been deployed for seven days including travel, the rest day(s) 
will be scheduled at the conclusion of the deployment.  

(i) The provision of paid stand down and/or rest days under this clause shall be 
additional to weekend and public holidays, which will be observed in the 
normal manner. 

(ii) At the employee’s request, the Chief Officer Operations (or their delegate) may 
agree to the rest day being observed on a weekend day where operational 
priorities exist in the subsequent week, paid as a full rest day (7.6 normal hours 
at normal hourly rates), where the employee had an appropriate break before 
commencing two or more consecutive shifts and the weekend acts as an 
appropriate break (i.e.: they are not rostered on for any other duty). 

(f) Where the Employee is rostered in position for a weekend, public holiday or a 12 hour 
shift between 1900hrs and 0700hrs and that shift is cancelled without 24 hours’ notice, 
payment of 6 hours at penalty rates will be made. 

(g) where an Employee has been rostered to work a rostered in position shift and is 
released from duty before the conclusion of the shift by the Chief Officer Operations 
(or delegate), Incident Controller (or delegate) in consultation with the relevant 
Agency Commander, the period worked will be paid at the relevant rate (with the 
nightshift allowance) and the unworked remainder of the rostered shift with excess 
travel time will be paid at single time (without the nightshift allowance), and will be 
included as part of the rest hours calculation. 

37.7 Where an employee has performed a rostered in position shift of 12 hours in the emergency 
management role of Duty Officer during a Declared Operation, that Duty Officer will be 
replaced by another endorsed Duty Officer, either remotely or rostered in position.  

Where this is not possible due to extenuating operational circumstances, and subject to 








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fatigue management protocols and the employee agreeing to carry the Duty Officer Outside 
of Ordinary Hours during that Declared Operation (i.e.: they are on-call, not rostered in 
position beyond the shift and reasonable handover); 

(a) Commuted Allowance employees will have a full 12 hours attributed to their 13 week 
commuted allowance count for carrying the Duty Officer Outside of Ordinary Hours 
during that Declared Operation.  

(b) non-Commuted Allowance employees will be paid the Duty Officer Outside of 
Ordinary Hours allowance for carrying the Duty Officer Outside of Ordinary Hours 
during that Declared Operation 

(c) If regularly interrupted during the period of Duty Officer Outside of Ordinary Hours 
during that Declared Operation, this will be counted as an additional shift for the 
purposes of the paid rest day provisions under clause 30.7 (b) and (c). 








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PART 6 – LEAVE OF ABSENCE AND PUBLIC HOLIDAYS 

 

38 LEAVE OF ABSENCE – GENERAL 

38.1 Standard day for approved leave purposes 

For each day that an Employee is absent on approved leave, the hours of work for the 
purposes of such entitlements shall be taken as 7.6 hours. Where an alternative 
arrangement of days and hours is worked leave shall be debited on the basis of the 
actual hours to be worked on the day of the leave. 

39 ANNUAL LEAVE 

39.1 An Employee, other than a casual Employee, is entitled to four weeks’ paid annual leave for 
each year of employment. The entitlement accrues on a daily basis. 

39.2 An Employee may only take the leave they have accrued, unless otherwise provided in this 
clause or agreed. 

39.3 Annual leave entitlements must be taken by the end of the calendar year following the 
calendar year in which they are accrued and at a time convenient to the needs of the 
Employer and Employee. By agreement between the Employer and the Employee, leave may 
be deferred beyond that date. Unless otherwise agreed, the Employee may be directed to take 
leave. 

39.4 An Employee may request that the whole or any the part of their annual leave be taken at half 
pay for a period equal to twice the period to which Employee would otherwise be entitled. 

39.5 An Employee, who, upon retirement, resignation or termination of employment, has 
an outstanding annual leave entitlement, will be paid an amount equal to the unused 
annual leave entitlement with the commensurate annual leave loading. 

39.6 Subject to clause 39.7, each Employee who takes annual leave is entitled to be paid in 
addition to his or her salary an annual leave loading at the rate of 17.5 per cent of the 
Employee’s salary for the period of annual leave 

39.7 The maximum loading payable under clause 39.6 will not exceed an amount 
calculated in respect of a salary at the top of Grade 4. 

39.8 Additional Week’s Annual Leave for Sunday Work 

(a) When any Employee works 10 Sunday’s of 7.6 hours during a financial year, an 
additional 38 hours of annual leave will apply once per financial year. This 
leave is in addition to any leave converted from time in lieu accruals. All 
Sunday work must be part of an approved Roster, Training calendar or 
approved by the Chief Officer, Regional or Business unit manager. 

(b) The 17.5% annual leave loading will not apply to leave granted under this 
clause. 

39.9 Excessive Leave Accruals: General Provision 

NOTE: Clauses 39.9 to 39.11 contain provisions, additional to the National 
Employment Standards, about the taking of paid annual leave as a way of dealing with 
the accrual of excessive paid annual leave. See Part 2.2, Division 6 of the Fair Work 
Act. 

(a) An employee has an excessive leave accrual if the employee has accrued more 








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than 8 weeks’ paid annual leave. 

(b) If an employee has an excessive leave accrual, the employer or the employee 
may seek to confer with the other and genuinely try to reach agreement on how 
to reduce or eliminate the excessive leave accrual. 

(c) Clause 39.10 sets out how an employer may direct an employee who has an 
excessive leave accrual to take paid annual leave. 

(d) Clause 39.11 sets out how an employee who has an excessive leave accrual may 
require an employer to grant paid annual leave requested by the employee. 

39.10 Excessive leave accruals: direction by employer that leave be taken 

(a) If an employer has genuinely tried to reach agreement with an employee under 
clause 39.9(b) but agreement is not reached (including because the employee 
refuses to confer), the employer may direct the employee in writing to take one 
or more periods of paid annual leave. 

(b) However, a direction by the employer under paragraph (a): 

(i) is of no effect if it would result at any time in the employee’s remaining 
accrued entitlement to paid annual leave being less than 6 weeks when 
any other paid leave arrangements (whether made under clause 39.9, 
39.10 or 39.11 or otherwise agreed by the employer and employee) are 
taken into account; and 

(ii) must not require the employee to take any period of paid annual 
leave of less than one week; and 

(iii) must not require the employee to take a period of paid annual leave 
beginning less than 8 weeks, or more than 12 months, after the 
direction is given; and 

(iv) must not be inconsistent with any leave arrangement agreed by the 
employer and employee. 

(c) The employee must take paid annual leave in accordance with a direction under 
paragraph (a) that is in effect. 

(d) An employee to whom a direction has been given under paragraph (a) may 
request to take a period of paid annual leave as if the direction had not been 
given. 

NOTE 1: Paid annual leave arising from a request mentioned in paragraph (d) may 
result in the direction ceasing to have effect. See clause 39.10(b)(i). 

NOTE 2: Under section 88(2) of the Fair Work Act, the employer must not 
unreasonably refuse to agree to a request by the employee to take paid annual leave. 

39.11 Excessive leave accruals: request by employee for leave 

(a) If an employee has genuinely tried to reach agreement with an employer under 
clause 39.9(b) but agreement is not reached (including because the employer 
refuses to confer), the employee may give a written notice to the employer 
requesting to take one or more periods of paid annual leave. 

(b) However, an employee may only give a notice to the employer under paragraph 
(a) if: 








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(i) the employee has had an excessive leave accrual for more than 6 
months at the time of giving the notice; and 

(ii) the employee has not been given a direction under clause 39.10(a) that, 
when any other paid leave arrangements (whether made under clause 
39.9, 39.10 or 39.11 or otherwise agreed by the employer and employee) 
are taken into account, would eliminate the employee’s excessive leave 
accrual. 

(c) A notice given by an employee under paragraph (a) must not: 

(i) if granted, result in the employee’s remaining accrued entitlement to 
paid annual leave being at any time less than 6 weeks when any 
other paid leave arrangements (whether made under clause 39.9, 
39.10 or 39.11 or otherwise agreed by the employer and employee) 
are taken into account; or 

(ii) provide for the employee to take any period of paid annual leave of 
less than one week; or 

(iii) provide for the employee to take a period of paid annual leave 
beginning less than 8 weeks, or more than 12 months, after the 
notice is given; or 

(iv) be inconsistent with any leave arrangement agreed by the employer 
and employee. 

(d) An employee is not entitled to request by a notice under paragraph (a) more 
than 4 weeks’ paid annual leave in any period of 12 months. 

(e) The employer must grant paid annual leave requested by a notice under 
paragraph (a). 

40 CASHING OUT OF ANNUAL LEAVE 

40.1 Within six months of the date of commencement of this Agreement, an Employee may elect 
to cash out part of their accrued annual leave entitlement excluding leave converted from TIL 
in accordance with this clause and the FW Act. 

40.2 An Employee is only entitled to elect to cash out part of their accrued annual leave 
entitlement if all of the following criteria are met: 

(a) the Employee has an entitlement to more than four weeks of annual leave and 
elects to cash-out all or any of their accrued annual leave entitlement in excess 
of four weeks; 

(b) the Employee provides the Employer with a written request signed by the 
Employee electing to cash out a specified amount of the Employee’s accrued 
annual leave entitlement; and 

(c) the Employer receives the request from the Employee within six months of the 
date of commencement of this Agreement. 

40.3 Upon receiving the Employee’s written request pursuant to clause 40.2(b), the Employer will 
enter into a written agreement with the Employee to cash out the specified accrued annual 
leave entitlement. 

40.4 Leave will be paid at the Employee’s ordinary rate of pay and must be processed at the 
earliest opportunity and no later than the first pay period after six months of the date of 








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commencement of this Agreement. 

40.5 Payment of excess annual leave entitlements includes payment of any applicable annual leave 
allowances set out in clause 39.6. 

40.6 There is no entitlement for an Employee to enter into a written agreement to cash out part of 
their accrued annual leave entitlement after six months of the date of commencement of this 
Agreement.  

41 PURCHASED LEAVE 

41.1 An Employee may, with the agreement of the Employer, work less than 52 weeks per year. 
Access to this entitlement may only be granted on application from an Employee and cannot 
be required as a precondition for employment. 

41.2 An Employee can only make an application under this clause where the Employee does not 
have an excessive annual leave accrual (as defined in clauses 39.3 and 39.9). 

41.3 Where an Employee, with an excessive annual leave accrual, wishes to make an application 
under this clause, the extent of the Employee’s excessive annual leave accrual and any plans 
the Employee has to take some or all of their accrued annual leave entitlements in 
conjunction with any approved purchased leave arrangement, will be considered by the 
Employer in assessing the Employee’s application for purchased leave. 

41.4 Where the Employer and an Employee agree on an employment arrangement under clause 
41.1, the annual salary applicable to an employee relative to the additional leave purchased 
will be as follows: 

 

Proportion of annual 
salary applicable under 
Schedule B 

 

Number of additional 
weeks of purchased leave 

Total amount of leave 
(purchased and annual 
leave) 

44/52 weeks Additional 8 weeks’ leave 12 weeks in total 

45/52 weeks Additional 7 weeks’ leave 11 weeks in total 

46/52 weeks Additional 6 weeks’ leave 10 weeks in total 

47/52 weeks Additional 5 weeks’ leave 9 weeks in total 

48/52 weeks Additional 4 weeks’ leave 8 weeks in total 

49/52 weeks Additional 3 weeks’ leave 7 weeks in total 

50/52 weeks Additional 2 weeks’ leave 6 weeks in total 

51/52 weeks Additional 1 weeks’ leave 5 weeks in total 

(a) The above does not preclude an Employee and the Employer from agreeing to a 
similar type of arrangement that would provide an Employee with additional 
converted leave of more than eight weeks. 

(b) The Employee will receive a salary equal to the period worked (e.g. 46 weeks, 
49 weeks) which will be spread over a 52 week period. 

(c) The accrual of personal/carer’s leave and long service leave by the Employee 
shall remain unchanged. 








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41.5 The Employer will endeavour to accommodate Employee requests for arrangements under 
this clause subject to operational requirements. Where such requests are granted, the 
Employer will make proper arrangements to ensure that the workloads of other Employees 
are not unduly affected and that excessive overtime is not required to be performed by other 
Employees as a result of these arrangements. 

41.6 An Employee may revert to ordinary 52 week employment by giving the Employer no less 
than four weeks’ written notice. Where an Employee so reverts to 52 week employment, 
appropriate pro rata salary adjustments will be made. 

42 INFECTIOUS DISEASES 

Upon report by a Registered Medical Practitioner that by reason of contact with a 
person suffering from an infectious disease and through the operation of restrictions 
imposed by law in respect of such disease, an Employee is unable to attend work, the 
Employer may grant the Employee special leave of absence with pay. The period of 
leave must not be for any period beyond the earliest date at which it would be 
practicable for the Employee to return to work having regard to the restrictions 
imposed by law. 

43 DANGEROUS MEDICAL CONDITIONS 

Where the Employer reasonably believes that the Employee is in such state of health 
as to render the Employee a danger to other Employees, themself or other persons, the 
Employer may require the Employee to absent himself or herself from the workplace 
until the Employee obtains and provides to the Employer a report from a Registered 
Medical Practitioner. Upon receipt of the medical report, the Employer may direct the 
Employee to be absent from duty for a specified period or, if already on leave, direct 
such Employee to continue on leave for a specified period. Any absence under this 
clause must be taken as personal/carer’s leave or leave without pay. 

44 PUBLIC HOLIDAYS 

44.1 Where the nature of the employment of Employees permits the observance of Public 
Holidays as they occur, Employees (other than casual Employees) shall be entitled to 
the following holidays without loss of pay: 

(a) New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday, Easter 
Monday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Australia Day, Anzac Day, Queen’s 
Birthday, Labour Day, the Friday before the Australian Football League Grand 
Final and Melbourne Cup Day. 

(b) When Christmas Day is a Saturday or a Sunday, a holiday in lieu thereof shall 
be observed on 27 December. 

(c) When Boxing Day is a Saturday or a Sunday, an additional holiday shall be 
observed on 28 December. 

(d) When New Year’s Day is a Saturday or a Sunday, an additional holiday shall be 
observed on the next Monday. 

(e) When Australia Day is a Saturday or a Sunday, a holiday in lieu shall be 
observed on the next Monday. 

44.2 Melbourne Cup Day Substitution 

Where, outside the Melbourne Metropolitan area, a Public Holiday is proclaimed in 
that municipality for the observance of local events, that day will be observed as a 








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Public Holiday in lieu of Melbourne Cup Day. 

44.3 Additional or Substituted Public Holidays 

Where in the whole or part of the State of Victoria, additional or substituted Public 
Holidays are declared or prescribed on days other than those set out in clauses 44.1 
and 44.2, those days shall constitute additional or substituted holidays for the purpose 
of this Agreement for Employees who have their place of principal employment in a 
municipality to which the additional or substituted Public Holiday applies. 

44.4 Substitution of Public Holiday 

(a) An Employer and his or her Employees may agree to substitute another day for 
any prescribed in this clause. For this purpose, the consent of the majority of 
affected Employees shall constitute agreement. Any such arrangement shall be 
recorded in writing and be available to every affected Employee. 

(b) An Employee may by agreement with his or her Employer substitute another 
day for any prescribed in this clause to observe religious or cultural occasions 
or like reasons of significance to the Employee. 

45 PERSONAL/CARER’S LEAVE 

45.1 Definitions 

In this clause: 

Assistance Animal means an animal formally trained to assist a person with a 
disability to alleviate the effect of their disability. This includes 

(a) a guide dog for people with vision impairment, or 

(b) hearing dogs for people with hearing impairment, or 

(c) assistance dogs for people with a physical disability, or 

(d) medical alert animals that help people before and during a medical emergency, 
or 

(e) psychiatric service animals that help people with a mental illness, or  

(f) any other animal agreed by the Employer or to which an Assistance Animal 
Pass granted by the Department of Transport applies. 

Assistance Animal does not include a pet, companion or therapy animals. 

Registered Practitioner means one of the following: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 
health practitioner, Chinese medicine practitioner, Chiropractor, Dental care practitioner, 
Medical practitioner, Medical Radiation Practitioner, Nurse practitioner, Midwife, 
Occupational Therapist, Optometrist, Osteopath, Pharmacist, Physiotherapist, Podiatrist, 
Psychologist or any other profession registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation 
National Law (Victoria) Act 2009. 

45.2 Paid personal/carer’s leave 

(a) An Employee, other than a casual Employee, is entitled to paid personal/carer’s 
leave when they are absent because of: 

(i) personal illness or injury; or 








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(ii) personal illness or injury of an Employee’s Immediate Family, household 
member or Assistance Animal who requires the Employee's care or support; or 

(iii) an unexpected emergency affecting an Employee’s Immediate Family, 
household member or Assistance Animal, or 

(iv) attendance at a medical appointment with a Registered Practitioner, subject to 
clause 45.6.  

45.3 Amount and Accrual of Paid Personal/Carers Leave 

(a) A full time Employee is entitled to paid personal/carer’s leave of 114 hours 
(120 hours for Employees whose ordinary hours of duty average 80 hours per 
fortnight).  

(b) A part-time Employee is entitled to a pro-rata amount of paid personal/carer’s 
leave based on the part-time Employee’s hours of work. 

(c) The Employer will not apply the provisions of this clause in a manner which is 
inconsistent with the NES.  

(d) Leave will be credited on commencement of employment and subsequently on 
the anniversary date of the Employee’s employment. 

(e) Employees appointed for a fixed-term period will accrue on a pro-rata basis 
paid personal/carer’s leave according to length of their service. 

(f) Leave without pay will not count as service for personal/carer’s leave accrual 
purposes. 

(g) Unused paid personal/carer’s leave accumulates from year to year. 

(h) Accrued personal/carer’s leave will not be paid out on termination of 
employment. 

45.4 Payment for Personal Carers Leave 

The Employer will pay an Employee for Personal/Carers Leave they take at the ordinary 
hourly rate of pay they would have received had they been at work. 

Note: This means that a full time or part-time employee who takes one full day of personal 
carers leave will be paid 7.6 hours. An employee who takes leave on a day where they work 
more than 7.6 hours will be paid the hours they would have been paid had they been at work. 
A part-time employee working less than the equivalent of a full-time day will be paid for the 
hours they would have been paid had they been at work. 

45.5 How leave is deducted from leave balance 

(a) It is the intent of the Parties that full-time equivalent Employees receive 15 days paid 
personal carers leave per annum irrespective of the length of their ordinary hours of 
work or shift. Clause 45.5(b)(i)is intended to give effect to that intent 

(b) From the date of approval of this Agreement:  

(i) For full-time Employees and part-time Employees who work the 
equivalent of a full-time day 

The Employer will deduct leave from the Employee’s leave balance at a 
nominal value of 7.6 hours for each day of Personal/Carer leave taken, (or 8 








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hours for Employees whose ordinary hours of duty average 80 hours per 
fortnight), irrespective of the actual ordinary hours worked on the day;  

Where the Employee is absent on paid personal/carer’s leave for part of a day, 
the following formula determines the number of hours the Employer will 
deduct from the Employee’s leave balance for that absence: 

𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙/𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛 

𝐸𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑒 𝑠 𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑦 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑦 
 × 7.6 (𝑜𝑟 8 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠) 

(ii) For part-time employees who work less than the equivalent of a full-time 
day 

Part-time employees who work part-days which are less than the relevant full-
time equivalent shift will have their leave deducted by the hours they would 
have worked on that day had they been at work.  

45.6 Personal Leave for medical appointments 

(a) An Employee may access their accrued Personal/Carer’s Leave to attend a 
medical appointment with a Registered Practitioner when the appointment 
cannot be reasonably scheduled outside the Employee’s working hours. 

(b) The Employee must provide notice in accordance with clause 45.8 and 
evidence in accordance with clause 45.9(a). Approval will not be unreasonably 
refused having regard to the Employer’s operational requirements, the needs of 
the Employee and the amount of notice provided by the Employee. 

(c) Attendance at routine medical appointments may, by agreement with the 
Employer, also be facilitated through flexible working arrangement (such as 
agreement to make up the time taken to attend medical appointments) as an 
alternative to using accrued Personal/Carers Leave. 

45.7 Personal/Carer’s leave at half pay 

(a) In exceptional circumstances, an Employee may be granted approval to convert 
any or all of their accrued paid personal/carer’s leave entitlement to half pay for 
a period equal to twice the period to which the Employee would otherwise be 
entitled.  

(b) Approval of half-pay personal/carer’s leave will only be granted in relation to 
an absence of 4 weeks or more. 

(c) To be eligible for personal/carer’s leave at half pay under this clause, the Employee 
must comply with all notice and documentary evidence requirements stipulated in this 
clause. 

45.8 Notice 

An Employee must give the Employer notice of the taking of personal/ carer’s leave under 
this clause. The notice: 

(a) must advise the Employer of the period, or expected period, of the leave; and 

(b) must be given to the Employer as soon as practicable, which may be a time after 
the personal/carer’s leave has started. 

45.9 Evidence Requirements 








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(a) Personal leave 

The Employee must provide the Employer with evidence that would satisfy a reasonable 
person that the personal leave is being taken for a reason provided for in clause 45.2(a), to be 
paid personal leave. This may include a medical certificate or evidence of attendance at a 
medical appointment from a Registered Practitioner. 

(b) Carer’s leave 

(i) The Employee must provide the Employer with appropriate documentary 
evidence to be paid carers leave. 

(ii) The form of evidence required by the Employer will depend on the 
circumstances of the carer’s leave request. This may include: 

 a medical certificate from a Registered Practitioner, or 

 evidence from a registered veterinary practitioner (in the case of an 
Assistance Animal), or  

 a statutory declaration stating that the condition of the person or 
Assistance Animal concerned requires the Employee’s care or support, or  

 other relevant documentary evidence that would satisfy a reasonable 
person. 

(iii) Additional evidentiary requirements for an Assistance Animal 

 The Employer may require the Employee to provide appropriate 
documentary evidence that states the Assistance Animal is within the 
definition of an Assistance Animal at clause 45.1.  

 The form of evidence may include an accreditation certificate, proof of 
training or a statutory declaration stating the animal is an Assistance 
Animal. 

45.10 Exception 

(a) In each year of employment, the following exceptions apply to the evidence 
requirements in clause 45.9:  

(i) An Employee may take up to an aggregate of 5 days or equivalent pro-rata 
amount accrued personal/carer’s leave in each year of employment, without 
having to provide the Employer with the documentary evidence required by 
clause 45.9. 

(ii) Despite clause 45.10(a)(i) an Employee must provide appropriate evidence to 
the Employer as set out in clause 45.9 for any absence which is for a 
continuous period exceeding 3 days. 

(b) If an Employee cannot reasonably provide documentary evidence from a 
Registered Practitioner for Personal Leave, the Employee may provide a 
statutory declaration. The statutory declaration must state why the Employee 
was unable to attend a Registered Practitioner and the reason why they were 
unable to attend work. A statutory declaration can only be used for single day 
absences, on no more than three non-consecutive occasions. 








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(c) Despite clause 45.10(a), the Employer may require that an Employee provide 
appropriate documentary evidence in accordance with clause 45.9. 

45.11 Further documentary evidence 

(a) The Employer may require that an Employee provide a further medical 
certificate from an independent Registered Practitioner from a relevant 
specialisation where an Employee has been on personal leave for at least six 
weeks and has a medical certificate indicating on-going need for personal leave. 
The Employee will select a Registered Practitioner from a list of at least three 
Registered Practitioners nominated by the Employer. The nominated Registered 
Practitioners will not include a Registered Practitioner employed by the 
Employer in the VPS. If it is not possible for the Employer to nominate three 
appropriately specialised Registered Practitioners, the Employer may provide 
fewer than three Registered Practitioners for the Employee to select from. 

(b) The Employer may require that an Employee provide further documentary 
evidence to the satisfaction of the Employer where an Employee has been on 
carer’s leave for at least two weeks including evidence stating that the condition 
of the person concerned requires the continued care or support of the Employee. 

45.12 Evidence to facilitate return to work 

If the Employee has been on personal leave for at least six weeks the Employer may request 
that the Employee obtain other documentary evidence from the Employee’s treating 
Registered Practitioner for the purposes of determining when the Employee can return to 
work and any reasonable adjustments that may be necessary in the workplace. 

45.13 Employee’s incapacity to undertake duties 

If the Employer has a genuine concern about an Employee’s capacity to undertake their 
duties, the Employer may require that the Employee provide a medical report from an 
independent Registered Practitioner from a relevant specialisation.  The Employee will select 
a Registered Practitioner from a list of at least three Registered Practitioners nominated by 
the Employer. The nominated Registered Practitioners will not include a Registered 
Practitioner employed by the Employer in the VPS. If it is not possible for the Employer to 
nominate three appropriately specialised Registered Practitioners, the Employer may provide 
fewer than three Registered Practitioners for the Employee to select from. 

45.14 Failure to provide relevant evidence 

Failure by the Employee to provide documentary evidence as required by the Employer 
within a reasonable period of time may render the Employee ineligible for payment for 
personal/carer’s leave. 

45.15 Absence on Public Holidays 

If the period during which an Employee takes paid personal/carer’s leave includes a day or 
part-day that is a Public Holiday in the place where the Employee is based for work purposes, 
the Employee is taken not to be on paid personal/carer’s leave on that Public Holiday. 

45.16 Unpaid personal leave 

An Employee who has exhausted all paid personal/carer’s leave entitlements may, take 
unpaid personal leave with the consent of the Employer. The Employer will require that the 
Employee provide documentary evidence to support the unpaid personal leave to the 
satisfaction of the Employer. 








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45.17 Unpaid carer’s leave 

(a) An Employee who has exhausted all paid personal/carer’s leave entitlements 
may take unpaid carer’s leave to provide care or support in the circumstances 
outlined in clauses 45.2(a)(ii) or 45.2(a)(iii) providing the Employee complies 
with the notice and evidence requirements outlined in clause 0. The Employer 
and the Employee will agree on the period of unpaid leave. In the absence of 
agreement, the Employee may take up to two days unpaid carer’s leave per 
occasion. 

(b) Alternatively, the Employee may, with the consent of the Employer, elect to 
work make-up time, under which the Employee takes time off during ordinary 
hours and works those hours at a later time during the Employee’s spread of 
ordinary hours. 

45.18 Casual Employees – Caring responsibilities 

(a) Casual Employees may be unavailable to attend work or may be required to 
leave work if they need to care for members of their Immediate Family, 
household or Assistance Animal who are sick and require care and support, or 
who require care due to an unexpected emergency, or the birth of a Child. 

(b) The Employer and a casual Employee will agree on the period for which the 
casual Employee may be unavailable to attend work. In the absence of 
agreement, a casual Employee is permitted to be absent from work for up to two 
days per occasion. A casual Employee is not entitled to any payment for the 
period of non-attendance. 

(c) A casual Employee must comply with the notice and evidence requirements 
outlined in this clause 45. 

46 FAMILY VIOLENCE LEAVE 

46.1 General Principle 

(a) The Employer recognises that Employees sometimes face situations of violence 
or abuse in their personal life that may affect their attendance or performance at 
work. Therefore, the Employer is committed to providing support to staff who 
are subjected to family violence by a family member. 

(b) Leave for family violence purposes is available to Employees who are subjected 
to family violence by a family member to allow them to be absent from the 
workplace to attend counselling appointments, legal proceedings and other 
activities related to, and as a consequence of, family violence. 

(c) The supports and paid or unpaid leave provided under this clause do not extend to 
perpetrators (or alleged perpetrators) of family violence. 

46.2 Definition of Family Violence 

Family violence includes physical, sexual, financial, verbal or emotional abuse by a 
family member as defined by the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic). 

 

46.3 Eligibility 

(a) Leave for family violence purposes is available to all Employees with the 
exception of casual Employees and alleged perpetrators of family violence. 








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(b) Casual Employees are entitled to access leave without pay for family violence 
purposes. 

46.4 General Measures 

(a) Evidence of family violence may be required and can be in the form of an 
agreed document issued by the Police Service, a Court, a registered health 
practitioner, a Family Violence Support Service, district nurse, maternal and 
health care nurse or Lawyer. A signed statutory declaration can also be offered 
as evidence. 

(b) All personal information concerning family violence will be kept confidential in 
line with the Employer’s policies and relevant legislation. No information will 
be kept on an Employee’s personnel file without their express written 
permission. 

(c) No adverse action will be taken against an Employee if their attendance or 
performance at work suffers as a result of experiencing family violence. 

(d) The Employer will identify contact/s within the workplace who will be trained 
in family violence and associated privacy issues. The Employer will advertise 
the name of any Family Violence contacts within the workplace. 

(e) An Employee experiencing family violence may raise the issue with their 
immediate supervisor, Family Violence contacts, union delegate or nominated 
Human Resources contact. The immediate supervisor may seek advice from 
Human Resources if the Employee chooses not to see the Human Resources or 
Family Violence contact. 

(f) Where requested by an Employee, the Human Resources contact will liaise with 
the Employee’s manager on the Employee’s behalf, and will make a 
recommendation on the most appropriate form of support to provide in 
accordance with clause 46.5 and clause 46.6. 

(g) The Employer will develop guidelines to supplement this clause and which 
details the appropriate action to be taken in the event that an Employee reports 
family violence. 

46.5 Leave 

(a) An Employee who is subjected to family violence by a family member will 
have access to 20 days per year of paid special leave for medical appointments, 
legal proceedings and other activities related to family violence (this leave is 
not cumulative but if the leave is exhausted consideration will be given to 
providing additional leave). This leave will be in addition to existing leave 
entitlements and may be taken as consecutive or single days or as a fraction of a 
day and can be taken without prior approval. 

(b) An Employee who supports a person who is subjected to family violence by a 
family member may utilise their personal/carer’s leave entitlement to 
accompany them to court, to hospital, or to care for children. The Employer 
may require evidence consistent with clause 46.4(a) from an Employee seeking 
to utilise their personal/carer’s leave entitlement. 

46.6 Individual Support 

(a) In order to provide support to an Employee who is subjected to family violence 








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by a family member and to provide a safe work environment to all Employees, 
the Employer will approve any reasonable request from an Employee who is 
subjected to family violence by a family member for: 

(i) temporary or ongoing changes to their span of hours or pattern or 
hours and/or shift patterns; 

(ii) temporary or ongoing job redesign or changes to duties; 

(iii) temporary or ongoing relocation to suitable employment; 

(iv) a change to their telephone number or email address to avoid 
harassing contact; 

(v) any reasonable security precautions proposed by the staff member for 
their safety at work or commuting to and from work 

(vi) any other appropriate measure including those available under 
existing provisions for family friendly and flexible work 
arrangements. 

(b) Any changes to an Employee’s role should be reviewed at agreed periods. 
When an Employee is no longer experiencing family violence, the terms and 
conditions of employment may revert back to the terms and conditions 
applicable to the Employee’s substantive position. 

(c) An Employee experiencing family violence will be offered access to the 
Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and/or other available local Employee 
support resources. The EAP shall include professionals trained specifically in 
family violence. 

(d) An Employee that discloses that they are subjected to family violence by a 
family member will be given information regarding current support services. 

47 MILITARY SERVICE SICK LEAVE 

47.1 Where the Employer is satisfied that an illness of an Employee with at least six months paid 
continuous service is directly attributable to, or is aggravated by, service recognised under the 
Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 (Cth), including: 

(a) operational service; or 

(b) peacekeeping service; or 

(c) hazardous service, 

the Employee will be credited with 114 hours special leave with pay for each year of 
service with the Victoria State Emergency Service from the conclusion of the 
Employee’s operational, peacekeeping or hazardous service. 

47.2 Leave under this clause will be cumulative to a maximum of 760 hours. 

47.3 This leave is in addition to personal leave under clause 45. 

47.4 The Employer may require the Employee to provide evidence of the existence of the 
illness and its relationship to service from a Registered Practitioner as specified in 
clause 45.5(c) 

47.5 For each period of special leave taken, the Employee must comply with the notice and 
evidence requirements outlined in clause 44. 








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48 COMPASSIONATE LEAVE 

48.1 Definition 

In this clause the Employee's immediate family means: 

(a) the Employee's spouse (including the Employee's former spouse, de facto 
partner and former de facto partner). A de facto partner means a person who, 
although not legally married to the Employee, lives with the Employee as a 
couple on a genuine domestic basis (whether the Employee and the person are 
of the same sex or different sexes); and 

(b) a child or adult child (including an adopted child or a step child), parent, 
grandparent, grandchild or sibling of the Employee or the Employee's spouse or 
de facto partner, or spouse or de facto partner of the employee’s sibling. 

48.2 Amount of compassionate leave 

(a) An Employee, other than a casual Employee, is entitled to up to five (5) days 
paid compassionate leave on each occasion when a member of the Employee's 
immediate family or a member of the Employee’s household: 

(i) contracts or develops a personal illness that poses a serious threat to his 
or her life; 

(ii) sustains a personal injury that poses a serious threat to his or her life; or 

(iii) dies, 

each of which constitutes a permissible occasion for the purposes of this clause 48. 

(b) An Employee may take compassionate leave for a particular permissible 
occasion if the leave is taken: 

(i) to spend time with the member of the Employee’s immediate family or 
household who has contracted or developed a personal illness or 
sustained a personal injury referred to in clause 48.2(a); or 

(ii) after the death of a member of the Employee’s immediate family or 
household referred to in clause 48.2(a) 

(c) An Employee is not required to take compassionate leave in respect of a 
permissible occasion consecutively. 

(d) Compassionate leave will not accrue from year to year and will not be paid out 
on termination of the employment of the Employee. 

48.3 Payment for Compassionate Leave (other than for casual Employees) 

An Employee, other than a casual Employee, who takes paid compassionate leave, is 
entitled to be paid at his or her salary for ordinary hours of work in the period in which 
the compassionate leave is taken. 

48.4 Unpaid Compassionate Leave 

(a) An Employee, including a casual Employee may take unpaid compassionate 
leave by agreement with the Employer. 

(b) In addition to the other provisions of this clause, Employees of Aboriginal or 
Torres Strait Islander descent may be granted paid and unpaid leave in relation 








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to the death of a member of their immediate family or extended family in 
accordance with clause 51.4. 

48.5 Notice and Evidence Requirements 

(a) An Employee who is taking compassionate leave under this clause must give 
notice to the Employer “as soon as practicable” (which may be at a time after 
the compassionate leave has started) and must advise the Employer of the 
period, or expected period, of the compassionate leave. 

(b) The Employee must provide the Employer with evidence that would satisfy a 
reasonable person that the compassionate leave is being taken for a reason provided for 
in clause 48.2(a) and (b). Such evidence may include a medical certificate from a 
Registered Practitioner (as that term is defined in clause 45.5(c)), a statutory 
declaration or other relevant documentary evidence. 

(c) The Employee is not entitled to compassionate leave under this clause unless 
the Employee complies with the evidence and notice requirements set out in this 
clause. 

49 PARENTAL LEAVE 

49.1 Application 

(a) Eligible Employees are entitled to parental leave under this clause if the leave is 
associated with: 

(i) the birth of a Child of the Employee, the Employee’s Spouse or the Employee’s 
legal surrogate or the placement of a Child with the Employee for adoption; and 

(ii) the Employee has or will have a responsibility for the care of the Child. 

(b) An Employee currently on parental leave (excluding an Employee on Extended 
Family Leave under clause 49.33) is not required to return to work in order to 
access a further period of parental leave under this clause. 

49.2 Definitions 

For the purposes of this clause: 

(a) Eligible Employee means: 

(i) a full time or part-time Employee, whether employed on an ongoing or fixed 
term basis, or 

(ii) a Long Term Casual Employee who has, but for accessing parental leave under 
this clause, a reasonable expectation of continuing employment by the 
Employer on a regular and systematic basis. 

(b) Continuous Service is work for the Employer on a regular and systematic basis 
(including any period of authorised leave) and any period of Recognised Prior Service 
(as defined in clause 49.2(g)). 

(c) Child means: 

(i) in relation to birth-related leave, a child (or children from a multiple birth) of 
the Employee or the Employee’s Spouse or the Employee’s legal surrogate; or 








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(ii) in relation to adoption-related leave, a child (or children) who will be placed 
with an Employee, and: 

 who is, or will be, under 16 as at the day of placement, or the expected day 
of placement; 

 has not, or will not have, lived continuously with the Employee for a 
period of 6 months or more as at the day of placement, or the expected day 
of placement; and 

 is not (otherwise than because of the adoption) a child of the Employee or 
the Employee’s Spouse. 

(d) Primary Caregiver means the person who takes primary responsibility for the care of 
a newborn or newly adopted Child. The Primary Caregiver is the person who meets 
the Child's physical needs more than anyone else. Only one person can be a Child's 
Primary Caregiver on a particular day.  

(e) Secondary Caregiver means a person who has parental responsibility for the Child 
but is not the Primary Caregiver.  

(f) Spouse includes a de facto spouse, former spouse or former de facto spouse. The 
Employee’s de facto spouse means a person who lives with the Employee as husband, 
wife or same sex partner on a bona fide domestic basis, whether or not legally married 
to the Employee. 

(g) Recognised Prior Service means any service immediately prior to the Employee’s 
employment with the Employer, where the Employee was employed: 

(i) by a public entity under the PAA;  

(ii) under Part 6 of the PAA; or 

(iii) as a parliamentary officer or electorate officer under the Parliamentary 
Administration Act 2005 (Vic); 

49.3 Summary of Parental Leave Entitlements 

(a) The entitlements summarised in the table below apply to a period of Parental Leave 
commencing on or after the approval of this Agreement. 

Parental Leave Entitlements (commencing on or after approval of this Agreement) 

 Paid leave Unpaid leave Total 

Primary Caregiver     

More than 3 months 
Continuous Service 

16 weeks Up to 36 weeks 52 weeks 

Less than 3 months 
Continuous Service 

0 Up to 52 weeks 52 weeks 

Long Term Casual Employee 0 Up to 52 weeks 52 weeks 








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 Paid leave Unpaid leave Total 

Secondary Caregiver    

More than 3 months 
Continuous Service 

4 weeks Up to 48 weeks 52 weeks 

More than 3 months 
Continuous Service and takes 
over the primary responsibility 
for the care of the Child within 
first 78 weeks 

An additional 
12 weeks 

Up to 36 weeks 52 weeks 

Less than 3 months 
Continuous Service 

0 Up to 52 weeks 52 weeks 

Long Term Casual Employee 0 Up to 52 weeks 52 weeks 

Pre-natal leave    

Pregnant employee 38 hours   

Spouse  7.6 hours   

Pre-adoption leave    

More than 3 months 
Continuous Service  

2 days   

Permanent Care Leave     

More than 3 months 
Continuous Service 

16 weeks Up to 36 weeks 52 weeks 

Less than 3 months 
Continuous Service 

0 Up to 52 weeks 52 weeks 

Grandparent Leave    

Grandparent Leave 0 Up to 52 weeks 52 weeks 

49.4 Parental Leave – Primary Caregiver 

(a) An Eligible Employee, who has, or will have, completed at least three months paid 
Continuous Service and who will be the Primary Caregiver at the time of the birth or 
adoption of their Child, is entitled to up to 52 weeks parental leave, comprising: 

(i) 16 weeks paid parental leave; and 

(ii) up to 36 weeks unpaid parental leave. 

(b) An Eligible Employee who will be the Primary Caregiver, who has not completed at 
least three months paid Continuous Service at the time of the birth or adoption of their 








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Child, or a Long Term Casual Employee, is entitled to up to 52 weeks unpaid parental 
leave. 

(c) Only one parent can receive Primary Caregiver parental leave entitlements in respect 
to the birth or adoption of their Child. An Employee cannot receive Primary Caregiver 
parental leave entitlements: 

(i) if their Spouse is, or will be, the Primary Caregiver at the time of the birth or 
adoption of their Child, or  

(ii) if their Spouse has received, or will receive, paid parental leave, primary 
caregiver entitlements, or a similar entitlement, from their employer; or 

(iii) if the Employee has received, or will receive, Secondary Caregiver parental 
leave entitlements in relation to their Child.  

49.5 Parental Leave – Secondary Caregiver 

(a) An Eligible Employee who has, or will have, completed at least three months paid 
Continuous Service and who will be the Secondary Caregiver at the time of the birth 
or adoption of their Child, is entitled to up to 52 weeks parental leave, comprising: 

(i) 4 weeks paid parental leave; and 

(ii) 12 weeks Additional paid Secondary Caregiver parental leave, subject to the 
conditions in clause 49.6, and 

(iii) unpaid parental leave to bring the total available paid and unpaid leave to 52 
weeks. 

(b) An Eligible Employee who will be the Secondary Caregiver, and has not completed at 
least three months paid Continuous Service at the time of the birth or adoption of their 
Child, or a Long Term Casual Employee is entitled to up to 52 weeks unpaid parental 
leave. 

(c) Only one parent can receive Secondary Caregiver parental leave entitlements in 
respect to the birth or adoption of their Child.  

(d) An Employee cannot receive Secondary Caregiver parental leave entitlements where 
the Employee has received Primary Caregiver parental leave entitlements in relation to 
their Child.  

49.6 Additional paid leave for Secondary Caregiver 

(a) A Secondary Caregiver is entitled to up to an additional 12 weeks’ paid leave within 
the first 78 weeks of the date of birth or adoption of the Child provided that:  

(i) the Secondary Caregiver assumes primary responsibility for the care of a 
child, by meeting the Child's physical needs more than anyone else; and 

(ii) the Secondary Caregiver’s spouse is not concurrently taking primary 
responsibility for the care of the Child or receiving paid parental leave, 
primary caregiver entitlements or a similar entitlement from their employer.    

(b) To access additional paid leave, the Employee must have been eligible for paid 
Secondary Caregiver leave at the time of birth or adoption of their Child, 
irrespective of when the Employee elects to take the paid leave under this clause. 








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49.7 Pre-Natal Leave 

(a) A pregnant Employee will have access to paid leave totalling up to 38 hours per 
pregnancy to enable the Employee to attend routine medical appointments associated 
with the pregnancy.  

(b) An Employee who has a Spouse who is pregnant will have access to paid leave 
totalling up to 7.6 hours per pregnancy to enable the Employee to attend routine 
medical appointments associated with the pregnancy.  

(c) The Employee is required to provide a medical certificate from a registered medical 
practitioner confirming that the Employee or their Spouse is pregnant. Each absence 
on pre-natal leave must also be covered by a medical certificate. 

(d) The Employer should be flexible enough to allow the Employee the ability to leave 
work and return on the same day. 

(e) Paid pre-natal leave is not available to casual Employees. 

49.8 Pre-adoption leave 

(a) An Employee seeking to adopt a Child is entitled to two days paid leave for the 
purpose of attending any compulsory interviews or examinations as are necessary as 
part of the adoption procedure. 

(b) An Employee seeking to adopt a Child may also access further unpaid leave. The 
Employee and the Employer should agree on the length of any unpaid leave. Where 
agreement cannot be reached, the Employee is entitled to take up to two days unpaid 
leave.  

(c) Where accrued paid leave is available to the Employee, the Employer may require the 
Employee to take such leave instead of taking unpaid leave under this sub-clause. 

(d) The Employer may require the Employee to provide satisfactory evidence supporting 
the leave. 

(e) The Employer should be flexible enough to allow the Employee the ability to leave 
work and return on the same day. 

(f) Paid pre-adoption leave is not available to casual Employees. 

49.9 Permanent Care Leave 

An Employee will be entitled to access parental leave in accordance with this clause at a time 
agreed with the Employer if they: 

(a) are granted a permanent care order in relation to the custody or guardianship of a 
Child pursuant to the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic) (or any successor 
to the legislation) or a permanent parenting order by the Family Court of Australia, 
and 

(b) will be the Primary or Secondary Caregiver for that Child. 

49.10 Grandparent Leave 








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An Employee, who is or will be the Primary Caregiver of a grandchild, is entitled to a period 
of up to 52 weeks’ continuous unpaid grandparent leave in respect of the birth or adoption 
of the grandchild of the Employee. 

49.11 Access to parental leave for an Employee whose Child is born by surrogate 

An Employee whose Child is born through a surrogacy arrangement which complies with 
Part 4 of the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 2008 (Vic) (or successor instrument), is 
eligible to access the parental leave entitlements in clause 53. 

49.12 Continuing to work while pregnant 

(a) The Employer may require a pregnant Employee to provide a medical certificate 
stating that the Employee is fit to work their normal duties where the Employee: 

(i) continues to work within a six week period immediately prior to the expected 
date of birth of the Child; or  

(ii) is on paid leave under clause 49.14(b).  

(b) The Employer may require the Employee to start parental leave if the Employee: 

(i) does not give the Employer the requested certificate within seven days of the 
request; or 

(ii) gives the Employer a medical certificate stating that the Employee is unfit to 
work. 

49.13 Personal/Carer’s Leave  

A pregnant Employee, not then on parental leave, who is suffering from an illness whether 
related or not to the pregnancy, may take any paid and/or unpaid personal/carer’s leave in 
accordance with clause 45. 

49.14 Transfer to a Safe Job 

(a) Where an Employee is pregnant and, in the opinion of a registered medical 
practitioner, illness or risks arising out of the pregnancy or hazards connected with the 
work assigned to the Employee make it inadvisable for the Employee to continue at 
their present work, the Employee will, if the Employer deems it practicable, be 
transferred to a safe job with no other change to the Employee’s terms and conditions 
of employment until the commencement of parental leave. 

(b) If the Employer does not think it to be reasonably practicable to transfer the Employee 
to a safe job, the Employee may take No Safe Job Paid Leave, or the Employer may 
require the Employee to take no safe job paid leave immediately for a period which 
ends at the earliest of either: 

(i) when the Employee is certified unfit to work during the six week period before 
the expected date of birth by a registered medical practitioner; or 

(ii) when the Employee’s pregnancy results in the birth of a living child or when 
the Employee’s pregnancy ends otherwise than with the birth of a living child. 

(c) The entitlement to No Safe Job Paid Leave is in addition to any other leave entitlement 
the Employee has. 








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49.15 Special Parental Leave  

Where the pregnancy of an Employee not then on parental leave terminates other than by the 
birth of a living Child, the Employee may take leave for such periods as a registered medical 
practitioner certifies as necessary, as follows: 

(a) where the pregnancy terminates during the first 20 weeks, during the certified period/s 
the Employee is entitled to access any paid and/or unpaid personal/carer’s leave 
entitlements in accordance with clause 45;  

(b) where the pregnancy terminates after the completion of 20 weeks, during the certified 
period/s the Employee is entitled to paid special maternity leave not exceeding the 
amount of paid parental leave available under clause 49.3  and thereafter, to unpaid 
special maternity leave. 

49.16 Notice and evidence requirements  

(a) An Employee must give 10 weeks written notice of the intention to take parental leave, 
including the proposed start and end dates. At this time, the Employee must also 
provide a statutory declaration stating: 

(i) that the Employee will become either the Primary Caregiver or Secondary 
Caregiver of the Child, as appropriate; and 

(ii) the particulars of any parental leave taken or proposed to be taken or applied for 
by the Employee’s Spouse; and  

(iii) that for the period of parental leave the Employee will not engage in any 
conduct inconsistent with their contract of employment. 

(b) At least four weeks before the intended commencement of parental leave, the 
Employee must confirm in writing the intended start and end dates of the parental 
leave, or advise the Employer of any changes to the notice provided in clause 
49.16(a), unless it is not practicable to do so.  

(c) The Employer may require the Employee to provide evidence which would satisfy a 
reasonable person of: 

(i) for birth-related leave, the date of birth of the Child (including without limitation, 
a medical certificate stating the date of birth or expected date of birth); or 

(ii) for adoption-related leave, the commencement of the placement (or expected day 
of placement) of the Child and that the Child will be under 16 years of age as at 
the day of placement or expected day of placement.  

(d) An Employee will not be in breach of this clause if it is not practicable to provide the 
required notice within the specified timeframe, provided the Employee does provide 
notice as soon as is practicable (which may be a time after the leave has started.)  

49.17 Commencement of parental leave 

(a) An Employee who is pregnant may commence Primary Caregiver parental leave at 
any time within 16 weeks prior to the expected date of birth of the Child. In all other 
cases, Primary Caregiver parental leave commences on the day of birth or placement 
of the Child. 








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(b) Secondary Caregiver parental leave may commence up to one week prior to the 
expected birth or placement of the Child. Where a Secondary Caregiver takes 
additional paid leave in accordance with clause 49.6, the additional leave will 
commence on the date the Employee takes on primary responsibility for the care of a 
Child. 

(c) The Employer and Employee may agree to alternative arrangements regarding the 
commencement of parental leave.    

(d) The period of parental leave for the purpose of calculating an Employee’s maximum 
entitlement to paid and unpaid parental leave will commence from the date parental 
leave commences or otherwise no later than the date of birth of the Child, irrespective 
of when the Employee elects to use any paid entitlements they may have under this 
clause. 

49.18 Rules for taking parental leave entitlements 

(a) Parental leave is to be available to only one parent at a time,  except parents may take  
up to eight weeks leave concurrently with each other, comprising any paid leave to 
which the Employee may be eligible for under clause 49.3 or unpaid, in connection 
with the birth or adoption of their Child (Concurrent Leave). 

(i) Concurrent Leave may commence one week prior to the expected date of birth 
of the Child or the time of placement in the case of adoption. 

(ii) Concurrent leave can be taken in separate periods, but each block of concurrent 
leave must not be less than 2 weeks, unless the Employer otherwise agrees. 

(b) While an Employee’s eligibility for parental leave is determined at the time of birth or 
adoption of the Child, the Employee and Employer may agree to permit the Employee 
to use the paid leave entitlements outlined in this clause at any time within the first 52 
weeks of parental leave, or where an extension is granted under clause 49.23(b), 
within the first 78 weeks where clause 49.6 is invoked or otherwise the first 104 
weeks.     

(c) Parental leave does not need to be taken in a single continuous period. The Employer 
and Employee will agree on the duration of each block of parental leave. The 
Employer will consider their operational requirements and the Employee’s personal 
and family circumstances in considering requests for parental leave in more than one 
continuous period. Approval of such requests will not be unreasonably refused. 

49.19 Using other accrued leave in conjunction with Parental Leave 

An Employee may in lieu of or in conjunction with parental leave, access any annual leave or 
long service leave entitlements which they have accrued subject to the total amount of leave 
not exceeding 52 weeks or a longer period as agreed under clause 49.23(b). 

49.20 Public holidays during a period of paid parental leave 

Where a Public Holiday occurs during a period of paid parental leave, the Public Holiday is 
not to be regarded as part of the paid parental leave and the Employer will grant the 
Employee a day off in lieu, to be taken by the Employee immediately following the period of 
paid parental leave. 

49.21 Effect of unpaid parental leave on an Employee’s continuity of employment 








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Other than provided for in clause 52 (Long Service Leave), unpaid parental leave under 
clauses 49.4, 49.5, 49.23 and 49.29 shall not break an Employee’s continuity of employment 
but it will not count as service for leave accrual or other purposes. 

49.22 Keeping in touch days 

(a) During a period of parental leave, the Employer and Employee may agree to perform 
work for the purpose of keeping in touch in order to facilitate a return to employment 
at the end of the period of leave. 

(b) Keeping in touch days must be agreed and be in accordance with section 79A of the 
FW Act. 

49.23 Extending parental leave 

(a) Extending the period of parental leave where the initial period of parental leave is 
less than 52 weeks 

(i) An Employee, who is on an initial period of parental leave of less than 52 
weeks under clause 49.4 or 49.5, may extend the period of their parental leave 
on one occasion up to the full 52 week entitlement.  

(ii) The Employee must notify the Employer in writing at least four weeks prior to 
the end date of their initial parental leave period. The notice must specify the 
new end date of the parental leave. 

(b) Right to request an extension to parental leave beyond the initial 52-week period 
to a maximum of 104 weeks 

(i) An Employee who is on parental leave under clause 49.4 or 49.5 may request 
an extension of unpaid parental leave for a further period of up to 12 months 
immediately following the end of the current parental leave period. 

(ii) In the case of an Employee who is a member of a couple, the period of the 
extension cannot exceed 12 months, less any period of parental leave that the 
other member of the couple will have taken in relation to the Child.  

(iii) The Employee’s request must be in writing and given to the Employer at least 4 
weeks before the end of the current parental leave period. The request must 
specify any parental leave that the Employee’s Spouse will have taken. 

(iv) The Employer shall consider the request having regard to the Employee’s 
circumstances and, provided the request is based on the Employee’s parental 
responsibilities, may only refuse the request on reasonable business grounds.  

(v) The Employer must not refuse the request unless the Employer has given the 
Employee a reasonable opportunity to discuss the request. 

(vi) The Employer must give a written response to the request as soon as 
practicable, and no later than 21 days after the request is made. The response 
must include the details of the reasons for any refusal.  

49.24 Total period of parental leave 

(a) The total period of parental leave, including any extensions, must not extend beyond 
24 months.  








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(b) In the case of a couple, the total period of parental leave for both parents combined, 
including any extensions, must not extend beyond 24 months.  The Employee’s 
entitlement to parental leave under clause 49.4 or 49.5 will reduce by the period of any 
extension taken by a member of the couple under clause 49.23. 

49.25 Calculation of pay for the purposes of parental leave 

(a) The calculation of weekly pay for paid parental leave purposes will be based on the 
Employee’s average number of ordinary hours over the past three years from the 
proposed commencement date of parental leave (Averaging Period).  

(b) Where an Employee has less than three years of service the Averaging Period will be 
their total period of service in the VPS. 

(c) The calculation will exclude any of the following periods which fall during the 
Averaging Period: 

(i) periods of unpaid parental leave, and 

(ii) any time worked at a reduced time fraction in order to better cope during 
pregnancy, and 

(iii) authorised unpaid leave for an unforeseen reason beyond the Employee’s 
control, and 

(iv) time worked at a reduced time fraction on returning to work after a period of 
parental leave under clause 49.30(c). 

(d) For the purposes of clause 49.25(c)(iii), an ‘unforeseen reason beyond the Employee’s 
control’ may include, for example, a personal illness or injury suffered by the 
Employee, or the care or support of an ill or injured Immediate Family or household 
member by the Employee. But would not include leave taken for lifestyle or personal 
reasons, career breaks or leave to undertake other employment. 

(e) The average number of weekly hours, determined in accordance with clause 49.25(a) 
above, will be then applied to the annual Salary applicable to the Employee’s 
classification and salary point at the time of taking parental leave to determine the 
actual rate of pay whilst on parental leave. 

49.26 Half Pay 

The Employee may elect to take any paid parental leave entitlement at half pay for a period 
equal to twice the period to which the Employee would otherwise be entitled. 

49.27 Employer Superannuation contributions in respect of Primary Caregiver Parental 
Leave 

(a) An Employee is entitled to have superannuation contributions made in respect of the 
period of the Employee’s Primary Caregiver Parental Leave which occurs on or after 1 
July 2020.  

(b) The Employer will pay the superannuation contributions as a lump sum to the 
Employee’s fund as provided for in clause 32.  

(c) The lump sum payment will be made on or before the first superannuation guarantee 
quarterly payment due date following the Employee’s return to work at the conclusion 
of their Primary Caregiver Parental Leave.  








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(d) The quantum of superannuation contributions payable under this clause will be 
calculated based on:   

(i) The number of weeks of Primary Caregiver parental leave taken by the 
Employee, capped at 52 weeks; and  

(ii) The Employee’s weekly pay calculated in accordance with clause 49.25 of the 
Agreement; and 

(iii) The applicable contribution rate under the Superannuation Guarantee 
Administration Act 1992 (Cth) at the time the payment is made. 

 

49.28 Effect of parental leave on progression for Primary Caregivers 

An Employee who returns to work at the conclusion of a period of Primary Caregiver 
Parental Leave may be entitled to Progression Steps or Amounts forgone as a result of being 
on parental leave in accordance with clause 24.1 (Progression Steps and Amounts). 

49.29 Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave 

Paid parental leave entitlements outlined in this clause are in addition to any payments which 
may be available under the Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave Scheme. 

49.30 Returning to Work  

(a) Returning to work early 

(i) During the period of parental leave an Employee may return to work at any 
time as agreed between the Employer and the Employee, provided that time 
does not exceed four weeks from the recommencement date desired by the 
Employee. 

(ii) In the case of adoption, where the placement of an eligible Child with an 
Employee does not proceed or continue, the Employee will notify the Employer 
immediately and the Employer will nominate a time not exceeding four weeks 
from receipt of notification for the Employee’s return to work. 

(b) Returning to work at conclusion of leave 

(i) At least four weeks prior to the expiration of parental leave, the Employee will 
notify the Employer of their return to work after a period of parental leave. 

(ii) Subject to clause 49.30(b)(iii), an Employee will be entitled to the position 
which they held immediately before proceeding on parental leave. In the case of 
an Employee transferred to a safe job pursuant to clause 49.14 above, the 
Employee will be entitled to return to the position they held immediately before 
such transfer. 

(iii) Where such position no longer exists but there are other positions available 
which the Employee is qualified for and is capable of performing, the 
Employee will be entitled to a position as nearly comparable in status and pay 
to that of their former position. 

(c) Returning to work at a reduced time fraction 








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(i) To assist an Employee in reconciling work and parental responsibilities, an 
Employee may request to return to work at a reduced time-fraction until their 
Child reaches school age, after which the Employee will resume their 
substantive time-fraction.  

(ii) Where an Employee wishes to make a request under clause 49.30(c)(i) 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. 

49.31 Lactation breaks 

(a) Employees cannot be discriminated against for breastfeeding or chest-feeding or 
expressing milk in the workplace. 

(b) An Employee who wishes to continue breastfeeding or chest-feeding after returning to 
work from a period of parental leave or keeping in touch days, may take reasonable 
time during working hours without loss of pay to do so. 

(c) Paid lactation breaks are in addition to normal meal and rest breaks provided for in this 
Agreement. 

49.32 Consultation and 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 clause 49.32(a). 

49.33 Extended Family Leave 

(a) An Employee who is the Primary Caregiver and has exhausted all parental leave 
entitlements may apply for unpaid Extended Family Leave as a continuous extension 
to their parental leave taken in accordance with this clause. The total amount of leave, 
inclusive of parental leave taken in accordance with this clause cannot exceed seven 
years from the commencement date of parental leave. 

(b) The Employee must make an application for Extended Family Leave each year. 

(c) An Employee will not be entitled to paid parental leave whilst on Extended Family 
leave. 








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(d) Upon return to work the Employer may reallocate the Employee to other duties. 

49.34 Replacement Employees 

(a) A replacement Employee is an Employee specifically engaged or temporarily acting 
on higher duties or transferred, as a result of an Employee proceeding on parental 
leave. 

(b) Before the Employer engages a replacement Employee the Employer must inform that 
person of the temporary nature of the employment and of the rights of the Employee 
who is being replaced. 

(c) Any limitation in clause 15.8 on the use of fixed term employment to replace the 
Employee does not apply in this case. 

49.35 Casual Employees 

The Employer must not fail to re-engage a casual Employee because the Employee has 
accessed parental leave in accordance with this clause. The rights of the Employer in relation 
to engagement and re-engagement of casual Employees are not affected, other than in 
accordance with this clause. 

 

50 LEAVE TO ATTEND REHABILITATION PROGRAM 

50.1 An Employee, other than a casual Employee, may be granted leave with or without 
pay to undertake an approved rehabilitation program where the Employer is satisfied 
that: 

(a) the Employee’s work performance is adversely affected by the misuse of drugs 
or alcohol or problem gambling; 

(b) the Employee is prepared to undertake a course of treatment designed for the 
rehabilitation of persons with alcohol, drug or gambling related problems; and 

(c) in the case of an alcohol or drug addiction, a Registered Practitioner has 
certified that in his or her opinion the Employee is in need of assistance because 
of their misuse of alcohol or drugs and that the Employee is suitable for an 
approved rehabilitation program; or 

(d) in the case of problem gambling the Employee satisfies the eligibility criteria 
for entry into an approved problem gambling rehabilitation program. 

50.2 On production of proof of attendance at an approved rehabilitation program in 
accordance with clause 50.1, an Employee may be granted leave as follows: 

(a) An Employee who has completed two years’ continuous or aggregate service 
and who has exhausted all other accrued leave entitlements may be granted 
leave with pay up to the maximum number of days specified below: 

 

 

 

 

 








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Years of Service First Year of Program Subsequent Years of 
Program 

2 years 20 days 15 days 

3 years 27 days 20 days 

4 years 33 days 25 days 

5 or more years 40 days 30 days 

(b) An Employee who has completed less than two years continuous or aggregate 
service may be granted leave without pay for the purposes of attending an 
approved rehabilitation program. 

50.3 For the purpose of this clause, Registered Practitioner has the same meaning as set out in 
clause 45.1. 

 

51 CULTURAL AND CEREMONIAL LEAVE 

51.1 NAIDOC Week Leave 

(a) An Employee of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent is entitled to one 
day of paid leave per year to participate in National Aboriginal and Islander 
Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) week activities and events. 

(b) NAIDOC week leave will not accrue from year to year and will not be paid out 
on termination of the employment of the Employee. 

51.2 Leave to attend Aboriginal community meetings 

The Employer may approve attendance during working hours by an Employee of 
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent at any Aboriginal community meetings, 
except the Annual General Meetings of Aboriginal community organisations at which 
the election of office bearers will occur. 

51.3 Leave to attend Annual General Meetings of Aboriginal community organisations 

The Employer may grant an Employee of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent 
accrued annual or other leave to attend Annual General Meetings of Aboriginal 
community organisations at which the election of office bearers will occur. 

51.4 Ceremonial leave 

(a) Ceremonial leave may be granted to an Employee of Aboriginal or Torres Strait 
Islander descent for ceremonial purposes: 

(i) connected with the death of a member of the immediate family or 
extended family (provided that no Employee shall have an existing 
entitlement reduced as a result of this clause); or 

(ii) for other ceremonial obligations under Aboriginal and Torres Strait 
Islander law. 

(b) Where ceremonial leave is taken for the purposes outlined in clause 








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51.4(a)51.4(a), up to three days in each year of employment will be with pay. 
Paid ceremonial leave will not accrue from year to year and will not be paid out 
on termination of the employment of the Employee. 

(c) Ceremonial leave granted under this clause 51.4 is in addition to compassionate 
leave granted under clause 48. 

 

52 LONG SERVICE LEAVE 

52.1 Basic Entitlement 

An Employee whose ordinary hours of work average 76 hours per fortnight is entitled 
to 495.6967 hours (three months) long service leave with pay for each period of ten 
years’ paid full-time Continuous Service. An Employee who is a part-time Employee 
for the purposes of clause 15.55 is entitled to long service leave on a pro rata basis 
calculated on the number of ordinary hours worked. The entitlement is 521.786 hours 
(three months) for Employees whose ordinary hours of work average 80 hours per 
fortnight. 

52.2 Meaning of Continuous Service for casual Employees 

For the purposes of this clause, a reference to Continuous Service in respect of a casual 
Employee has the same meaning as that set out in section 12 of the Long Service Leave 
Act 2018 (Vic). 

52.3 Pro-rata access 

An Employee is entitled to access their long service leave entitlement, on a pro-rata 
basis, after an initial seven years of paid Continuous Service. 

52.4 Payment of outstanding entitlement on termination 

An Employee, who, upon retirement, resignation or termination of employment, has an 
outstanding long service leave entitlement will be entitled to an amount equal to the 
unused long service leave entitlement. 

52.5 Holidays During Leave 

Where a Public Holiday occurs during a period of long service leave granted to an 
Employee, the Public Holiday is not to be regarded as part of the long service leave 
and the Employer will grant the Employee a day off in lieu. 

52.6 Eligible Period of Service 

(a) In clause 52.6 “eligible period of service” in relation to an Employee means the 
period of Continuous Service between four years and seven years. 

(b) An Employee is entitled, or in the case of death is deemed to have been entitled, 
to a pro rata amount of long service leave with pay based on the Employee’s 
eligible period of service if: 

(i) on account of age or ill health: 

 the Employee retires or is retired; or 

 the employment of the Employee is terminated by the Employer; or 

(ii) the employment of the Employee is terminated for any other reason 








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except for serious misconduct or resignation by the Employee; or 

(iii) the Employee dies. 

52.7 Period of Leave 

(a) An Employee who is entitled to take their long service leave will take the whole 
or any part of their entitlement at the current time fraction they work. 

For the avoidance of doubt, but subject to operational requirements, an 
Employee may take long service leave of one day. 

(b) Despite clause 52.7(a) the Employer and the Employee may agree that the 
whole or any part of their entitlement can be taken at a different time fraction to 
that currently worked, provided that pro rating of leave accrual occurs in 
relation to the period of long service leave taken at a different time fraction. For 
example, if the Employer agrees to an Employee’s request to take a period of 
long service leave at half pay, then all leave during this period will accrue on a 
half time basis.    

(c) After concluding their period of leave, the Employee will return to the time 
fraction they worked immediately prior to going on leave, unless otherwise 
agreed by the Employer and the Employee. 

52.8 Time of Taking Leave 

The Employer may determine the time for granting long service leave so that the 
Employer’s operations will not be unduly affected by the granting of long service 
leave. 

52.9 Recognised Service 

(a) In clause 52.9(b) an “authority” means an authority, whether incorporated or 
not, that is constituted: 

(i) by or under a law of a State, the Commonwealth or a Territory of 
Australia; and 

(ii) for a public purpose. 

(b) Subject to clause 52.9(c) the following will be recognised as service for the 
purposes of long service leave (“Recognised Service”): 

(i) any service with a State, Commonwealth or Territory of Australia 
Government Department or Public Service authority; or 

(ii) any service with a public entity under the Public Administration Act 
2004 (Vic); or 

(iii) any service with a local governing body that is established by or 
under a law of Victoria. 

Notwithstanding the above, the Employer may recognise any service with: 

 a public sector authority; or 

 a local governing body of the Commonwealth, a State other than 
Victoria or a Territory of Australia 

(c) Service for the purpose of long service leave does not include any period of 








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service: 

(i) which preceded a continuous gap in approved Recognised Service of 
greater than twelve months other than: 

 an absence of three years or less in the nature of retirement 
occasioned by disability; or 

 an absence of two years or less which in the opinion of the 
Employer was caused by special circumstances; or 

(ii) during any absence from duty on maternity, paternity/partner or 
adoption leave without pay; or 

(iii) except to the extent (if any) authorised by the Employer, during any 
other absence on leave without pay; or 

(iv) during any absence from duty when the Employee was in receipt of 
weekly payments of compensation under the Workplace Injury 
Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 (Vic) or any corresponding 
previous enactment, other than the first twelve months of that period; or 

(v) which followed the date on which a pension under the State 
Superannuation Act 1988 (Vic) (or similar provision applying to 
Employees on the staff of a declared authority) became payable by 
reason of retirement on the ground of disability, other than a period not 
exceeding twelve months during which a pension under section 83A(1) 
of that Act (or similar provision applying to Employees of a declared 
authority) was paid; or 

(vi) from which the Employee was dismissed for disciplinary reasons. 

(d) An Employee who has received a Targeted Separation Package from the 
Victorian Public Sector will, on re-employment in the SES, have their prior 
service recognised, provided that this service does not precede a continuous gap 
in approved recognised service of greater than twelve months. 

(e) An Employee who has received a Voluntary Departure Package from the 
Victorian Public Sector will not have their prior service recognised on re-
employment in the SES. 

(f) An application for the recognition of prior service under clause 52.9 should be 
made within six months of an Employee’s starting date in the SES. The 
Employer will take reasonable steps within this period to ascertain from the 
Employee whether the Employee has prior service. 

52.10 Payment for Leave 

In computing the pay of an Employee for or in lieu of long service leave, that pay 
includes: 

(a) if the Employee is receiving salary maintenance, that salary maintenance; and 

(b) any additional payment payable for a temporary assignment where the 
assignment has continued for a period of at least twelve months before the 
commencement of the leave; and 

(c) any annual allowance payable to the Employee which the Employer determines 
should be included, but does not include: 








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(i) any payment of overtime, commuted overtime or Shift Work 
allowances; or 

(ii) any travelling or transport allowance; or 

(iii) any allowance in the nature of reimbursement of expenditure. 

(d) Nothing in this clause 52 entitles an Employee to long service leave (or 
payment for long service leave) in respect of a period of service for which the 
Employee was entitled to receive long service leave (or payment for long 
service leave) from an employer other than the Employer or for which the 
Employee has received long service leave (or a payment in respect of long 
service leave) from any Employer. 

53 SURROGACY LEAVE 

53.1 Entitlement to Leave 

An Employee (excluding a Casual Employee) who has completed at least three months paid 
Continuous Service, who enters into a formal surrogacy arrangement on or after the date of 
approval of this Agreement, which complies with Part 4 of the Assisted Reproductive 
Treatment Act 2008 (Vic), as the surrogate, is entitled to access the following leave 
entitlements: 

(a) Pre-Natal leave in accordance with clause 49.7 of the Agreement, and 

(b) six weeks of paid leave  

53.2 Continuing to work while pregnant 

(a) A pregnant employee acting as the surrogate as part of a formal surrogacy 
arrangement wanting to work during the six weeks before the birth may be 
asked to provide a medical certificate stating they are fit for work and whether 
there are any risks in connection to their duties.  

(b) An Employee who fails to provide a requested medical certificate within seven 
days or provides one which states they are unfit for work may be required to 
commence surrogacy leave. 

53.3 Transfer to safe job 

(a) If an Employee provides a medical certificate stating they are fit for work but it is 
inadvisable for the Employee to continue in their present duties because of risks or 
illness the Employee is entitled to be transferred to an appropriate safe job that has the 
same, or other agreed ordinary hours of work with no other changes to the Employee’s 
terms and conditions.  

(b) If no appropriate safe job is available the Employee is entitled to take paid or unpaid 
(if not eligible for parental leave) ‘No Safe Job Leave’. 

53.4 Commencement of Surrogacy Leave 

(a) An Employee who is pregnant as a result of acting as a surrogate may commence paid 
Surrogacy Leave at any time within 6 weeks prior to the expected date of birth of the 
Child.  Otherwise the period of parental leave must commence no later than the date of 
birth of the Child, unless agreed with the Employer. 

(b) Unless otherwise agreed, any entitlement to paid surrogacy leave will be paid from the 
date of commencement of Surrogacy Leave. 








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53.5 Surrogacy Leave and other entitlements 

An Employee may access, in conjunction with Surrogacy Leave, any other paid or unpaid 
entitlements available under this Agreement with the approval of the Employer. 

53.6 Personal/Carer’s Leave 

A pregnant Employee, not then on Surrogacy Leave, who is suffering from an illness whether 
related or not to the pregnancy, may take any paid and/or unpaid personal/carer’s leave in 
accordance with clause 45. 

53.7 Special Surrogacy Leave 

Where the pregnancy of an Employee not then on parental leave terminates other than by the 
birth of a living child, the Employee may take leave for such periods as a registered medical 
practitioner certifies as necessary, as follows: 

(a) where the pregnancy terminates during the first 20 weeks, during the certified period/s 
the Employee is entitled to access any paid and/or unpaid personal/carer’s leave 
entitlements in accordance with clause 45; 

(b) where the pregnancy terminates after the completion of 20 weeks, during the certified 
period/s the Employee is entitled to paid special surrogacy leave not exceeding the 
amount of paid surrogacy leave available under this clause 53.1. 

53.8 Public holidays during a period of paid surrogacy leave 

Where a Public Holiday occurs during a period of paid surrogacy leave, the Public Holiday is 
not to be regarded as part of the paid surrogacy leave and the Employer will grant the 
Employee a day off in lieu, to be taken by the Employee immediately following the period of 
paid surrogacy leave. 

53.9 Notice and Evidentiary Requirements 

(a) An Employee must provide 10 weeks’ written notice to the Employer of their intention 
to take Surrogacy Leave. The notification should include a Statutory Declaration 
which specifies: 

(i) the intended start and end dates of the leave, and  

(ii) if known, any other leave the Employee seeks approval to take in 
conjunction with their Surrogacy Leave, and 

(iii) for the period of surrogacy leave the Employee will not engage 
in any conduct inconsistent with their contract of employment. 

(b) The Employer may also require the Employee to provide documentary evidence 
confirming: 

(i) the expected date of birth of the Child, and  

(ii) the formal surrogacy arrangement, which complies with Part 4 of 
the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 2008 (Vic). 

(c) The Employee must confirm these details at least 4 weeks prior to the commencement 
of the proposed period of Surrogacy leave. 

 

54 DEFENCE RESERVE LEAVE 








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54.1 An Employee required to complete Defence Reserve service may be granted leave up to a 
maximum period of 78 weeks’ continuous service. 

54.2 The Employee will consult with the Employer regarding the proposed timing of the service 
and will give the Employer as much notice as is possible of the time when the service will 
take place. 

54.3 Where the base salary excluding allowances received by the Employee from the Australian 
Defence Force or Defence Reserve service during his or her ordinary hours of work is below 
the Employee’s VPS salary, the Employer will, unless exceptional circumstances arise, pay to 
the Employee make-up pay for the period of Defence Reserve service. 

54.4 Preservation of prior entitlement 

For Employees in employment prior to 9 May 2002, any more favourable provision 
relating to their previous entitlement to Defence Force leave is maintained. 

 

55 JURY SERVICE 

55.1 An Employee required to attend for jury service under the Juries Act 2000 (Vic) is entitled to 
leave with pay for the period during which his or her attendance is required. The Employee 
must provide a certificate of attendance issued by the Juries Commissioner as evidence of 
attendance. 

55.2 Any payment made to the Employee in accordance with the Juries Act 2000 (Vic) for serving 
as a juror during his or her ordinary hours of work must be repaid to the Employer, less an 
amount for reasonable expenses actually incurred. 

 

56 LEAVE FOR BLOOD DONATIONS 

Leave may be granted to an Employee without loss of pay to visit the Red Cross Blood 
Bank as a donor once every twelve weeks. 

 

57 LEAVE TO ENGAGE IN VOLUNTARY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT 
ACTIVITIES 

57.1 An Employee who engages in a voluntary emergency management activity with a recognised 
emergency management body that requires the attendance of the Employee at a time when 
the Employee would otherwise be required to be at work is entitled to leave with pay for: 

(a) time when the Employee engages in the activity; 

(b) reasonable travelling time associated with the activity; and 

(c) reasonable rest time immediately following the activity. 

57.2 The Employee must advise the Employer as soon as reasonably practicable if the Employee is 
required to attend a voluntary emergency management activity and must advise the Employer 
of the expected or likely duration of the Employee’s attendance. The Employee must provide 
a certificate of attendance or other evidence of attendance as reasonably requested by the 
Employer. 

57.3 Recognised emergency management bodies include but are not limited to, the Country Fire 
Authority, Red Cross, VICSES and St John Ambulance. 

57.4 An Employee who is required to attain qualifications or to requalify to perform activities in 
an emergency management body must be granted leave with pay for the period of time 
required to fulfil the requirements of the training course pertaining to those qualifications, 








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provided that such training can be undertaken without unduly affecting the operations of the 
Employer. 

 

58 LEAVE TO ENGAGE IN VOLUNTARY COMMUNITY ACTIVITES 

58.1 An Employee who is elected to a Municipal Council must be granted leave with pay to fulfil 
their official functions during their term of office as follows: 

(a) Mayor or Shire President – up to three hours per week, or where special 
occasions arise, six hours per fortnight; or 

(b) Councillor – up to three hours per fortnight, or where special occasions arise, 
six hours per month. 

58.2 An Employee who is elected to a committee of management of a community organisation 
may, if the Employer agrees, be granted leave with pay to fulfil their official functions during 
their term of office as follows: 

(a) Chair or President – up to three hours per week, or where special occasions 
arise, six hours per fortnight; or 

(b) Committee Member – up to three hours per fortnight, or where special 
occasions arise, six hours per month. 

59 PARTICIPATION IN SPORTING EVENTS 

Leave with pay up to a maximum of two weeks in any two year period may be granted 
to an Employee to participate either as a competitor or an official in any non-
professional state, national or international sporting event. 

60 STUDY LEAVE 

60.1 The Employer may grant to any Employee paid leave to undertake an accredited course of 
study provided by an educational institution or registered training organisation. 

60.2 In determining whether to grant study leave, the Employer 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 Employer. 

60.3 An Employee may be granted sufficient paid leave to enable travel to and attendance of up to 
seven hours of classroom activity or related project work per week. 

60.4 The Employer may grant additional leave with or without pay as considered necessary. 

60.5 An Employee may be granted up to five days’ paid leave per annum as pre-examination leave 
and sufficient paid leave to attend examinations where the examinations are part of the course 
of study for which leave has been approved under clause 60.1. 

60.6 An Employee completing an accredited course through the submission of major project work 
may be entitled to five days leave per annum for the purposes of finalising such project work. 

61 LEAVE WITHOUT PAY 

61.1 An Employee may be granted leave without pay by the Employer for any purpose. 

61.2 Unless otherwise provided for in this Agreement, leave without pay shall not break the 
Employee’s continuity of employment but leave without pay will not count as service for 
leave accrual or other purposes. 

 

  








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PART 7– OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY 

 

62 ACCIDENT MAKE-UP PAY 

62.1 Where an Employee is absent from duty as a result of sustaining an injury in respect of which 
the Employee is entitled to weekly payments of compensation under the Workplace Injury 
Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013, the Employee will, except where otherwise 
provided in clause 62.2 below, be entitled to accident 

make-up pay equivalent to his or her normal salary less the amount of weekly 
compensation payments. 

62.2 Payment – maximum entitlement 

(a) The Employer will continue to provide accident make-up pay to the Employee 
for a period of 52 weeks, or an aggregate of 261 working days, or an aggregate 
of 1984 hours unless employment ceases. 

(b) An entitlement to accident make-up pay will cease at the end of a period of  52 
weeks, or when employment ceases or when the benefits payable under the 
Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 cease. 

(c) The Employer may grant the Employee leave without pay where an entitlement 
to accident make-up pay has ended. 

62.3 For the avoidance of doubt, an Employee may, with the Employer’s consent, take annual 
leave, long service leave or substituted leave (whilst receiving accident make up pay). 

62.4 For an injury prior to the proclamation of the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and 
Compensation Act 2013, a reference to that Act shall be deemed to be a reference to the 
Accident Compensation Act 1985 (Vic). 

 

63 OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY AND REHABILITATION 

63.1 Objectives 

(a) This Agreement acknowledges and supports the rights of Employees to work in 
an environment, which is, so far as is practicable, safe and without risks to 
health. The Parties are committed to the promotion of a joint and united 
approach to consultation and resolution of Occupational Health and Safety 
(OH&S) issues. 

(b) The Agreement commits the Parties to improving health and safety with a view 
to improving workplace efficiency and productivity. This will be accomplished 
through the ongoing development, in consultation with Employees and their 
health and safety representatives, of management systems and procedures 
designed to, so far as is practicable to: 

(i) identify, assess and control workplace hazards; 

(ii) reduce the incidence and cost of occupational injury and illness; 

(iii) identify and appropriately manage work and work practices which 
impact on OH&S; 

(iv) provide a rehabilitation system for Employees affected by 
occupational injury or illness; and 

(v) consider the impact of changes to work practices and staffing on 








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occupational health and safety 

(c) OH&S statutory requirements, including regulations and codes of practice/ 
compliance codes are minimum standards and will be improved upon where 
practicable. 

 

63.2 OH&S consultation 

(a) Consultative mechanisms appropriate to each Agency will be established to 
address OH&S issues. Such mechanisms will be: 

(i) in accordance with the Victorian Occupational Health and Safety Act 
2004; 

(ii) established in consultation with Employees and their health and 
safety representatives; and 

(iii) consistent with the Employer’s agreed issue resolution procedures and 
the rights and functions of health and safety representatives, consistent 
with the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic). 

(b) Where an OH&S committee is established at least half the members shall be 
Employees, including health and safety representatives. 

(c) The OH&S committee must operate within the requirements of the 
Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic). 

(d) A CPSU Workplace representative may attend local OH&S committee 
meetings (by giving notice) from time to time. 

63.3 OH&S training 

(a) Workplace training programs, including induction and on-the-job training will 
outline relevant details of OH&S policies and procedures. 

(b) The contents of OH&S training programs will outline the OH&S roles and 
responsibilities of Employees, managers and supervisors, OH&S policies and 
procedures, particular hazards associated with their workplaces, control 
measures applicable to each hazard, and how to utilise OH&S systems to 
identify hazards and instigate preventative action. 

63.4 Designated Work Groups 

(a) In each Agency the parties at the local level will review the Designated Work 
Groups (DWGs), and negotiate revised DWGs where appropriate through 
workplace Union/management consultative structures. 

(b) The parties at the central level will establish instructions for the conduct of the 
reviews of DWGs at the local level. 

(c) Unions will be notified of vacancies for health and safety representatives in 
DWGs where the majority of DWG Employees are eligible to be members of a 
Union. 

(d) Each elected health and safety representative will be provided with reasonable 
access to facilities such as email, telephone, office and computer access, where 
available. An Employee will be granted reasonable time release or paid time 
(including time in lieu) to attend to their functions as a health and safety 
representative, including but not limited to regularly inspecting workplaces (as 
defined by their DWG), consulting with Employees in their DWGs, OH&S 
representatives and other persons involved in the organising of Employees’ 








108 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

health, safety and welfare. 

(e) The Employer will post and maintain current in each workplace the names and 
relevant contact details, including email where available, of elected health and 
safety representatives for identified DWGs. Such circular shall be required to 
be posted on a notice board for the regular attention of all Employees working 
in the workplace. 

(f) To monitor the maintenance of effective OH&S structures and training delivery 
the parties will jointly establish a central register or local registers of DWG’s 
and their health and safety representatives. The register will be maintained by 
the Employer from information provided on a quarterly basis from each 
region/workplace. 

(g) Information from the updated register(s) will be provided periodically 
(quarterly) in electronic format to a Union. The information provided will be in 
accordance with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic). Where 
possible, this information will include: 

(i) a description, including the location, of each DWG within each 
Agency; 

(ii) the name of each elected health and safety representative, their 
workplace contact details and email address; 

(iii) the date the health and safety representative was elected; 

(iv) a description of the training the health and safety representative has 
attended and the date of attendance; 

(v) the name and contact details of the nominated management 
representative responsible for each DWG; 

(vi) details of the structure of OH&S committees, their meeting 
frequency and the name and contact details of the committee 
convener. 

63.5 Bullying and violence at work 

The Parties to this Agreement are committed to working together to reduce bullying 
and occupational assault so far as is practicable in the workplace. 

63.6 Employee support and debriefing 

(a) The Employer will provide support and debriefing to Employees who have 
experienced a “critical incident” during the course of the work that results in 
personal distress. The Employer is committed to assisting the recovery of 
Employees experiencing normal distress following a critical incident with the 
aim of returning Employees to their pre-incident level of functioning as soon as 
possible. 

(b) A critical incident is defined as an event outside the range of usual human 
experience which has the potential to easily overcome a person's normal ability 
to cope with stress. It may produce a negative psychological response in an 
Employee who was involved in or witnessed such an incident. 

(c) Critical incidents in the workplace environment include, but are not limited to: 

(i) aggravated assaults; 

(ii) robbery; 








109 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

(iii) suicide or attempted suicide; 

(iv) murder; 

(v) sudden or unexpected death; 

(vi) hostage or siege situations; 

(vii) discharge of firearms; 

(viii) vehicle accidents involving injury and/or substantial property 
damage; 

(ix) acts of self-harm by persons in the care of others; 

(x) industrial accidents involving serious injury or fatality; and 

(xi) any other serious accidents or incidents. 
 

64 INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS/OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY TRAINING 

64.1 In order to encourage co-operative workplace relations and facilitate the operation of this 
Agreement, an Employee who has been nominated by a Union and has been accepted by a 
training provider to attend a designated trade union training course may be granted up to five 
days leave on full pay in any one calendar year, so long as the granting of such leave does not 
unduly effect the operations of the Agency in which the Employee is employed. 

64.2 The Employee may be granted the leave specified in clause 64.1 where the Employer is 
satisfied that the course of training is likely to contribute to a better understanding of 
industrial relations, occupational health and safety, safe work practices, knowledge of award 
and other industrial entitlements and the upgrading of Employee skills in all aspects of trade 
union functions. 

64.3 An Employee may be granted paid leave under this clause in excess of five days and up to ten 
days in any one calendar year subject to the total leave taken in that year and in the 
subsequent year not exceeding ten days. 

64.4 An Employee, upon election as a health and safety representative, shall be granted up to five 
days’ paid leave, as soon as practicable after election, to undertake an appropriate 
introductory health and safety representative’s course from a training organisation of his or 
her choice that is approved by the Victorian WorkCover Authority, having regard to course 
places and the Employer's operations. The Employer shall meet any reasonable costs 
incurred. Leave under this clause 64.4 must only be granted to an Employee on one occasion 
and is additional to any other leave granted under this clause. 

64.5 Additional paid leave may be approved for health and safety representatives to attend training 
approved by the Victorian WorkCover Authority under the Occupational Health and Safety 
Act 2004 (Vic), which is relevant to the functions of the DWG. 

65 FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT AND ACCOMMODATION – GENERAL 

65.1 The Employer shall provide Employees with all such instruments, equipment, tools, 
stationery and furniture as may be reasonably necessary for carrying out their work except as 
otherwise agreed between the Parties to this Agreement. 

65.2 The Employer shall provide, in readily accessible locations, first aid equipment adequate for 
the nature of the Employee’s duties. 

66 AGREEMENT COMPLIANCE AND UNION RELATED MATTERS 

66.1 Protection 








110 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

(a) An Employee shall not be dismissed or injured in his or her employment or have 
his or her employment altered to his or her prejudice, or be threatened with 
prejudicial or injurious treatment or with dismissal by reason of his or her status 
as an Accredited Representative of a Union, engagement in lawful activities as 
an authorised representative of a Union or on the basis of his or her membership 
of a Union or participation in lawful Union activities, provided that where any 
such activities are undertaken during working hours, the Employee’s release has 
been approved. Approval will not be unreasonably withheld. 

(b) The Employer shall not injure a person in his or her employment, or alter the 
terms or conditions of employment of a person to his or her prejudice on the 
basis of his or her membership of or participation in the lawful activities of a 
Union, provided that where any such activities are undertaken during working 
hours, the Employee’s release has been approved. Approval will not be 
unreasonably withheld. 

66.2 Facilities 

(a) An Accredited Representative of a Union shall be released by the Employer 
from normal duties for such periods of time as may be reasonably necessary to 
enable him or her to carry out his or her representative functions including, but 
not limited to, investigating any alleged breach of this Agreement, 
endeavouring to resolve any dispute arising out of the operation of this 
Agreement, participating in any bargaining, conciliation or arbitration process 
conducted under the provisions of the FW Act. Such release must not unduly 
affect the operations of the Agency in which the Employee is employed. 

(b) Members of a Union shall be permitted by the Employer to post written 
material authorised by a Union in a place within the workplace to which 
members of that Union have convenient access, and to distribute such written 
material by appropriate means to Union members. 

(c) Employees will be allowed reasonable access to electronic communication 
devices to facilitate communication between Employees and/or the Union, 
provided that such communication is not offensive or improper. 

66.3 Employee Representation on CPSU SPSF Victorian Branch Council 

(a) Employees who are CPSU SPSF Victorian Branch Council members 
nominated by the Branch Secretary of the CPSU will be entitled to a half day 
per month to attend Branch Council meetings. Time release will include 
reasonable time to travel to the meetings. 

(b) Additional paid leave will be granted to employees who are CPSU SPSF 
Victorian Branch Council members nominated by the Branch Secretary to 
attend: 

(i) Federal Executive and Federal Council meetings of the CPSU; and 

(ii) the Australian Council of Trade Unions’ triennial conference. 

(c) On application, the Employer shall grant leave without pay to an Employee for 
the purposes of secondment to work for a Union. 

67 RIGHT OF ENTRY 

67.1 For the purposes of ensuring compliance with this Agreement and the FW Act, an official of 
a Union who has been issued with an entry permit by the FWC pursuant to section 512 of the 
FW Act will be permitted access to the workplace provided he/she complies with the 








111 

Victoria State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 
 

 

provisions set out in Part 3-4 of the FW Act. 

67.2 A permit holder may only enter the workplace for the purposes permitted by and in 
compliance with the provisions of Part 3-4 of the FW Act. 

67.3 Subject to clauses 67.1 and 67.2 a permit holder may enter the premises and shall adhere to 
the principles that he/she must not intentionally hinder or obstruct any person, or otherwise 
act in an improper manner. 








112 

Victorian Public Service Enterprise Agreement 2016– Schedule A 
 

 

Schedule A Redeployment 
 

The redeployment policy will be based on the following principles: 

1. The redeployment of surplus Employees wherever practical and consistent with the 
application of merit; 

2. Surplus Employees have priority to be placed in vacancies that occur within the 
VICSES, unless the surplus Employee is determined to be unsuitable for appointment 
to that vacancy by VICSES; 

3. The placement of surplus Employees to be managed at by VICSES. VICSES will 
provide individualised case management and support, including counselling, provision 
of job search skills, liaison and retraining to assist in achieving placements; 

4. Processes to be consistent with the application of the principles of fair and reasonable 
treatment and merit selection; 

5. Unplaced surplus Employees to have access to departure packages only after a 
reasonable period; 

6. Retrenchment and payment of a separation package to be used as an action of last 
resort where redeployment within a reasonable period does not appear likely; 

7. Where a vacancy exists for which a redeployee is suitable and is the only candidate or 
the best candidate amongst redeployees, a valid offer will be made. A valid offer 
involves an offer of duties to a suitably qualified Employee (which may be at the same 
or different level or status or the same or different general location as the Employee’s 
previous employment); 

8. Redeployees will have priority access to vacancies both at the Employee’s 
classification level and below their classification level and, where appropriate, will be 
provided with salary maintenance; 

9. VICSES will provide support to redeployees being placed in alternative positions 
utilising high quality and professional expertise; and 

10. Redeployees will actively engage in the redeployment process. 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 – Schedule B 
 

113  

Schedule B Salaries 
Effective 20 March 2020 

 

  Grade Value 
Range 

Salary Ranges Progression amounts 
Min. Max. 

V
P

S 
O

ff
ic

er
 

1 1.1 $48,623 $51,616 

1.1.1 $48,623 

1.1.2 $49,619 

1.1.3 $50,617 

1.1.4 $51,616 

2 

2.1 $53,280 $60,851 

2.1.1 $53,280 

2.1.2 $54,362 

2.1.3 $55,443 

2.1.4 $56,527 

2.1.5 $57,605 

2.1.6 $58,689 

2.1.7 $59,770 

2.1.8 $60,851 

2.2 $61,931 $68,421 

2.2.1 $61,931 

2.2.2 $63,013 

2.2.3 $64,094 

2.2.4 $65,177 

2.2.5 $66,256 

2.2.6 $67,340 

2.2.7 $68,421 

3 

3.1 $69,917 $77,407 

3.1.1 $69,917 

3.1.2 $71,416 

3.1.3 $72,915 

3.1.4 $74,412 

3.1.5 $75,907 

3.1.6 $77,407 

3.2 $78,903 $84,895 

3.2.1 $78,903 

3.2.2 $80,403 

3.2.3 $81,900 

3.2.4 $83,395 

3.2.5 $84,895 

4 4.1 $86,558 $98,210 

4.1.1 $86,558 

4.1.2 $88,502 

4.1.3 $90,443 

4.1.4 $92,381 

4.1.5 $94,327 

4.1.6 $96,268 

4.1.7 $98,210 

Se
ni

or
 

O
ff

ic
er

 

5 5.1 $99,872 $110,355  $2,994 
5.2 $110,357 $120,838 

6 6.1 $122,502 $143,219  $3,780 
6.2 $143,220 $163,934 

Se
ni

or
 

T
ec

hn
ic

al
 

Sp
ec

ia
li

st
 

7 
7.1 $166,390 $186,355 

 $6,209 7.2 $186,359 $206,325 

7.3 $206,325 $226,292 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 – Schedule B 
 

114  

Effective 1 December 
2020 

 Grade 
Value 
Range 

Salary Ranges 
Progression amounts 

Min. Max. 

V
P

S
 O

ff
ic

er
 

1 1.1 $49,231 $52,261 

1.1.1 $49,231 

1.1.2 $50,239 

1.1.3 $51,250 

1.1.4 $52,261 

2 

2.1 $53,946 $61,612 

2.1.1 $53,946 

2.1.2 $55,042 

2.1.3 $56,136 

2.1.4 $57,234 

2.1.5 $58,325 

2.1.6 $59,423 

2.1.7 $60,517 

2.1.8 $61,612 

2.2 $62,705 $69,276 

2.2.1 $62,705 

2.2.2 $63,801 

2.2.3 $64,895 

2.2.4 $65,992 

2.2.5 $67,084 

2.2.6 $68,182 

2.2.7 $69,276 

3 

3.1 $70,791 $78,375 

3.1.1 $70,791 

3.1.2 $72,309 

3.1.3 $73,826 

3.1.4 $75,342 

3.1.5 $76,856 

3.1.6 $78,375 

3.2 $79,889 $85,956 

3.2.1 $79,889 

3.2.2 $81,408 

3.2.3 $82,924 

3.2.4 $84,437 

3.2.5 $85,956 

4 4.1 $87,640 $99,438 

4.1.1 $87,640 

4.1.2 $89,608 

4.1.3 $91,574 

4.1.4 $93,536 

4.1.5 $95,506 

4.1.6 $97,471 

4.1.7 $99,438 

S
en

io
r 

O
ff

ic
er

 

5 
5.1 $101,120 $111,734 

 $3,031 
5.2 $111,736 $122,348 

6 
6.1 $124,033 $145,009 

 $3,827 
6.2 $145,010 $165,983 

S
en

io
r 

T
ec

hn
ic

al
 

S
pe

ci
al

is
t 

7 

7.1 $168,470 $188,684 

 $6,287 7.2 $188,688 $208,904 

7.3 $208,904 $229,121 

 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 – Schedule B 
 

115  

Effective 1 September 
2021 

 Grade 
Value 
Range 

Salary Ranges 
Progression amounts 

Min. Max. 

V
P

S
 O

ff
ic

er
 

1 1.1 $49,969 $53,045 

1.1.1 $49,969 

1.1.2 $50,993 

1.1.3 $52,019 

1.1.4 $53,045 

2 

2.1 $54,755 $62,536 

2.1.1 $54,755 

2.1.2 $55,868 

2.1.3 $56,978 

2.1.4 $58,093 

2.1.5 $59,200 

2.1.6 $60,314 

2.1.7 $61,425 

2.1.8 $62,536 

2.2 $63,646 $70,315 

2.2.1 $63,646 

2.2.2 $64,758 

2.2.3 $65,868 

2.2.4 $66,982 

2.2.5 $68,090 

2.2.6 $69,205 

2.2.7 $70,315 

3 

3.1 $71,853 $79,551 

3.1.1 $71,853 

3.1.2 $73,394 

3.1.3 $74,933 

3.1.4 $76,472 

3.1.5 $78,009 

3.1.6 $79,551 

3.2 $81,087 $87,245 

3.2.1 $81,087 

3.2.2 $82,629 

3.2.3 $84,168 

3.2.4 $85,704 

3.2.5 $87,245 

4 4.1 $88,955 $100,930 

4.1.1 $88,955 

4.1.2 $90,952 

4.1.3 $92,948 

4.1.4 $94,939 

4.1.5 $96,939 

4.1.6 $98,933 

4.1.7 $100,930 

S
en

io
r 

O
ff

ic
er

 

5 
5.1 $102,637 $113,410 

 $3,076 
5.2 $113,412 $124,183 

6 
6.1 $125,893 $147,184 

 $3,884 
6.2 $147,185 $168,473 

S
en

io
r 

T
ec

hn
ic

al
 

S
pe

ci
al

is
t 

7 

7.1 $170,997 $191,514 

 $6,381 7.2 $191,518 $212,038 

7.3 $212,038 $232,558 

 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 – Schedule B 
 

116  

 

Effective 1 June 2022 

 Grade 
Value 
Range 

Salary Ranges 
Progression amounts 

Min. Max. 

V
P

S
 O

ff
ic

er
 

1 1.1 $50,594 $53,708 

1.1.1 $50,594 

1.1.2 $51,630 

1.1.3 $52,669 

1.1.4 $53,708 

2 

2.1 $55,439 $63,318 

2.1.1 $55,439 

2.1.2 $56,566 

2.1.3 $57,690 

2.1.4 $58,819 

2.1.5 $59,940 

2.1.6 $61,068 

2.1.7 $62,193 

2.1.8 $63,318 

2.2 $64,442 $71,194 

2.2.1 $64,442 

2.2.2 $65,567 

2.2.3 $66,691 

2.2.4 $67,819 

2.2.5 $68,941 

2.2.6 $70,070 

2.2.7 $71,194 

3 

3.1 $72,751 $80,545 

3.1.1 $72,751 

3.1.2 $74,311 

3.1.3 $75,870 

3.1.4 $77,428 

3.1.5 $78,984 

3.1.6 $80,545 

3.2 $82,101 $88,336 

3.2.1 $82,101 

3.2.2 $83,662 

3.2.3 $85,220 

3.2.4 $86,775 

3.2.5 $88,336 

4 4.1 $90,067 $102,192 

4.1.1 $90,067 

4.1.2 $92,089 

4.1.3 $94,110 

4.1.4 $96,126 

4.1.5 $98,151 

4.1.6 $100,170 

4.1.7 $102,192 

S
en

io
r 

O
ff

ic
er

 

5 
5.1 $103,920 $114,828 

 $3,114 
5.2 $114,830 $125,735 

6 
6.1 $127,467 $149,024 

 $3,933 
6.2 $149,025 $170,579 

S
en

io
r 

T
ec

hn
ic

al
 

S
pe

ci
al

is
t 

7 

7.1 $173,134 $193,908 

 $6,461 7.2 $193,912 $214,688 

7.3 $214,688 $235,465 

 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 – Schedule B 
 

117  

 

Effective 1 March 2023 

 Grade 
Value 
Range 

Salary Ranges 
Progression amounts 

Min. Max. 

V
P

S
 O

ff
ic

er
 

1 1.1 $51,353 $54,514 

1.1.1 $51,353 

1.1.2 $52,404 

1.1.3 $53,459 

1.1.4 $54,514 

2 

2.1 $56,271 $64,268 

2.1.1 $56,271 

2.1.2 $57,414 

2.1.3 $58,555 

2.1.4 $59,701 

2.1.5 $60,839 

2.1.6 $61,984 

2.1.7 $63,126 

2.1.8 $64,268 

2.2 $65,409 $72,262 

2.2.1 $65,409 

2.2.2 $66,551 

2.2.3 $67,691 

2.2.4 $68,836 

2.2.5 $69,975 

2.2.6 $71,121 

2.2.7 $72,262 

3 

3.1 $73,842 $81,753 

3.1.1 $73,842 

3.1.2 $75,426 

3.1.3 $77,008 

3.1.4 $78,589 

3.1.5 $80,169 

3.1.6 $81,753 

3.2 $83,333 $89,661 

3.2.1 $83,333 

3.2.2 $84,917 

3.2.3 $86,498 

3.2.4 $88,077 

3.2.5 $89,661 

4 4.1 $91,418 $103,725 

4.1.1 $91,418 

4.1.2 $93,470 

4.1.3 $95,522 

4.1.4 $97,568 

4.1.5 $99,623 

4.1.6 $101,673 

4.1.7 $103,725 

S
en

io
r 

O
ff

ic
er

 

5 
5.1 $105,479 $116,550 

 $3,161 
5.2 $116,552 $127,621 

6 
6.1 $129,379 $151,259 

 $3,992 
6.2 $151,260 $173,138 

S
en

io
r 

T
ec

hn
ic

al
 

S
pe

ci
al

is
t 

7 

7.1 $175,731 $196,817 

 $6,558 7.2 $196,821 $217,908 

7.3 $217,908 $238,997 

 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 – Schedule B 
 

118  

 

Effective 1 December 
2023 

 Grade 
Value 
Range 

Salary Ranges 
Progression amounts 

Min. Max. 

V
P

S
 O

ff
ic

er
 

1 1.1 $51,867 $55,059 

1.1.1 $51,867 

1.1.2 $52,928 

1.1.3 $53,994 

1.1.4 $55,059 

2 

2.1 $56,834 $64,911 

2.1.1 $56,834 

2.1.2 $57,988 

2.1.3 $59,141 

2.1.4 $60,298 

2.1.5 $61,447 

2.1.6 $62,604 

2.1.7 $63,757 

2.1.8 $64,911 

2.2 $66,063 $72,985 

2.2.1 $66,063 

2.2.2 $67,217 

2.2.3 $68,368 

2.2.4 $69,524 

2.2.5 $70,675 

2.2.6 $71,832 

2.2.7 $72,985 

3 

3.1 $74,580 $82,571 

3.1.1 $74,580 

3.1.2 $76,180 

3.1.3 $77,778 

3.1.4 $79,375 

3.1.5 $80,971 

3.1.6 $82,571 

3.2 $84,166 $90,558 

3.2.1 $84,166 

3.2.2 $85,766 

3.2.3 $87,363 

3.2.4 $88,958 

3.2.5 $90,558 

4 4.1 $92,332 $104,762 

4.1.1 $92,332 

4.1.2 $94,405 

4.1.3 $96,477 

4.1.4 $98,544 

4.1.5 $100,619 

4.1.6 $102,690 

4.1.7 $104,762 

S
en

io
r 

O
ff

ic
er

 

5 
5.1 $106,534 $117,716 

 $3,193 
5.2 $117,718 $128,897 

6 
6.1 $130,673 $152,772 

 $4,032 
6.2 $152,773 $174,869 

S
en

io
r 

T
ec

hn
ic

al
 

S
pe

ci
al

is
t 

7 

7.1 $177,488 $198,785 

 $6,624 7.2 $198,789 $220,087 

7.3 $220,087 $241,387 
 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule C 
 

119  

Schedule C Classification Descriptors 2020 
 

 

1. VPS NON-EXECUTIVE CAREER STRUCTURE CLASSIFICATION AND VALUE RANGE STANDARD DESCRIPTORS 
 

Table 1.1: VPS Grade Descriptors and Value Range Standard Descriptors - Grades 1 to 4 

 Grade 1 

For employees 
participating in 
formal trainee, 
cadetship or similar 
VPS wide entry level 
employment 
program 

Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 

Value Range  VR1 VR2 VR1 VR2  

Decision Making 1.1A 2.1A 2.2A 3.1A 3.2A 4.1A 

Accountability and 
Frameworks 

Undertakes specific 
and defined tasks 
within established 
rules under close 
supervision, defined 
as: 

 clear and detailed 
instructions are 
provided; tasks 
are covered by 
standard 
procedures; 

 deviation from 
procedures or 
unfamiliar 
situations are 
referred to higher 
levels; and 

Applies rules, 
processes and 
standards under 
general supervision 

Plans and prioritises 
own work program to 
achieve defined 
targets 

Changes own work 
program, which may 
impact on the 
operations of the work 
area 

Selects from a range 
of accepted options 
established by rules, 
processes, and 
standards 

Makes decisions that 
may have significant 
impact on clients 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Team leadership may 
be exercised where 
appropriate to the role 

Exercises professional 
judgement about the 
application of rules, 
or the selection of 
choices within 
guidelines 

Resolves local 
operational service 
delivery problems 
within guidelines 

Reviews decisions, 
assessments and 
recommendations 
from less experienced 

Sets local precedents 
regarding the 
application of 
guidelines 

Provides guidance for 
others in the work 
area and/ or related 
areas 

Develops guidelines 
within the work area 

Resolves operational 
service delivery 
problems consistent 
with program 
objectives 

Interprets and applies 
business plans and 
policies to own area 
of responsibility 
Advice and analysis 
contributes to policy 
formulation 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule C 
 

120  

 team members 

Determines the work 
organisation of the 
work area 

Analysis and advice 
contributes to 
decision making by 
others 

Manages budget and 
resources for the work 

  work is regularly 
checked 

   

 Influences own daily 
work priorities and 
schedules under 
direction of 
supervisor 

   

 Accountable for 
accuracy and 

   








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule C 
 

121  

 

Table 1.1: VPS Grade Descriptors and Value Range Standard Descriptors - Grades 1 to 4 

 Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 

Value Range  VR1 VR2 VR1 VR2  

 timeliness of outputs   area   

Innovation and 
Originality 

The focus is on 
maintaining existing 
systems and 
processes 

Identifies 
opportunities to 
improve own 
efficiency and 
suggests these to 
supervisor 

Judgement is required 
to solve problems 
arising in own work 
program 

Takes initiative to 
recommend improved 
processes in 
immediate work area 

Creatively deals with 
problems within the 
work area 

Initiates 
improvements to 
procedures within the 
work area 

Assesses and 
responds to policy 
and process changes 
in the work area 

Identifies and applies 
developments within 
professional field to 
problem solving 
within the work area 

Innovative thinking is 
an inherent feature of 
the job 

Defines the 
appropriate 
methodology in the 
analysis of policy or 
research options 

Communication 1.1B 2.1B 2.2B 3.1B 3.2B 4.1B 

 
Provides and receives 
routine information 

Communication is 
mainly focused on 
routine issues that 
may require an 
understanding of the 
operational context 

Explains rules, 
procedures and 
operational policies to 
individual clients or 
colleagues 

Presents routine 
information to small 
groups and provides 
feedback to 
organisation 

Draft routine internal 
reports and 
correspondence 

Liaises with 
stakeholders, clients 
and external providers 
of goods and services 

Suggests alternative 
approaches to clients 

Conducts formal 
community 
information sessions 
and consultative 
process involving 
small groups or 
participates in a 
similar process in 
larger groups 

Uses persuasion 
skills in dealing with 
an individual client, 
colleague, service 
provider or the like 

May lead a team 
through activities 
including individual 
and team performance 
management and 
development 

Explains concepts and 
policies to clients, 
stakeholders and staff 

Plans, leads and 
facilitates information 
sessions and 
consultative processes 
in a range of settings 

Prepares briefs on 
sensitive issues for 
consideration of 
others 

Draft public 

Plan, lead and 
facilitate consultative 
processes in a range 
of settings involving 
more difficult or 
sensitive issues 

Prepares complex 
operational reports 
requiring in-depth 
factual analysis 

Conveys specialist 
concepts and policies 
to clients, staff and 
stakeholders 

Prepares reports, 
briefs and 
correspondence on 
complex issues that 
impact at program or 
organisational level 

Develops and 
implements 
operational 
communication and 
consultation strategies 
on specific projects 

Applies negotiation 
persuasion and 

motivation skills to 








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manage staff and 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule C 
 

123  

 

Table 1.1: VPS Grade Descriptors and Value Range Standard Descriptors - Grades 1 to 4 

 Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 

Value Range  VR1 VR2 VR1 VR2  

  or stakeholders 

Understands 
procedures for 
effectively dealing 
with people exhibiting 
challenging 
behaviours 

 communication 
documents 

Communicates issues 
and advocates a 
preferred case or 
option to stakeholders 

Communicate 
professional/ technical 
concepts and advice 

 stakeholders 

 Provides 
communication 
guidance to less 
experienced 
colleagues 

 

 Uses persuasion, 
advocacy, negotiation 
and motivation skills 
with clients, 
providers, staff, peers 
and managers 

 

Knowledge and 
Proficiency 

1.1C 2.1C 2.2C 3.1C 3.2C 4.1C 








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Focus is on learning, 
developing and 
refining work skills 

Requires knowledge 
of equipment and 
tools to perform 
routine tasks, 
experiments and 
procedures, and 

develops practical 
application of these 

Understands and 
applies theoretical 
principles, under 
supervision, to 
achieve defined 
outcomes 

Develops knowledge 
of established 
techniques and 
organisational 

Uses theoretical 
knowledge under 
supervision to 
achieve defined 
outcomes in a variety 
of work situations 

Local reference point 
in operational 
processes and 
procedures 

Uses theoretical 
knowledge to achieve 
agreed outcomes in 
moderately complex 
work situations 

Authoritative in 
application of 
processes and policy 
relevant to the work 
unit 

Adapts theoretical 
knowledge based on 
practical experience 
and/or understanding 
of current issues in 
the field 

Applies 
understanding of 
interrelationships 
between stakeholders 

and/or other work 

Researches and 
applies advanced 
theoretical knowledge 
in a specialised field 
to operational 
problem solving 

Applies sound 
theoretical and 
practical expertise in 
development of policy 








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Table 1.1: VPS Grade Descriptors and Value Range Standard Descriptors - Grades 1 to 4 

 Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 

Value Range  VR1 VR2 VR1 VR2  

 skills 

Requires 
understanding of 
general office work 
routines and 
procedures 

Acquire and apply 
proficiency in 
standard office 
equipment and 
computer applications 

processes 

Proficient in use of 
software or technical 
equipment 

Knowledge of 
legislation, 
regulations, policies 
and processes relevant 
and specific to the role 

 Knowledge of 
relevant legislation, 
regulations, policies 
and processes 

units to achieve local 
objectives 

options 

Authoritative in 
application of 
processes 

Policy and Projects 1.1D 2.1D 2.2D 3.1D 3.2D 4.1D 

 
Provides 
administrative 
support to policy and 
projects, consistent 
with the support 
elements described in 
1.1B 

Drafts minutes and 
action plans for 
consideration by 
others 

Collects data, 
undertakes basic 
analysis and prepares 
simple reports 

Undertakes research 
specified by others, 
including data 
analysis 

Administers routine 
projects under 
direction or 
coordinates project 
steps 

Contributes to 
operational service 
delivery policy 
development 

Researches issues and 
prepares draft reports 
and briefings within a 
project plan or policy 
framework set by 
others 

Conducts projects of 
defined scope under 
direction 

Obtains, summarises 
and reports on 
stakeholder views 

Plans and conducts 
several narrowly 
scoped projects 
simultaneously 

Conducts aspects of 
more complex 
projects under 
direction 

Contributes to 
planning on large 
projects 

Researches and 
develops 
recommendations in a 
specific field of 
expertise 

Develops and 
implements 
operational policy 
which impacts the 
immediate work area 

Contributes to 
strategic policy 
development within a 
specific field of 
expertise 

     Manages projects, 
usually under limited 
direction 

     Contributes expertise 








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to a team working on 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule C 
 

127  

 

Table 1.1: VPS Grade Descriptors and Value Range Standard Descriptors - Grades 1 to 4 

 Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 

Value Range  VR1 VR2 VR1 VR2  

      complex projects 

Prepares project 
scopes and briefs 
within broad 
parameters 

Manages multi- 
disciplinary project 
teams 

Administrative and 
Corporate Support 

1.1E 2.1E 2.2E 3.1E 3.2E 4.1E 

 
Performs routine 
administrative tasks, 
including general 
telephone, counter 
and front office 
enquiries, mail 
deliveries, assisting 
with stock control, 
supporting 
organisation of 
meetings, receiving 
and initial processing 
of standard 
paperwork 

Provides office 
support through 
activities such as 
using and maintaining 
standard office 
equipment and 
software 

Drafts routine 
correspondence and 
minutes 

Organises routine 
meetings and small 
functions 

Undertakes standard 
processing work such 
as data entry, 
purchasing, payments 
and reports using 
office databases 

Responsible for 
office support 
services and systems 
for a work unit 

Documents meeting 
outcomes in more 
complex situations 

Provides support to 
contract 
administration 

Demonstrates 
problem solving in 
processing work 

Create and maintains 
local databases or 
reporting systems 
utilising standard 
software 

May lead a corporate 
support team 

Manages team 
performance through 
activities such as 
monitoring and 
reporting 

Maintains corporate 
databases and 
completes analysis 

Monitors and 
administers straight 
forward, local 
contracts and service 
agreements within a 
well-defined service 
delivery framework 

Prepares and analyses 
reports from corporate 
databases to support 
decision making in 
the broader work area 

Develops local 
databases or reporting 
systems 

Negotiate straight 
forward, local 
contracts and service 
agreements 

Leads a larger or 
complex corporate 
support work unit 

Provides specialist 
administrative and 
corporate support 
expertise 

Negotiates and 
manages straight 
forward, corporate 
contracts and service 
agreements 

Drafts reports and 
recommendations by 
interpreting and 
analysing data 








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Performs telephone 
and counter duties 
consistent with 2.1B 

Analyse standard 
reports and data to 
identify exceptions 

   








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Table 1.1: VPS Grade Descriptors and Value Range Standard Descriptors - Grades 1 to 4 

 Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 

Value Range  VR1 VR2 VR1 VR2  

Operational Service 
Delivery 

1.1F 2.1F 2.2F 3.1F 3.2F 4.1F 

 
Provides routine 
information, such as 
standard information 
and explanations, to 
clients and members 
of the public 

Provides standard 
services under general 
supervision and within 
a defined service 
delivery framework 

Delivers information 
services to the general 
public or clients, 
including initial 
advice and referral 

Consistent with the 
development of 
knowledge specified 
at 2.1C, participates in 
routine investigations 
under direction and 
provides evidence if 
required 

Reconciles, banks 
monies and manages 
petty cash 

Assesses client needs 
and implements 
appropriate service 
delivery from a range 
of accepted options 

Identifies where 
limited precedents 
apply and may 
recommend action to 
be taken 

Assists in preparing 
or presenting cases in 
a range of review 
forums, tribunals and 
courts 

Supervises a service 
delivery team 

Assesses client needs 
and delivers a range 
of services in complex 
situations investigates 
and assesses actions 
by individuals or 
organisations against 
legislation, rules, 
regulations and 
service agreements 

Advocates issues 
involving established 
precedents before a 
range of review 
forums, tribunals and 
courts 

Participates in the 
development of 
strategies to represent 
the organisation or 
clients, involving 
complex and 
challenging problems 

Reviews client 
assessments and 
associated service 
delivery plans 

Advocates more 
complex cases to 
represent the 
organisation or clients 
before a range of 
review forums, 
tribunals and courts 

Recommends 
strategies to represent 
the agency and/or 
clients involving 
complex and 
challenging problems 

Determines 
operational service 
delivery plans based 
on accepted standards 

Recommends 
resource allocation to 
immediate manager in 
order to meet service 
delivery priorities 

Manages operational 
work teams 

Undertakes advanced 
case management, 
which may include 
cross agency 
collaboration 

Undertakes complex 
or technical 
investigations and 
makes 
recommendations for 
action 

Receives payment for 
routine services such 
as the sale of 
publications and 
individual licence 
fees 

Performs routine 
service delivery 
functions for clients 
such as, driving, food 
preparation, cleaning, 
gardening, assisting 
qualified trade 
persons and minor 
maintenance 

Operates and 
maintains tools and 
equipment 
appropriate to the 
function and level of 
qualification 

Technical/Specialist 1.1G 2.1G 2.2G 3.1G 3.2G 4.1G 








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Assists technicians, 
scientists and 
specialists in tasks 

Conducts routine 
scientific, technical or 
specialist procedures 

Modifies routine 
scientific, technical 
or specialist 

Conducts small to 
medium scientific, 
technical or specialist 

Plan small to medium 
scientific, technical or 

Manages a scientific, 
technical or specialist 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule C 
 

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Table 1.1: VPS Grade Descriptors and Value Range Standard Descriptors - Grades 1 to 4 

 Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 

Value Range  VR1 VR2 VR1 VR2  

 that are 
straightforward and 
use established 
techniques and work 
practices 

Operates and 
maintains technical or 
scientific equipment 
appropriate to the 
function and level of 
qualification 

This level performs 
routine technical 
support functions 
such as setting up a 
laboratory, cleaning 
equipment, and 
supporting field work 

and data collection, 
collation and analysis 

Diagnoses and 
corrects faults and 
problems with 
technical equipment 

Contributes to 
scientific or technical 
project planning 

procedures to a 
limited specification 

Exercises discretion 
in use of equipment 
and actions to 
achieve results within 
specifications 

projects defined by 
others 

Undertakes technical 
data analysis in field 
of expertise 

Conducts field or 
desk-top studies as 
part of a team 

Assembles non- 
standard technical 
systems or equipment 
to a specification 

Leads a small 
scientific, technical or 
specialist team 

specialist projects 

May control a 
laboratory function or 
field operation where 
a range of related 
technical functions 
are performed 

Prepares complex 
reports requiring in- 
depth factual analysis 

team and/or projects 

Independently 
performs professional 
or technical work at 
an advanced level in a 
narrow field of 
expertise or on 
research projects 

Provides professional 
scientific, technical or 
specialist advice 
based on field of 
expertise 

Undertakes technical 
data analysis and 
modelling and 
prepares reports 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule C 
 

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Table 1.2: VPS Grade Descriptors and Value Range Standard Descriptors - Grades 5 And 6 

 Grade 5 Grade 6 

Value Range VR 1 VR 2 VR 1 VR 2 

Decision Making 5.1A 5.2A 6.1A 6.2A 

Rules, Guidelines, and 
Frameworks 

Decisions often impact upon 
staff, peers and clients outside the 
immediate work area 

Makes decisions in situations 
where there is some, but not 
definitive, precedent about the 
application of an organisational 
framework 

Advice and analysis influences 
policy development 

Decisions may set precedents for 
peers 

Develops business plans to 
deliver on evolving 
organisational priorities 

Develops policy frameworks 
within area of expertise or 
responsibility based on defined 
organisational priorities 

Participates in strategic planning 
and contributes to strategic 
decision making process 

Accountable for achievement of 
established corporate objectives 
including the formulation and 
implementation of local business 
plans 

Develops policies, 
programs and initiatives 
that impact on programs or 
major functional areas 

Required to interpret 
general policy framework 
to make decisions in the 
absence of definitive 
operational policies 

 Contributes to strategic business 
planning 

  

 Interprets and applies business 
plans and policies in own area of 
responsibility and provides 
advice to others on 
implementation issues 

  

 Accountable for work 
organisation, the allocation of 
resources within and the outputs 
required of the work area 

  

Innovation and Originality Innovative thinking and analysis 
influences developments within 
area of responsibility 

Solutions and thinking may 
advance organisational 
innovation or 
occupational/professional 
knowledge 

Identifies and responds to new 
and emerging strategic issues 
impacting on the operating 
environment 

Contributes advanced 
expertise and knowledge to 
strategic planning and 
decision making processes 

  Creatively develops options in a 
changing organisational 
environment 

  








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule C 
 

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Table 1.2: VPS Grade Descriptors and Value Range Standard Descriptors - Grades 5 And 6 

 Grade 5 Grade 6 

Value Range VR 1 VR 2 VR 1 VR 2 

Communication 5.1B 5.2B 6.1B 6.2B 

 
Initiates and maintains 
relationships with peer and senior 
internal and external stakeholders 

Focuses on understanding 
stakeholder issues 

Relies on formal and informal 
communication channels to 
achieve goals and engages 
stakeholders to help them 
identify areas and opportunities 

for improvement 

Purpose of communication may 
be to resolve complex issues 
through a process of consultation 
and negotiation 

Prepares technical reports at an 
authoritative level 

Develops briefs on highly 
complex issues that provide 
options for decision within an 
organisation 

Initiates and manages 
negotiations with peers (internal 
and external to work unit) to gain 
commitment to projects, and 
delivery of activities to meet 
timelines 

Provides and receives highly 
complex, contentious or sensitive 
information where high levels of 
negotiation, communication and 
interpersonal skills are required 

Is required to use formal 
and informal channels to 
influence organisation or 
program management to 
achieve goals 

Influences stakeholders 
holding competing 
priorities and views 

Briefs high level 
stakeholders in own area of 
expertise in a variety of 
forums 

Operates with loosely 
defined hierarchies of 
decision-making 

Negotiates to resolve 
differences to achieve 
agreement to 
project/program 

May be required to 
negotiate on the spot, often 

Negotiates with stakeholders and 
peers with the object of gaining 
co-operation and meeting 
timelines for delivery of project, 

service or advice 

Initiates and maintains effective 
relationships with internal and 
external stakeholders at peer or 
senior levels 

Prepares technical reports at an 
advanced professional level 

Manages consultation processes 
including engagement with key 
stakeholders. 

 Negotiates with stakeholders, 
peers, industry bodies and other 
government agencies with the 
objective of gaining co-operation, 
influencing views and meeting 
timelines for delivery of project, 
service or advice 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule C 
 

134  

 Is influential in negotiations with 
external suppliers of major 
services 

Explains highly complex 
concepts, ideas and issues to an 
executive (i.e. non-expert) 
audience 

Represents own work area with 
external stakeholders, and 
effectively manages feedback 

Confidently represents the 

agency with external peers and 
negotiate within parameters 

on the basis of limited 
information 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule C 
 

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Table 1.2: VPS Grade Descriptors and Value Range Standard Descriptors - Grades 5 And 6 

 Grade 5 Grade 6 

Value Range VR 1 VR 2 VR 1 VR 2 

   agreed with immediate manager 

Focuses on understanding 
stakeholder issues and 
influencing their views 

Provides authoritative expert 
advice on complex issues within 
own area 

 

Policy and Projects 5.1C 5.2C 6.1C 6.2C 

 
Formulates policy options and 
advice 

Develops project briefs consistent 
with business plan direction 

Manages and leads projects 

Develops briefs on highly 
complex issues that provide 
options for discussion and 
consideration and will contribute 
to the development of a set of 
final options for decision 

Advocates policy options 

Manages and leads complex 
projects 

Responsible for operational 
policy or service development 
impacting on a major functional 
area 

Responsible for implementation 
of endorsed strategic policy 
within the functional area 

Routinely advises senior 
stakeholders on policy issues and 
solutions within a functional area 

Responsible for 
operational policy or 
service development that 
has significant impact 
across functional areas 

Responsible for 
implementation of 
endorsed strategic policy 
across functional areas 

Area of expertise and 
responsibility is 
complicated by the scale 
and difficulty of the issues 

   Manages major projects for 
the organisation 

   Provides policy advice to 
government, senior levels 
of the organisation and key 
external stakeholders 

Administrative and Corporate 
Support 

5.1D 5.2D 6.1D 6.2D 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule C 
 

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Manages a discrete function with 
limited budget or staff 

Manages a discrete function with 
increased budget, staff 

Manages an area with significant 
budget, staff responsibilities or 

Provides leadership and 
guidance based on 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule C 
 

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Table 1.2: VPS Grade Descriptors and Value Range Standard Descriptors - Grades 5 And 6 

 Grade 5 Grade 6 

Value Range VR 1 VR 2 VR 1 VR 2 

 responsibilities 

Provides high level expertise 
dealing with more complex 
issues in a specialised corporate 
support function 

responsibilities, or sensitive or 
complex issues 

Provides professional leadership 
in a specialised corporate support 
function 

strategic importance 

Contributes to strategic corporate 
initiatives and is responsible for 
implementation 

advanced expertise 

Manages a range of 
strategic corporate 
functions, each with 
significant budget, staff 
responsibilities or strategic 
importance 

   Leads strategic corporate 
initiatives 

Operational Service Delivery 5.1E 5.2E 6.1E 6.2E 

 
Manages cross-functional 
delivery within a defined service 

Manages cross-functional 
delivery of a defined service with 
increased budget, staff 
responsibilities, or sensitive or 
complex issues 

Provides specialist professional 
services or advice, including 
leadership and guidance to other 
specialists in the field 

Manages a large scale 
organisational service or regional 
delivery function 

Develops service delivery models 
within business plans and 
objectives 

Provides highly specialist 
services or expert advice on 
service delivery 

Provides leadership and 
guidance based on 
advanced expertise 

Develops complex or 
specialised service delivery 
models 

Responsible for meeting 
service objectives, 
including financial, quality 
and time related targets for 
programs or major projects 

Develops service plans and 
delivery standards for the area of 
responsibility 

Determines service delivery 
resource allocation 

Provides specialist professional 
services or advice 

Technical Specialist 5.1F 5.2F 6.1F 6.2F 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule C 
 

138  

 
Specialist in an area of their 
profession and relied on for 
advice in this field 

Undertakes complex independent 
scientific, technical or specialist 
work and analysis 

Initiates research and analysis 
within an area of expertise 

consistent with organisational 

Provides leadership and guidance 
to other specialists in the field 

Contributes to the development 
of standards relating to the sector, 
program or profession 

Subject matter expert that 
conceptualises, initiates, 
implements, promotes and 
evaluates complex and innovative 
technical programs 

Routinely advises senior levels of 
the organisation on policy issues 
and solutions within a functional 
area 

Area of expertise and 
responsibility is 
complicated by the scale 
and difficulty of the issues 

Provides leadership and 
guidance based on 
advanced expertise 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule C 
 

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Table 1.2: VPS Grade Descriptors and Value Range Standard Descriptors - Grades 5 And 6 

 Grade 5 Grade 6 

Value Range VR 1 VR 2 VR 1 VR 2 

 objectives  Develop technical or professional 
standards for the organisation 

 

Knowledge and Proficiency 5.1G 5.2G 6.1G 6.2G 

 
Uses specialist knowledge within 
a confined field to challenge 
policies and professional 
concepts. Applies complex 
concepts to policy development 
or research 

Provides leadership in the 
adaptation and application of 
concepts to operational matters 
within local work area 

Models high level leadership 
attributes 

Modifies and applies concepts to 
new situations that may impact 
beyond the immediate work area 

Provides leadership in the 
application of concepts to policy 
development 

Uses knowledge of structures, 
processes and culture of 
government, the sector and the 
Department to develop policies 
and new program or project 
initiatives 

Applies complex concepts drawn 
from non-related fields to address 
policy issues 

High level expertise in the field 
or discipline 

Proficiency and expertise 
has a significant impact on 
the capability to deliver the 
policy agenda, program or 
project initiatives 

High level expertise in the 
program area 

High level expertise in a 
field or discipline that is 
critical to the program or 
organisation 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule C 
 

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Table 1.3: VPS Grade Descriptors and Value Range Standard Descriptors - Senior Technical Specialist 

Value Range VR 1 VR 2 VR 3 

 7.1A 7.2A 7.3A 

 Leads highly specialised professional 
research, Provides professional leadership in a 
major program or field of research 

Manages a significant professional research 
institute or function with significant resource 
management responsibilities 

Provide state-wide expertise within a specific 
field of endeavour critical to the agency’s 
overall program 

Responsible for quality professional outcomes 
of work 

Understands the implications of the work and 
its impact on/contribution to Departmental or 
Government policy 

Provides professional leadership and 
development of staff in area of professional 
expertise 

Influences departmental policy direction and 
may develop or change policy as a result of 
specialised work or research. 

Responsible for the quality professional 
outcomes of major projects 

Departmental and Statewide reputation is 
associated with positions at this level 

This value range is characterised by work 
consistent with that expressed in Value range 
1 with broader scope, complexity and impact 

Provides authoritative advice and leadership in 
area of expertise 

Manages a professional discipline that impacts 
on department wide operations and provides 
high level professional advice to programs 
across the agency 

Manages substantial resources primarily 
associated with projects of significance to the 
Department/Government or within the field of 
expertise 

Provides professional leadership and 
development of staff in area of professional 
expertise including leading and inspiring 
teams of fellow professionals 

Regarded as having the highest level of 
expertise within the Agency and is recognised 
nationally and internationally in narrower 
fields 

Expertise is of primary importance to the 
Department/Government 

Considerable resource management 
responsibility primarily associated with 
projects of primary importance to the 
Department/Government or within the field of 
scientific or professional expertise 

Manages capital management projects in the 
order of multi-million dollar, cross portfolio or 
major agency projects 

Decision Making 7.1B   








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule C 
 

141  

Accountability and 
Frameworks 

Limited frameworks, precedents and 
guidelines beyond broad Government policy 
and professional discipline standards 

Generates strategic directions and programs 
for the agency or the sector 

Develops strategic frameworks for research or 
industry development 

  








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule C 
 

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Table 1.3: VPS Grade Descriptors and Value Range Standard Descriptors - Senior Technical Specialist 

Value Range VR 1 VR 2 VR 3 

 Typically operates in an environment with a 
high degree of sensitivity or risk associated 
with the particular industry sector, field or 
professional endeavour 

Outcomes directly affect external perceptions 
of the Department by Government and the 
community 

Influences the national and international 
debate in the profession/ field of expertise 

  

Innovation and Originality 7.1C   

 
Recognised nationally as a specialist in a 
particular field and applies this knowledge to 
achieve highly creative and/or innovative 
solutions to major challenges/ major projects 

Identifies and responds to new and emerging 
issues in the field and their longer term 
implications for the State 

  

Communication 7.1D 7.2D 7.3D 

 
Interacts with executives/ professional staff 
within the organisation and with other experts 
in the field/profession 

Communicates at highest managerial levels 
and with Ministers 

Communicates externally across industry. Can 
be at national and international levels 

Informs stakeholders of matters arising from 
‘professional/expert’ role. As an expert, 
communication will rarely be questioned 

Close interaction with other professionals in 
the field 

Direct contact with senior political, 

Develops and utilises national and 
international communication networks to 
ensure appropriate development and 
application of research or project initiatives in 
accordance with government priorities 

Negotiates elements of million dollar projects 
or the involvement or contribution of senior 
public or private sector leaders 

Initiates and negotiates joint research 
programs with universities and other agencies 

Negotiates all aspects of multi-million dollar 
projects to ensure they are on-budget and on- 
time 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule C 
 

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Table 1.3: VPS Grade Descriptors and Value Range Standard Descriptors - Senior Technical Specialist 

Value Range VR 1 VR 2 VR 3 

 commercial, community or sector stakeholders 

Provides expert information and advice on 
professional field of interest/major project/s 

Develops and utilises communication 
networks to ensure appropriate development 
and application of research or project 
initiatives in accordance with government 
priorities 

  

Knowledge and Proficiency 7.1E   

 
Requires significant experience in the 
field/area of expertise 

Authoritative specialist/expert in the field 

Enhances the standing of the agency and its 
reputation for excellence 

Writes, publishes and presents research, 
arguments and cases to peers, stakeholders 
and senior management 

Demonstrates strategic management skills 

Combines significant achievement with a 
substantial body of demonstrated effectiveness 
and professional experience 

  








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 – Schedule D 
 

144  

Schedule D Supported Wage System 
 

 Supported Wage System 

 This schedule deals with the calculation of minimum rates of pay which will 
apply to Employees who because of the effects of a disability are eligible for 
a supported wage under the terms of this Agreement. In the context of this 
clause, the following definitions will apply: 

(a) Supported wage system means the commonwealth government system 
to promote employment for people who cannot work at full award wages 
because of a disability, as documented in the Supported Wage System 
(SWS) Handbook. 

(b) Approved assessor means a person accredited by the management unit 
established by the commonwealth under the supported wage system to 
perform assessments of an individual's productive capacity within the 
supported wage system. 

(c) Disability support pension means the commonwealth pension scheme 
to provide income security for persons with a disability as provided under 
the Social Security Act 1991(Cth) or any successor to that scheme. 

(d) Assessment instrument means the tool provided for under the supported 
wage system that records the assessment of the productive capacity of the 
person to be employed under the supported wage system. 

(e) SWS wage assessment agreement means the document in the form 
required by the Department of Social Services that records the 
employee’s productive capacity and agreed wage rate 

 Eligibility criteria 

(a) Employees covered by this clause will be those who are unable to 
perform the range of duties to the competence level required within 
the class of work for which the Employee is engaged under this 
Agreement, because of the effects of a disability on their productive 
capacity and who meet the impairment criteria for receipt of a 
disability support pension. 

(b) This clause does not apply to any existing Employee who has a claim 
against the Employer which is subject to the provisions of accident 
compensation legislation or any provision of this Agreement relating 
to the rehabilitation of Employees who are injured in the course of 
their employment. 

(c) This clause does not apply to the Employer in respect of their facility, 
programme, undertaking, service or the like which receives funding 
under the Disability Services Act 1986 (Cth) and fulfils the dual role 
of service provider and sheltered Employer to people with disabilities 
who are in receipt of or are eligible for a disability support pension, 
except with respect to an organisation which has received recognition 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 – Schedule D 
 

145  

under s.10 or under s.12a of the Disability Services Act 1986 (Cth), or 
if a part only has received recognition, that part. 

 Supported wage rates 

(a) Supported wage rates must be calculated as a percentage of the 
minimum rate of pay prescribed by this Agreement for the class of 
work the person is performing according to the following table: 

Assessed capacity 
Percentage of prescribed 
Agreement rate 

10%* 10% 

20% 20% 

30% 30% 

40% 40% 

50% 50% 

60% 60% 

70% 70% 

80% 80% 

90% 90% 

(b) Provided that the minimum amount payable to an Employee is not less 
than $89.00 per week effective date of approval of this Agreement. 
This rate will be adjusted by the movement in the Special national 
minimum wage 2 as determined by the annual National Minimum 
Wage Order. 

(c) *Where a person’s assessed capacity is 10 per cent, they shall receive 
a high degree of assistance and support. 

 Assessment of capacity 

(a) For the purpose of establishing the applicable percentage of the 
Agreement rate to be paid to an Employee under this Agreement, the 
productive capacity of the Employee will be assessed in accordance 
with the supported wage system by an approved assessor, having 
consulted with the Employer and Employee, and if the Employee so 
desires, a union which the Employee is eligible to join. 

(b) All assessments made under this schedule must be documented in a 
SWS wage assessment agreement, and retained by the Employer as a 
time and wages record in accordance with the Act.  

 Lodgement of assessment instrument 

(a) All SWS wage assessment agreements under this Schedule, including 
the applicable percentage of the Agreement Salary to be paid to the 
Employee, must be lodged by the Employer with FWC. 

(b) All SWS wage assessment agreements must be agreed and signed by 
the Employee and Employer parties to the assessment. 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 – Schedule D 
 

146  

 Review of assessment 

The assessment of the applicable percentage should be subject to annual review 
or more frequent review on the basis of a reasonable request for such a review. 
The process of review must be in accordance with the procedures for assessing 
capacity under the supported wage system. 

 Other terms and conditions of employment 

Where an assessment has been made, the applicable percentage shall apply to 
the salary rate only. Employees covered by the provisions of the clause will be 
entitled to the same terms and conditions of employment as all other 
Employees covered by this Agreement paid on a pro rata basis. 

 Workplace adjustment 

If the Employer wishes to employ a person under the provisions of this clause 
they must take reasonable steps to make changes in the workplace to enhance 
the Employee's capacity to do the job. Changes may involve re-design of job 
duties, working time arrangements and work organisation in consultation with 
other Employees in the area. 

 Trial period 

(a) In order for an adequate assessment of the Employee's capacity to be 
made, the Employer may employ a person under the provisions of this 
clause for a trial period not exceeding twelve weeks, except that in 
some cases additional work adjustment time (not exceeding four 
weeks) may be needed. 

(b) During that trial period the assessment of the Employee’s capacity 
will be undertaken and the applicable percentage of the Agreement 
rate for a continuing employment relationship shall be determined. 

(c) The minimum amount payable to the Employee during the trial period 
shall be no less than $89 per week effective the date of approval of 
this Agreement. The rate will be adjusted by the movement in the 
Special national minimum wage 2 as determined by the annual 
National Minimum Wage Order. 

(d) Work trials should include induction or training as appropriate to the 
job being trialled. 

(e) Where the Employer and Employee wish to establish a continuing 
employment relationship following the completion of the trial period, 
a further contract of employment shall be entered into based on the 
outcome of assessment under clause 1.4 hereof. 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule E 
 

147  

 

 

Schedule E IMT Payments 
 

Effective for September 2021 payments 

 

IMT Role Level 3 Level 2 Endorsed 

Incident Controller $6,673 $4,003   

Safety Officer $4,003 $3,000   

Planning Officer $4,003 $3,000   

Plans Officer   $2,557   

Resources Officer   $2,557   

Communications Planner     $1,500 

Management Support Officer     $1,110 

Intelligence Officer $4,003 $3,000   

Situation & Analysis Officer   $2,557   

Mapping Officer   $2,557   

Public Information Officer $4,003 $3,000   

Warnings and Advice Officer   $2,557   

Media Officer   $2,557   

Community Liaison Officer     $1,500 

Social Media Officer     $1,110 

Operations Officer $4,003 $3,000   

Division Commander     $1,500 

Sector Commander     $1,110 

Aircraft Officer     $1,500 

Logistics Officer  $4,003 $3,000   

Base Camp Manager     $1,500 

Supply Officer     $1,110 

Facilities Officer     $1,110 

Finance Officer     $1,500 

Other EM Functions       

State Response Controller     $7,000 

Regional Controller (incl Zone 
Controller) 

    $6,673 

Consequence Management Leader 
(CML) 

    $4,003 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule E 
 

148  

Consequence Management Officer 
(CMO) 

    $2,557 

State Agency Commander     $4,003 

Regional Agency Commander     $4,003 

Incident Agency Commander 
(ICC, ICP, OP) 

    $1,110 

Executive Officer     $1,500 

 

  








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule E 
 

149  

Effective for September 2022 payments 

IMT Role Level 3 Level 2 Endorsed 

Incident Controller $6,773 $4,063   

Safety Officer $4,063 $3,045   

Planning Officer $4,063 $3,045   

Plans Officer   $2,595   

Resources Officer   $2,595   

Communications Planner     $1,523 

Management Support Officer     $1,127 

Intelligence Officer $4,063 $3,045   

Situation & Analysis Officer   $2,595   

Mapping Officer   $2,595   

Public Information Officer $4,063 $3,045   

Warnings and Advice Officer   $2,595   

Media Officer   $2,595   

Community Liaison Officer     $1,523 

Social Media Officer     $1,127 

Operations Officer $4,063 $3,045   

Division Commander     $1,523 

Sector Commander     $1,127 

Aircraft Officer     $1,523 

Logistics Officer  $4,063 $3,045   

Base Camp Manager     $1,523 

Supply Officer     $1,127 

Facilities Officer     $1,127 

Finance Officer     $1,523 

Other EM Functions       

State Response Controller     $7,105 

Regional Controller (incl Zone 
Controller) 

    $6,773 

Consequence Management Leader 
(CML) 

    $4,063 

Consequence Management Officer 
(CMO) 

    $2,595 

State Agency Commander     $4,063 

Regional Agency Commander     $4,063 

Incident Agency Commander 
(ICC, ICP, OP) 

    $1,127 

Executive Officer     $1,523 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule E 
 

150  

Effective for September 2023 payments 

IMT Role Level 3 Level 2 Endorsed 

Incident Controller $6,858 $4,114   

Safety Officer $4,114 $3,083   

Planning Officer $4,114 $3,083   

Plans Officer   $2,628   

Resources Officer   $2,628   

Communications Planner     $1,542 

Management Support Officer     $1,141 

Intelligence Officer $4,114 $3,083   

Situation & Analysis Officer   $2,628   

Mapping Officer   $2,628   

Public Information Officer $4,114 $3,083   

Warnings and Advice Officer   $2,628   

Media Officer   $2,628   

Community Liaison Officer     $1,542 

Social Media Officer     $1,141 

Operations Officer $4,114 $3,083   

Division Commander     $1,542 

Sector Commander     $1,141 

Aircraft Officer     $1,542 

Logistics Officer  $4,114 $3,083   

Base Camp Manager     $1,542 

Supply Officer     $1,141 

Facilities Officer     $1,141 

Finance Officer     $1,542 

Other EM Functions       

State Response Controller     $7,193 

Regional Controller (incl Zone 
Controller) 

    $6,858 

Consequence Management Leader 
(CML) 

    $4,114 

Consequence Management Officer 
(CMO) 

    $2,628 

State Agency Commander     $4,114 

Regional Agency Commander     $4,114 

Incident Agency Commander 
(ICC, ICP, OP) 

    $1,141 

Executive Officer     $1,542 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule E 
 

151  

Effective for September 2024 payments 

IMT Role Level 3 Level 2 Endorsed 

Incident Controller $6,960 $4,175   

Safety Officer $4,175 $3,129   

Planning Officer $4,175 $3,129   

Plans Officer   $2,667   

Resources Officer   $2,667   

Communications Planner     $1,565 

Management Support Officer     $1,158 

Intelligence Officer $4,175 $3,129   

Situation & Analysis Officer   $2,667   

Mapping Officer   $2,667   

Public Information Officer $4,175 $3,129   

Warnings and Advice Officer   $2,667   

Media Officer   $2,667   

Community Liaison Officer     $1,565 

Social Media Officer     $1,158 

Operations Officer $4,175 $3,129   

Division Commander     $1,565 

Sector Commander     $1,158 

Aircraft Officer     $1,565 

Logistics Officer  $4,175 $3,129   

Base Camp Manager     $1,565 

Supply Officer     $1,158 

Facilities Officer     $1,158 

Finance Officer     $1,565 

Other EM Functions       

State Response Controller     $7,301 

Regional Controller (incl Zone 
Controller) 

    $6,960 

Consequence Management Leader 
(CML) 

    $4,175 

Consequence Management Officer 
(CMO) 

    $2,667 

State Agency Commander     $4,175 

Regional Agency Commander     $4,175 

Incident Agency Commander 
(ICC, ICP, OP) 

    $1,158 

Executive Officer     $1,565 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule F 
 

152  

 

Schedule F Temporary Classifications During Declared Operations / Incident 
Management  

From the date of commencement of this Agreement, the following designated roles will be subject to the 
temporary classifications listed below during Declared Operations/Incident Management.  

Role Title Temporary VPS 
Level 

State Response Controller 7.2 

Regional Controller 6.2 

Incident Controller - Level 2 5.2 

Incident Controller - Level 3 6.2 

Consequence Management Leader 5.2 

State Agency Commander 6.1 

Regional Agency Commander 5.2 

Incident Agency Commander 4 

Planning Officer - Level 2 4 

Planning Officer - Level 3 5.1 

Resources Officer - Level 2 3.1 

Communications Planner 3.2 

Operations Officer - Level 2 4 

Operations Officer - Level 3 5.1 

Aircraft Officer 4 

Intelligence Officer - Level 2 4 

Intelligence Officer - Level 3 5.1 

Social Media Officer 3.1 

Situation Officer - Level 2 3.1 

Mapping Officer - Level 2 3.1 

Public Information Officer - Level 2 3.2 

Public Information Officer - Level 3 5.1 

Information and Warnings Officer - Level 2 2.2 

Media Officer 3.1 

Logistics Officer - Level 2 3.2 

Logistics Officer - Level 3 5.1 

Finance Officer  2.2 if within Logistics 

Safety Officer – L3 4 

Executive Officer 3.2 

Supply Officer 3.1 

Consequence Management Officer 4 








Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020– Schedule F 
 

153  

 
 

During the life of this Agreement, if the sector or VICSES decides to designate the following roles, the 
roles will be subject to the temporary classifications listed below during Declared Operations/Incident 
Management.  

Resource Officer – Level 3 4 

Situation Officer – Level 3 4 

Mapping Officer – Level 3 4 

 

  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 









Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 SIGNED for and on behalf of CPSU, THE COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION by its authorised officer Address: Klaren Band. Level 4 / 128 Exhibition Street Melbourne VIC 3000 Signature KAREN BATT (or representative) CPSU SPSF Victorian Branch Secretary (or representative) Date 15th NOVEMBER 2021 In the presence of: Address: LEVEL 4/128 EXHIBITION STREET .... MELBOURNE VIC 3000 Witness signature DARRYL ANTHONY Name of Witness (print) Date 15Th NOVEMBER 2021 SIGNED for and on behalf of the VICTORIA STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE by its authorised representatives Address: 168 Sturt Street Southbank VIC 3006 Signature STEPHEN GRIFFIN (or representative) Chief Executive Officer, Victoria State Emergency Service (or representative) Date. 11/11/2021 In the presence of: Address: 168 STURT STREET SOUTHBANK VIC 3006 Withess signature 154




 




Victorian State Emergency Service Enterprise Agreement 2020 SUSAN SERGEANT Name of Witness (print) Date 11 NOVEMBER 2021 155




 




IN THE FAIR WORK COMMISSION FWC Matter No: AG2021/7380 Applicant: Victoria State Emergency Service Authority t/a Victoria State Emergency Service Section 185 - Application for approval of a single enterprise agreement Undertakings - Section 190 of Fair Work Act 2009 I, Sharon Kelsey, Project Executive, Victoria State Emergency Service, have the authority given to me by Victoria State Emergency Service Authority t/a Victoria State Emergency Service, to give the following undertakings with respect to the Victoria State Emergency Service Agreement 2020 ("the Agreement.") 1. Supported Wage System Employees Notwithstanding the provisions of Schedule D, Clause 1.3 of the Agreement, the minimum amount payable to an Employee shall not be less than $90 per week. 2. General NES Precedence This Agreement shall be read and interpreted in conjunction with the National Employment Standards (NES.) Where there is an inconsistency between this agreement and the NES, and the NES provides a greater benefit, the NES provision will apply to the extent of the inconsistency. These undertakings are provided on the basis of issues raised by Fair Work Commission in the application before the Fair Work Commission. JRS Kelsey 7/11/2021 .- Signature Date

Cases cited by this decision: