AN170096 – Silviculture and Afforestation Award
The provisions of this clause apply to full-time and regular part-time employees (on a pro rata basis) but do not apply to casual employees. The entitlements of casual employees are set out in subclause (l) - Casual Employees – Caring Responsibilities.
(a) Definitions
The term ‘immediate family’ includes:
(i) spouse (including a former spouse, a de facto spouse and a former de facto spouse) of the employee. A de facto spouse means a person of the opposite sex to the employee who lives with the employee as his or her husband or wife on a bona fide domestic basis; and
(ii) child or an adult child (including an adopted child, a step child or an ex-nuptial child), parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling of the employee or spouse of the employee.
(b) Amount of Paid Personal Leave
(i) Paid personal leave is available to an employee, when they are absent:
(1) due to personal illness or injury; or
(2) for the purposes of caring for an immediate family or household member who is sick and requires the employee’s care and support or who requires care due to an unexpected emergency.
(ii) An employee during his first year of employment with an employer shall be entitled to personal leave entitlement at the rate of one day at the beginning of each of the first ten calendar months of his first year of employment.
PROVIDED that an employee who has completed one year of continuous employment shall be credited with a further ten days personal leave entitlement at the beginning of his second and each subsequent year, which, subject to subclause (d) hereof shall commence on the anniversary of engagement.
(c) In the case of an employee who claims to be allowed paid personal leave in accordance with this clause for an absence of one day only such employee if in the year he/she has already been allowed paid personal leave on two occasions for one day only, shall not be entitled to payment for the day claimed unless he/she produces to the employer a certificate of a duly qualified medical practitioner stating that the employee was unable to attend for duty on account of personal illness or injury.
PROVIDED that an employer may agree to accept from the employee a statutory declaration, stating that the employee was unable to attend for duty on account of personal illness or injury in lieu of a medical certificate. Nothing in this subclause shall limit the employer's rights under paragraph (j) hereof.
(d) Personal leave with an employer shall accumulate from year to year so that any balance of the period specified in subclause (h) hereof which in any year has not been claimed by the employee and subject to the conditions herein prescribed shall be allowed by that employer in a subsequent year, without diminution of the personal leave prescribed in respect of that year.
(e) Any personal leave for which an employee may become eligible under this award by reason of service with one employer shall not be cumulative upon personal leave for which the employee may become eligible by reason of subsequent service with another employer.
(f) If an employee is terminated by his employer and is re-engaged by the same employer within a period of six months, then the employee's unclaimed balance of personal leave shall continue from the date of re-engagement.
In such case the employee's next year of service will commence after a total of twelve months has been served with that employer excluding the period of interruption in service from the date of commencement of the previous period of employment or at the anniversary of the commencement of the previous period of employment, as the case may be.
(g) Personal Leave for Personal Injury or Sickness
An employee is entitled to use the full amount of their personal leave entitlement including accrued leave for the purposes of personal illness or injury, subject to the conditions set out in this clause.
(h) Personal Leave to Care for an Immediate Family or Household Member
(i) An employee is entitled to use up to 10 days personal leave, including accrued leave, each year to care for members of their immediate family or household who are sick and require care and support or who require care due to an unexpected emergency, subject to the conditions set out in this clause.
Leave may be taken for part of a single day.
(ii) By agreement between an employer and an individual employee, the employee may access an additional amount of their accrued personal leave for the purposes set out in paragraph (h)(i), beyond the limit set out in paragraph (h)(i). In such circumstances, the employer and the employee shall agree upon the additional amount that may be accessed.
(i) Employee Must Give Notice
The employee shall within 24 hours of the commencement of such absence, inform the employer of the employee’s inability to attend for duty, and, as far as practicable, state the nature of the injury or illness and the estimated duration of the absence.
(j) Evidence Supporting Claim
(i) An employee shall prove to the satisfaction of the employer (or in the event of a dispute the Tasmanian Industrial Commission) that the employee was unable on account of such illness or injury to attend for duty on the day or days for which the personal leave is claimed.
(ii) When taking leave to care for members of their immediate family or household who require care due to an unexpected emergency, the employee must, if required by the employer, establish by production of documentation acceptable to the employer or a statutory declaration, the nature of the emergency and that such emergency resulted in the person concerned requiring care by the employee.
(k) Unpaid Personal Leave
Where an employee has exhausted all paid personal leave entitlements, they are entitled to take unpaid personal leave to care for members of their immediate family or household who are sick and require care and support or who require care due to an unexpected emergency. The employer and the employee shall agree on the period. In the absence of agreement, the employee is entitled to take up to two days (up to a maximum of 16 hours) per occasion, provided the requirements of subclauses (i) and (j) are met.
(l) Casual Employees – Caring Responsibilities
Subject to the evidentiary and notice requirements in subclauses (i) and (j) casual employees are entitled to not be available to attend work, or to leave work if they need to care for members of their immediate family or household who are sick and require care and support, or who require care due to an unexpected emergency, or the birth of a child.
The employer and the employee shall agree on the period for which the employee will be entitled to not be available to attend work. In the absence of agreement, the employee is entitled to not be available to attend work for up to 48 hours (i.e. two days) per occasion. The casual employee is not entitled to any payment for the period of non-attendance.
An employer must not fail to re-engage a casual employee because the employee accessed the entitlements provided for in this clause. The rights of an employer to engage or not to engage a casual employee are otherwise not affected.
