Rural
Lands Protection Boards Salaries and Conditions Award 2007
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
COMMISSION OF NEW SOUTH WALES
Application by Public
Service Association and Professional Officers' Association Amalgamated Union of
New South Wales, Industrial Organisation of Employees.
(No. IRC 2095 of 2007)
Before Commissioner
Cambridge
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28 November 2007 and
15 February 2008
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VARIATION
1. Delete clause
1, Basic Wage in the Arrangement of the award published 8 February 2008 (364
I.G 1069), and renumber existing clauses 1A, Parties and 1B, Demarcation
accordingly:
1. Parties
1A. Demarcation
2. Delete clause
1, Basic Wage.
3. Insert in
numerical order in the Arrangement, the following new clause and subject
matter:
36A. Secure
Employment
4. Delete clause
15A, State Personal and Carer’s Leave Case - August 1996 in the Arrangement,
and insert in lieu thereof the following:
15A. Personal
Carer's Leave Case
5. Delete
subparagraph (i) of paragraph 5.5.3 of subclause 5.5 of clause 5, Classification
and Salary Structures, and insert in lieu thereof the following:
(i)
(a) Progression
from Grade 1 through to Grades 2, 3, 4 to Grade 5 Level 2 shall be by way of
completion of the number of years of service at each grade and subject to
certification by the Manager or Executive Officer, after consultation with the
Chairman of the Board, the District Veterinarian or Veterinary Officer and the
Managing Ranger (if any) or the supervising Ranger that the Ranger is
performing satisfactory service, and has completed all the required units of
study. This includes the required units of study for previous grades.
(b) Progression of
Rangers (and all other classifications under the Award) will not be impeded if
courses or units of study are not available; “not available” being defined as
“there is no course/module available and there are no future plans by any
organisation to develop training/module for that particular competency (it does
not mean that the course is not available until later in the year)”. It is also agreed that an employee who
progresses under these terms must undertake to do the next available
course/module that becomes available whether that be a replacement competency
determined by State Council or one that is scheduled in the Award. An employee who does not undertake to do
this progression requirement shall not be allowed progression. If an employee does not complete the
training/module when it becomes available then he/she shall regress back to
his/her previously held grade.
6. Delete
subparagraph (vii) of paragraph 5.5.3 of subclause 5.5 of the said clause 5,
and insert in lieu thereof the following:
(vii) If a Board
requires the services of a Specialist Animal Health Ranger, then as an
alternative to subparagraph 5.5.3(vi), the Board may approve following criteria
for progression to grade 4:
(a) Passing an
examination for Specialist Ranger on the Ranger’s Manual as conducted by the
District Veterinarian. Where a Ranger
has satisfactorily completed the Ranger’s Manual Examination under the current
2007 Award or previous 2004 or 2002 Award, then the Ranger is not required to
re-sit or undertake the Ranger’s Manual Examination a second time for the
purposes of any progression to any grade.
(b) Two (2) years
service as a Ranger (providing that State Council may approve a lesser period
in a special case);
(c) Passing a
progression review by a panel consisting of a nominee of the Board; the
Managing Ranger (if any) or the supervising Ranger; the Senior Field Veterinary
Officer or their representative and a nominee of the Department certifying that
all of the following criteria have been met:
(d) Demonstrated
suitable experience and ability to a standard required by the Board and the
Department to perform OJD functions or Footrot functions or any other functions
which the State Council approves on a case by case basis.
(e) Demonstrated
that the Specialist Ranger is performing at a high level of skill in the
speciality; and achieving a sustained high output of advisory work.
7. Delete
subparagraph (ix) of paragraph 5.5.3 of subclause 5.5 of the said clause 5, and
insert in lieu thereof the following:
(ix) Progression to
Grade 4 shall be organised by the Manager or Executive Officer and shall be
subject to:
(a) Five (5) years
continuous service as a Ranger
(b) One (1) year
service on Grade 3
(c) Passing an
examination on the Rangers’ Manual as conducted by the District
Veterinarian. Where a Ranger has
satisfactorily completed the Ranger’s Manual Examination under the current 2007
Award or previous 2004 or 2002 Award, then the Ranger is not required to re-sit
or undertake the Ranger’s Manual Examination a second time for the purposes of
any progression to any grade.
(d) Demonstrating
to the Manager or Executive Officer, who shall consult with the Chairman of the
Board, the District Veterinarian or Veterinary Officer and the Managing Ranger
(if any) or the supervising Ranger, that they are performing at a level that
resulted in their progression to Grade 3.
8. Delete clause
8, Overtime, and insert in lieu thereof the following:
8. Overtime
8.1 Overtime shall
mean one continuous hour or more in excess of 38 hours per week worked at the
direction of the Board which, from its character or from special circumstances,
cannot be performed in accordance with arrangements under clause 7, Hours of
Work.
8.2 Subject to
subclause 8.3 of this clause a Board may require an employee to work reasonable
overtime at overtime rates.
8.3 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.
8.4 For the
purposes of subclause 8.3 of this clause what is unreasonable or otherwise will
be determined having regard to:
(i) any risk to
employee health and safety;
(ii) the
employee's personal circumstances including any family and carer
responsibilities;
(iii) the needs of
the workplace or enterprise;
(iv) the notice (if
any) given by the Board of the overtime and by the employee of his or her
intention to refuse it; and
(v) any other
relevant matter.
8.5 Payment for
overtime worked shall not be made under this award without:
(i) Board
approval for the overtime worked; and
(ii) Board
approval for the payment of overtime.
8.6 Approved paid
overtime shall be paid at the following rates:
(i) For all
overtime, other than on Sundays and public holidays, worked in excess of 38
hours per week - at the rate of time and a half for the first two hours and
double time thereafter.
(ii) For all
overtime worked on Sunday - double time for each and every hour (for overtime
worked on public holidays see clause 12).
(iii) Overtime
rates are not fixed for meal times.
(iv) If an employee
is absent from duty on any working day during any week in which overtime has
been worked by them, the time so lost may be deducted from the total value of
overtime worked by them during the week unless there has been granted leave of
absence for recreation or on account of illness or unless, in the opinion of
the Board, their absence has been caused by circumstances beyond their own
control.
(v) An employee
who works overtime which is not continuous with ordinary working hours shall be
paid a minimum payment as for two hours work at the appropriate rate as
prescribed by this award.
8.7 After
completion of the first continuous hour, overtime shall not be paid for periods
of less than one-quarter of an hour.
8.8 The method to
be used to calculate overtime shall be as follows:
Fortnightly Salary
|
=
|
Annual Salary divided by 26.0714
|
Hourly Rate
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=
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Fortnightly Salary divided by 76.0000
|
which shall determine the ordinary-time (single) hourly
rate.
8.9 To determine
appropriate rates, the rate determined in subclause 8.8 of this clause shall be
multiplied by 3/2 or 2 as the case may be.
8.10 Rangers, Field
Assistants, Managers, Executive Officers, Administrative Officers,
Administrative Assistants and District Veterinarians accept the system of leave
in lieu of overtime as provided in this award.
9. Insert after
subclause 14.6 in clause 14, Short Leave, the following new subclause:
14.7 Bereavement
entitlements for casual employees
14.7.1 Subject to the
evidentiary and notice requirements in subclause 14.2 casual employees are
entitled to not be available to attend work, or to leave work upon the death in
Australia of a person prescribed in subparagraph 15A.1(c)(ii) of clause 15A,
State Personal and Carer’s Leave Case.
14.7.2 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.
14.7.3 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 engage a casual employee are otherwise not affected.
10. Delete the
title of clause 15A, State Personal and Carer's Leave Case - August 1996, and
insert in lieu thereof the following new title:
15A. Personal and
Carer’s Leave Case
11. Delete
subclauses 15A.1, 15A.2 and 15A.3 in clause 15A, Personal and Carer’s Leave
Case, and insert in lieu thereof the following:
15A.1 Use of Sick Leave:
(a) An employee,
other than a casual employee, with responsibilities in relation to a class of
person set out in 15A.1(c)(ii) who needs the employee’s care and support, shall
be entitled to use, in accordance with this subclause, any current or accrued
sick leave entitlement, provided for at clause 15, Sick Leave of the award, for
absences to provide care and support for such persons when they are ill, or who
require care due to an unexpected emergency.
Such leave may be taken for part of a single day.
(b) The employee
shall, if required,
(i) establish
either by production of a medical certificate or statutory declaration, the
illness of the person concerned and that the illness is such as to require care
by another person, or
(ii) 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.
In normal circumstances, an employee must not take
carer's leave under this subclause where another person had taken leave to care
for the same person.
(c) The
entitlement to use sick leave in accordance with this subclause is subject to:
(i) the employee
being responsible for the care of the person concerned; and
(ii) the person
concerned being:
(A) a spouse of the
employee; or
(B) a de facto
spouse who, in relation to a person, is a person of the opposite sex to the
first mentioned person who lives with the first mentioned person as the husband
or wife of that person on a bona fide domestic basis although not legally
married to that person; or
(C) a child or an
adult child (including an adopted child, a stepchild, a foster child or an ex
nuptial child), parent (including a foster parent or legal guardian),
grandparent, grandchild or sibling of the employee or the spouse or de facto
spouse of the employee; or
(D) a same sex
partner who lives with the employee as the de facto partner of that employee on
a bona fide domestic basis; or
(E) a relative of
the employee who is a member of the same household where, for the purposes of
this subparagraph:
(1) "relative"
means a person related by blood, marriage or affinity;
(2) "affinity"
means a relationship that one spouse, because of marriage, has to blood
relatives of the other; and
(3) "household"
means a family group living in the same domestic dwelling.
(d) An employee
shall, wherever practicable, give the employer notice, prior to the absence, of
the intention to take leave, the name of the person requiring care and that
person's relationship to the employee, the reasons for taking such leave and
the estimated length of absence. If it is not practicable for the employee to
give prior notice of absence, the employee shall notify the employer by
telephone of such absence at the first opportunity on the day of absence.
Note: In the unlikely event that more than 10 days sick
leave in any year is to be used for caring purposes the employer and employee
shall discuss appropriate arrangements which, as far as practicable, take
account of the employer’s and employee’s requirements.
Where the parties are unable to reach agreement the
disputes procedure at clause 34, Dispute Settling Procedures, should be
followed.
15A.2 Unpaid Leave for
Family Purpose:
An employee may elect, with the consent of the
employer, to take unpaid leave for the purpose of providing care and support to
a class of person set out in 15A.1(c)(ii) above who is ill or who requires care
due to an unexpected emergency.
15A.3 Annual Leave:
(a) An employee
may elect, with the consent of the employer to take annual leave not exceeding
ten days in single-day periods, or part thereof, in any calendar year at a time
or times agreed by the parties.
(b) Access to
annual leave, as prescribed in paragraph (a) of this subclause, shall be
exclusive of any shutdown period provided for elsewhere under this award.
(c) An employee
may elect with the employers agreement to take annual leave at any time within
a period of 24 months from the date at which it falls due.
(d) An employee
and employer may agree to defer payment of the annual leave loading in respect
of single-day absences until at least five consecutive annual leave days are
taken.
12. Insert after
subclause 15A.6 of the said clause 15A, the following new subclause:
15A.7 Personal Carers
Entitlement for casual employees -
(a) Subject to the
evidentiary and notice requirements in 15A.1(b) and 15A.1(d) casual employees
are entitled to not be available to attend work, or to leave work if they need
to care for a person prescribed in subclause 15A.1(c)(ii) of this clause 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 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.
(c) 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.
13. Insert after
subclause 16.6 in clause 16, Parental Leave, the following new subclause:
16.7 Family
Provisions Case - Parental Leave
16.7.1 Refer to the Industrial
Relations Act 1996 (NSW). The
following provisions shall also apply in addition to those set out in the
Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW).
16.7.2 An employer must
not fail to re-engage a regular casual employee (see section 53(2) of the Industrial
Relations Act 1996) because:
(a) the employee
or employee's spouse is pregnant; or
(b) the employee is
or has been immediately absent on parental leave.
The rights of an employer in relation to engagement and
re-engagement of casual employees are not affected, other than in accordance
with this clause.
16.7.3 Right to request
(a) An employee
entitled to parental leave may request the employer to allow the employee:
(i) to extend the
period of simultaneous unpaid parental leave use up to a maximum of eight
weeks;
(ii) to extend the
period of unpaid parental leave for a further continuous period of leave not
exceeding 12 months;
(iii) to return
from a period of parental leave on a part-time basis until the child reaches
school age;
to assist the employee in reconciling work and parental
responsibilities.
(b) The employer
shall consider the request having regard to the employee's circumstances and,
provided the request is genuinely based on the employee's parental
responsibilities, may only refuse the request on reasonable grounds related to
the effect on the workplace or the employer's business. Such grounds might include cost, lack of
adequate replacement staff, loss of efficiency and the impact on customer
service.
(c) Employee's
request and the employer's decision to be in writing
The employee's request and the employer's decision made
under 16.7.3(a)(ii) and 16.7.3(a)(iii) must be recorded in writing.
(d) Request to
return to work part-time
Where an employee wishes to make a request under
16.7.3(a)(iii), 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.
16.7.4 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 subparagraph (a) of
this paragraph.
14. Insert after
clause 36, Anti-Discrimination, the following new clause:
36A. Secure
Employment
36A.1 Objective of this
Clause
The objective of this clause is for the employer to
take all reasonable steps to provide its employees with secure employment by
maximising the number of permanent positions in the employer’s workforce, in
particular by ensuring that casual employees have an opportunity to elect to
become full-time or part-time employees.
36A.2 Casual Conversion
(a) A casual
employee engaged by a particular employer on a regular and systematic basis for
a sequence of periods of employment under this Award during a calendar period
of six months shall thereafter have the right to elect to have his or her
ongoing contract of employment converted to permanent full-time employment or
part-time employment if the employment is to continue beyond the conversion
process prescribed by this subclause.
(b) Every employer
of such a casual employee shall give the employee notice in writing of the
provisions of this sub-clause within four weeks of the employee having attained
such period of six months. However, the
employee retains his or her right of election under this subclause if the
employer fails to comply with this notice requirement.
(c) Any casual
employee who has a right to elect under paragraph 36A.2(b), upon receiving
notice under paragraph 36A.2(b) or after the expiry of the time for giving such
notice, may give four weeks’ notice in writing to the employer that he or she
seeks to elect to convert his or her ongoing contract of employment to
full-time or part-time employment, and within four weeks of receiving such
notice from the employee, the employer shall consent to or refuse the election,
but shall not unreasonably so refuse.
Where an employer refuses an election to convert, the reasons for doing
so shall be fully stated and discussed with the employee concerned, and a
genuine attempt shall be made to reach agreement. Any dispute about a refusal of an election to convert an ongoing
contract of employment shall be dealt with as far as practicable and with
expedition through the disputes settlement procedure.
(d) Any casual
employee who does not, within four weeks of receiving written notice from the
employer, elect to convert his or her ongoing contract of employment to
full-time employment or part-time employment will be deemed to have elected
against any such conversion.
(e) Once a casual
employee has elected to become and been converted to a full-time employee or a
part-time employee, the employee may only revert to casual employment by
written agreement with the employer.
(f) If a casual
employee has elected to have his or her contract of employment converted to
full-time or part-time employment in accordance with paragraph 36A.2(c), the
employer and employee shall, in accordance with this paragraph, and subject to
paragraph 36A.2(c), discuss and agree upon:
(i) whether the
employee will convert to full-time or part-time employment; and
(ii) if it is
agreed that the employee will become a part-time employee, the number of hours
and the pattern of hours that will be worked either consistent with any other
part-time employment provisions of this award pursuant to a part time work
agreement made under Chapter 2, Part 5 of the Industrial Relations Act
1996 (NSW);
Provided that an employee who has worked on a full-time
basis throughout the period of casual employment has the right to elect to
convert his or her contract of employment to full-time employment and an employee
who has worked on a part-time basis during the period of casual employment has
the right to elect to convert his or her contract of employment to part-time
employment, on the basis of the same number of hours and times of work as
previously worked, unless other arrangements are agreed between the employer
and the employee.
(g) Following an
agreement being reached pursuant to paragraph (f), the employee shall convert
to full-time or part-time employment.
If there is any dispute about the arrangements to apply to an employee
converting from casual employment to full-time or part-time employment, it
shall be dealt with as far as practicable and with expedition through the
disputes settlement procedure.
(h) An employee
must not be engaged and re-engaged, dismissed or replaced in order to avoid any
obligation under this subclause.
36A.3 Occupational
Health and Safety
(a) For the
purposes of this subclause, the following definitions shall apply:
(i) A
"labour hire business" is a business (whether an organisation,
business enterprise, company, partnership, co-operative, sole trader, family
trust or unit trust, corporation and/or person) which has as its business
function, or one of its business functions, to supply staff employed or engaged
by it to another employer for the purpose of such staff performing work or
services for that other employer.
(ii) A
"contract business" is a business (whether an organisation, business
enterprise, company, partnership, co-operative, sole trader, family trust or
unit trust, corporation and/or person) which is contracted by another employer
to provide a specified service or services or to produce a specific outcome or
result for that other employer which might otherwise have been carried out by
that other employer’s own employees.
(b) Any employer
which engages a labour hire business and/or a contract business to perform work
wholly or partially on the employer’s premises shall do the following (either
directly, or through the agency of the labour hire or contract business):
(i) consult with
employees of the labour hire business and/or contract business regarding the workplace occupational health
and safety consultative arrangements;
(ii) provide
employees of the labour hire business and/or contract business with appropriate
occupational health and safety induction training including the appropriate
training required for such employees to perform their jobs safely;
(iii) provide
employees of the labour hire business and/or contract business with appropriate
personal protective equipment and/or clothing and all safe work method
statements that they would otherwise supply to their own employees; and
(iv) ensure
employees of the labour hire business and/or contract business are made aware
of any risks identified in the workplace and the procedures to control those
risks.
(c) Nothing in
this subclause 36A.3 is intended to affect or detract from any obligation or
responsibility upon a labour hire business arising under the Occupational
Health and Safety Act 2000 or the Workplace Injury Management and
Workers Compensation Act 1998.
36A.4 Disputes Regarding
the Application of this Clause
Where a dispute arises as to the application or
implementation of this clause, the matter shall be dealt with pursuant to the
disputes settlement procedure of this award.
36A.5 This clause has no
application in respect of organisations which are properly registered as Group
Training Organisations under the Apprenticeship and Traineeship Act 2001
(or equivalent interstate legislation) and are deemed by the relevant State
Training Authority to comply with the national standards for Group Training
Organisations established by the ANTA Ministerial Council.
15. Delete
Schedule A - Rural Lands Protections Boards, appearing after Table 3 - Long
Service Leave Accrual in Part B, Monetary Rates.
16. This
variation shall take effect on and from 28 November 2007.
I.
W. CAMBRIDGE, Commissioner
____________________
Printed by
the authority of the Industrial Registrar.