Remuneration and Benefits – Types of Leave (Personal Leave)

Title of Parent Policy

Remuneration and Benefits

Preamble

Staff employed by the University accrue personal leave entitlements in accordance with the relevant workplace agreement. This procedure specifically relates to personal leave entitlements and the accrual and taking of such leave.

This procedure is applicable to fixed-term and continuing academic, professional and trades and services staff. It does not apply to unpaid adjunct appointees or honorary appointees, nor to casual or sessional staff except regarding unpaid personal leave taken for carer’s responsibilities (refer section 102 of the Fair Work Act 2009).

Definitions

ESS: an online Employee Self Service system which provides staff members with easy and private access to personal and current employment information held by the University.

Faculty or Divisional Cluster: refers to a cluster of Faculties and/or administrative Divisions that is serviced by a particular HR Service Hub.

HR Business Partner: is a member of Monash HR who operates as a strategic partner responsible for providing a range of human resources services for an assigned Faculty or administrative Division. HR Business Partners are located within a HR Service Hub.

HR Service Hub: is the centre for human resources services and activities within a Faculty or Divisional Cluster.

Relevant Enterprise Agreement: means the Enterprise Agreement that applies to a particular staff member. The Monash University Enterprise Agreement (Academic and Professional Staff) 2009 will apply to academic and professional staff employed by the University. Depending on the services provided by a trades and services staff member employed by the University, the Monash University Enterprise Agreement (Trades and Services Staff – Building and Metal Trades Staff) 2009 or the Monash University Enterprise Agreement (Trades and Services Staff - Catering and Retail, Cleaning and Caretaking, and Miscellaneous Services Staff) 2005 will apply.

Staff member: for the purposes of this procedure, means a person employed by the University on a continuing or fixed-term basis or, in respect of unpaid personal leave taken for carer’s responsibilities, on a casual/sessional basis.

Supervisor: is the person who is responsible for the day-to-day supervision of the staff member.

Personal Leave

Subject to the relevant workplace agreement, a staff member is entitled to personal leave:

• when he/she is unable to perform his/her duties due to an illness or injury;
• where the staff member is required to provide care or support to a member of the staff member's family or the staff members household because of an injury, illness or unexpected emergency

Personal leave entitlements

A staff member’s personal leave entitlements are outlined in the relevant workplace agreement. The applicable Enterprise Agreement clauses are:

Where a staff member is employed on a part-time basis, the staff member will receive personal leave entitlements on a pro–rata basis and will take leave at his or her fraction of employment as at the commencement of the leave period.

Personal leave balance

Personal leave balances can be viewed through ESS.

How to apply for personal leave

Applications for personal leave should be made on-line, via Employee Self Service (ESS). In exceptional circumstances where there is no on-line facility available, an Application for Leave form can be submitted to the staff member’s supervisor for approval, and then forwarded to the HR Service Hub for processing.

It is the staff member’s responsibility to ensure that where evidence is required to support an application for leave (such as a medical certificate) this is provided to the supervisor in hard-copy. The supervisor must retain the copies of the evidence provided by a staff member.

All approvals are subject to verification that the staff member has an entitlement to the claimed leave, and that the leave is in accordance with the entitlements in the relevant workplace agreement.

Part-time staff must ensure that the specified personal leave days that they apply for are the same as those listed in their work schedule. If a work schedule is not in place or has changed, an updated schedule should be submitted to the HR Service Hub for the staff member’s Faculty or Divisional Cluster. Work schedules are available via the Monash HR staff forms website.

The amendment or cancellation of an application for personal leave is to be processed through ESS.

Proof of illness for personal leave

Staff must provide satisfactory evidence of their illness or incapacity for absences in excess of three consecutive days (including weekends and public holidays) or six aggregate days in any working year, as outlined in the relevant workplace agreement.

However, all personal leave days taken for carer’s responsibilities must be supported by the presentation of satisfactory evidence.

Satisfactory evidence is a medical certificate or, at the discretion of the University, a statutory declaration. A supervisor may request a staff member provide medical certificates if there are repeated instances of personal leave or where the supervisor has concerns for a staff member’s health and wellbeing.

Personal leave in advance

Where the period of a staff member’s illness or incapacity exceeds the staff member's personal leave entitlement, the University may approve personal leave entitlement in advance, provided the period will normally be accrued within the period of appointment. Approval of personal leave in advance of credit will be subject to approval by the Executive Director (Monash HR) through the Dean or equivalent.

Interaction of Personal leave with other forms of leave

The following clauses in the University’s enterprise agreements explain the interaction of personal leave taken for staff illness or incapacity with long service leave.

In addition, if staff are:

during periods of annual leave, they may be entitled to substitute accrued personal leave for annual leave under the provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009.

Staff employed subject to the University’s Enterprise Agreements and who are ill for two or more consecutive days during a period of annual leave may apply to substitute accrued personal leave for annual leave under the following provisions, as applicable:

• Monash University Enterprise Agreement (Academic and Professional Staff0 2009 – clause 37.3.
• Monash University Enterprise Agreement (Trades and Services Staff – Building and Metal Trades Staff) 2009 – section 3.3, Schedule 6.
• Monash University Enterprise Agreement (Trades and Services Staff – Catering and Retail, Cleaning and Caretaking, and Miscellaneous Services Staff) 2005 – section 4.3, Schedule 5.

All other applications to substitute accrued personal leave for annual leave are to be referred to the Director, Workplace Relations for determination consistent with the Act and the University’s workplace agreements.

Personal leave on resignation and termination

Personal leave is not paid out on termination of employment from the University.

Responsibilities

Individual Staff Member

The individual staff member is responsible for:

• applying for personal leave on-line using ESS; and
• providing his/her supervisor with satisfactory evidence of his/her illness or incapacity, if applicable, or the illness, injury or unexpected emergency of a family member or member of the staff member’s household.

Supervisors

Supervisors are responsible for:

Supervisors are responsible for determining whether or not to authorise:

• applications for personal leave through ESS; and
• the Application for Leave form, if applicable.

Monash HR

HR Business Partner

HR Business Partner is responsible for forwarding any approved Application for Leave form to HR Operations, Monash HR for processing.

HR Operations

HHR Operations, Monash HR is responsible for processing any approved Application for Leave in SAP.

Workplace Relations

Workplace Relations is responsible for:

• ensuring compliance of procedures with the University’s workplace agreements;
• maintaining this procedure and related procedures and documents.

Related Procedures

• Remuneration and Benefits Procedure – Types of Leave (All)

Related Enterprise Agreement Clauses

Monash University Enterprise Agreement (Academic and Professional Staff) 2009

• Clause 16 – Mode of Employment
• Clause 33 – Individual Flexibility Arrangements
• Clause 34 – Definitions and General Conditions
• Clause 37 – Application of Personal (formerly sick) Leave
• Clause 39 – Application of Parental Leave
• Clause 41 – University Holidays
• Clause 79 – Higher Duties Allowance
• Schedule 4 – Part-year, Seasonal and Annualised Hours Terms
• Schedule 5(b) – Leave Entitlements: Personal Leave

Monash University Enterprise Agreement (Trades and Services Staff – Building and Metal Trades Staff) 2009

• Clause 17 – Casual Employment
• Clause 18 – Fixed-term Employment
• Clause 19 – Individual Flexibility Arrangements
• Clause 26 – Higher Duties
• Clause 50 – Leave Entitlements
• Schedule 3(b) – Leave Entitlements: Personal Leave
• Schedule 6, section 3 – Application of Personal (Formerly Sick) Leave
• Schedule 6, section 5 – Application of Parental Leave

Monash University Enterprise Agreement (Trades and Services Staff – Catering and Retail, Cleaning and Caretaking, and Miscellaneous Services Staff) 2005

• Clause 15 – Part-time Employment
• Clause 18 – Fixed-term Employment
• Clause 19 – Higher Duties
• Clause 41 – Leave Entitlements
• Clause 62 – Leave Entitlements of Seasonal Staff
• Schedule 3(b) – Application of Leave: Sick Leave
• Schedule 3(c) – Application of Leave: Carer’s Leave
• Schedule 5, section 4 – Sick Leave
• Schedule 5, section 5 – Carer’s Leave

Related Forms

• Application online via ESS
• Application for Leave (if no access to ESS)