Leave

5.5 LEAVE

(a) Annual Leave

Annual leave accrues at the rate of four weeks (20 working days for full time team members and pro-rata for part time team members) per annum from the date of commencement.

Annual leave cannot be taken until three months of continuous service has been completed.

All requests for annual leave should be submitted to Management on the standard form shown in (appendix 8). The centre encourages 'family friendly' leave policies during periods of need e.g. school holidays, but these are not guaranteed.

Annual leave is to be taken at a time that is convenient to Viewbank Early Childhood Centre, that does not disrupt its operations and compromise its Team environment.

If team members do not have the required entitlement for the leave time they wish to take, leave without pay may be granted at the discretion of the Director.

All team members MUST take leave during our annual Christmas/New Year closure, and may be encouraged to extend their leave during this time. As a guide, no leave is available during the months of late January through to Easter, and October through to mid December. These are HIGH NEED times when we require our full team on board.

With the exception of the Summer Holiday period, leave is generally limited to no more than two weeks at any time. Applications will be considered on merit for exceptions.

Educators are encouraged to take leave during quiet times around school holidays and in the winter months to allow for a mid year break. Annual leave before or after a public holiday is subject to availability.

The following leave requirements must be adhered to, or leave may not be granted:

for 1 day of leave- 3 weeks notice is required
for 1 week of leave- 6 weeks notice is required
for 2 weeks of leave- 3 months notice is required
NO verbal requests for leave will be granted. All requests for annual leave must be put in writing and submitted to Management as soon as possible. Management will then notify you as to whether leave has been approved.

(b) Sick Leave.

Sick leave calls

Educators and staff must notify the Operations Manager of impending absences for illness at least 2 hours before their shift. Where a team member is sick for a shift between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. they MUST call the Operations Manager the night before. Where directed, they may need to come in to the Centre and work up until their shift can be covered. Team members MUST CALL the OPerations Manager - TEXT MESSAGES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Calls will NOT be answered after 10:00 p.m. at night or before 5:30 a.m. in the mornings.

Where a team member is away sick and will be absent the following day, the Operations Manager should be notified of this by 4:00 p.m.

Sick leave provisions

Viewbank Early Childhood Centre's sick leave provisions have been designed to protect the employee, and we would ask that you respect all the provisions and do not abuse them.

Sick leave entitlement is based on a 38 hour week and applies pro rate in cases other than full time employment. The number of sick days are subject to the National Employment Standards (NES) - see www.fairwork.gov.au. Sick leave is not paid in the first three months of service.

Medical certificates will be required when two or more consecutive days are taken or when the sick days fall immediately before or after a Public Holiday or annual leave.

Sick leave taken prior to three months service, or when entitlement has already been used up, will be classed as leave without pay.

Days taken as leave without pay will be deducted off days of service when calculating sick leave and other entitlements.

Sick leave is intended to cover personal illness only, and is not normally extended to absences necessitated by dental appointments, medical examinations etc. However, should you be absent because of any of these reasons, your particular case will be considered on its merits.

(c) RDO

Full time team members are entitled to a rostered day off. Roster days will fall on days where numbers may be quieter, and where possible, there are extra educators in to cover. Team Leaders and Lead educators will be entitled to take rostered days off on a Monday or Friday as part of the Centre's Leadership agreement and in acknowledgement of the extra work they undertake as a leader. RDO's are not to be swapped, unless under extreme circumstances, and must be authorised by the Operations Manager. Only one qualified educator will have a RDO at any time. Under extreme circumstances, where we have large absence of educators due to illness or annual leave, or the Centre has an assessment and rating visit etc, the Director/Operations Manager reserves the right to postpone RDO's to a more convenient time. If your RDO falls when you are taking annual leave or sick leave, the roster day will NOT be made up at a later date, instead the day's leave will not be taken from your annual leave or sick leave accrual. If you are sick before or after your RDO, you MUST provide the Centre with a certificate or your sick days will not be paid. Educators should schedule doctors/dentist/ultrasound appointments etc on their RDO wherever possible to minimise covering other days off.

(d) Leave without pay

Where entitlements are accrued for annual and sick leave, team members are NOT entitled to leave without pay unless prior consent is given by the Director following a written request.

(e) Parental Leave

Team members are eligible for paid and unpaid parental leave as per the National Employment Standards 2009. Further details are available at www.fairwork.gov.au and/or www.humanservices.gov.au.

(f) Bereavement Leave

Where it is necessary for an employee to be absent from work because of the bereavement of an immediate family member, 2 days paid leave will be provided, at the discretion of the Director. All other bereavement absences are to be taken as Annual Leave.

(g) Jury Duty

Jury duty is recognised as the obligation of all good citizens. Those who expect to be called for jury duty should inform the Director immediately.

(h) Long Service

Long Service Leave is granted at a rate of 13 weeks of paid leave for each 15 years of continuous full time employment.

(i) Public Holidays

Team members are entitled to the following public holidays unless otherwise directed by the centre's management.

New Years Day Anzac Day

Australia Day Queen's Birthday

Labour Day Melbourne Cup Day

Grand Final Day

Good Friday Christmas Day

Easter Monday Boxing Day

(j) Termination of Employment

Team members are required to give notice as follows:

Period of Continuous Service Period of Notice

1 year or less 1 week

1 year & up to the completion of 3 years 2 weeks

3 years & up to the completion of 5 years 3 weeks

5 years and over 4 weeks

(k) Other Leave

Other forms of special leave, such as: examination leave, may be granted at the discretion of the Director.

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