options for managing employment arrangements and staff absences · 2020. 6. 11. · options for...

GUIDANCEOptions for Managing Employment Arrangements and Staff Absences

April 2020

Public

COVID-19 Stopping the spread in the workplaceGUIDANCE - Options for Managing Employment Arrangements and Staff AbsencesOffice of the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment April 2020

Options for Managing Employment Arrangements and Staff Absences

INFORMATION FOR AGENCIESThe evolving and uncertain context of COVID-19 will have varying impacts on individuals employed across the South Australian Public Sector.

There are numerous options already available to agencies to appropriately deploy and utilise staff in the current conditions. However, these are not currently well understood or consistently applied.

This document has been developed for agencies in order to provide clear and simple definitions of each arrangement and how they can be accessed.

Working remotely at contracted hoursWhat is it?An employee performs their duties from a place that is different to their usual office location for the full portion of their contracted hours. In the current environment, this is a temporary arrangement between employees and managers for an extended period of time during a period of highly disruptive change and uncertainly surrounding COVID-19.

How is it accessed?Employees complete a ‘working from home/remotely’ application including a ‘Working from Home Checklist’ designed to assess WHS risks in the home. Managers and delegates must approve working from home applications and consider any work health and safety issues prior to approval. In addition, to the above, agencies may also consider arrangements so that employees are contactable via email, phone or other remote IT mechanisms (e.g. Microsoft Teams, Skype etc).

• How the employee will access emails, electronic files and make/receive telephone/virtual calls

• How the employee interrelates with other team members and colleagues

• Managing expectations as to how and when the employee will be accessible

• Work health and safety risks of the alternate work location

• Work that can be performed outside of the usual office location including, but not limited to, confidentially of information

• Work Health and Safety issues for any proposed working from home arrangement must be addressed prior to the approval of any proposal

• Overtime is not available unless prior approval is given by a Chief Executive/agency head or delegate

• Entitlements to public holidays are unaffected by a working from home arrangement.

• Working from home may be used for any shift work situation that has been approved by a Chief Executive/agency head or delegate

Working reduced hoursWhat is it?Employees work on a part-time basis, or reduce their working hours, at their request and their salary is adjusted to reflect the actual hours worked. Options include:

• Working a set number of days in the week

• Working a set number of hours a day

• Staggered hours, creating different start and finish times for employees to allow for greatest coverage of staff during core business hours

• Transitioning to retirement which may incorporate superannuation salary supplementation

• Progressively increasing working hours until full schedule of agreed hours is reached, for example when employees return from parental leave.



How is it accessed?Employees complete a change of hours request via an appropriate ‘HR Employment Form’ and have it approved by the appropriate delegate.

Utilising a combination of work hours and accrued leave over the course of one working day to counter a decrease in workload, or to balance caring responsibilitiesWhat is it?To assist the flexibility of the workforce, an employee can apply to take part-days of recreation leave entitlements to counter a decrease in workload, and/or to balance caring responsibilities. However, it should be noted that long service leave can only be requested in full calendar days. Further details can be found in the Commissioner’s Determination 3.1 Employment Conditions – Hours of Work, Overtime and Leave.

How is it accessed?Requests from an employee to take their paid recreation leave entitlements for part-days would be submitted to the relevant agency delegate for consideration and approval. Upon approval, such leave absences would be administered in accordance with the agency’s usual leave processes.

Accessing leave entitlements or flexitime balanceWhat is it?Leave entitlements include recreation leave, long service leave, retention leave, sick leave and special leave with pay or without pay. Leave accruals for these leave types are outlined within the applicable industrial provisions in the relevant Enterprise Agreement or Award, and the Commissioner’s Determination 3.1 Employment Conditions – Hours of Work, Overtime and Leave.

Flexible working arrangements can include any change to an employee’s pattern, place or hours of work. Arrangements need to be considered alongside the applicable industrial provisions in the relevant Enterprise Agreement or Award. One of these options is flexitime which enables employees to negotiate start and finish times, within a range of core business hours, without increasing or reducing the total number of hours worked when averaged over a four week cycle. Flexitime can assist employees to balance work and personal responsibilities. Flexitime can be accrued to enable employees to take a day or part day off, with agencies to specify minimum and maximum levels of flexitime that can be accrued, including in some circumstances that accrued hours lapse.

How is it accessed?Requests from an employee to take their paid leave entitlements and/or flexi-time balance would be submitted to the relevant agency delegate for consideration and approval. Upon approval, such leave and/or flexi-time absences would be administered in accordance with the agency’s usual leave and time and attendance processes.

Accessing purchased leave to enable additional annual/recreation leave while accepting a reduced salaryWhat is it?An employee reduces the rate of their salary in return for additional periods of leave over a specified period of time. The additional periods of leave are referred to as purchased leave. The periods of purchased leave are planned in advance and funded by salary reductions spread evenly over a service year.

Further details can be found in the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment Determination and Guideline – Flexible Workplaces.



How is it accessed?Employees can reduce the rate of their salary in return for additional periods of leave over a specified period of time (up to four weeks) by completing and submitting a Purchased leave application to the relevant delegate for consideration.

Accessing payment in lieu of recreation leave and long service leave as part of the SA Government Stimulus PackageWhat is it?The Premier has announced a new stimulus package which included a provision about access to accrued leave for the public sector workforce.

If a Public Sector employee has a family member who has lost their job and is experiencing financial hardship, they will be able to receive a payment in lieu of their accrued leave (annual/recreation and/or long service leave).

For the purpose of this provision, ‘family member’ has been defined as:

• All family members living at the employee’s residence, including siblings, parents, etc. and,

• Immediate family members (i.e. parents or children (including step and adopted)) of the employee, regardless of where they live.

How is it accessed?Employees may request any amount to be paid out, provided they retain a minimum of two weeks recreation leave. Long service leave may be paid out to a zero balance. The delegate must also be satisfied that financial hardship exists and may set their own requirements regarding evidence in order to be satisfied.

To access payment in lieu of recreation and/or long service leave, the applicant must provide justification detailing:

• Current leave balances,

• Leave type and hours for which the employee is seeking payment in lieu,

• Brief detail of the personal situation necessitating the request, including the relation of the employee to the family member who has lost their job and is experiencing financial hardship,

• Acknowledgement that the request for payment in lieu will potentially result in future leave being taken as leave without pay due to insufficient accruals.

Accessing leave without payWhat is it?A chief executive, agency head or delegate may grant leave without pay to an employee for the purpose of:

• Career Break: to enable an employee to attend to other responsibilities, pursue other professional development, a new career endeavour or move into retirement.

• To Work in Another Organisation: to permit them to take up employment in another (non-public sector) organisation. Such a decision should be based on consideration of possible benefits to the particular public sector agency, the wider public sector and the individual employee. Specific provisions exist for competition regulation offices, Ministers’ Offices or Electoral Offices, Unions and Employee Associations, and accompanying a partner to a regional location in South Australia.

For further details and criteria relating to Leave Without Pay, refer to the Commissioner’s Determination 3.1: Employment Conditions – Hours of Work, Overtime and Leave (CD3.1).

How is it accessed?Requests for leave without pay would be submitted by the employee with full details to the relevant agency delegate for consideration. Upon approval, such leave would be administered in accordance with the agency’s usual leave processes.



Direct staff to take any recreation/annual leave in excess of 12 months accrual, or excess flexitime accrualWhat is it?Employees with recreation/annual leave entitlements in excess of 12 months of accrual may be directed to reduce their leave balance with 3 business days notice. Employees may also be directed to reduce their excess flexi accrual, with any direction in line with the relevant Enterprise Agreement.

How is it accessed?A chief executive, agency head or delegate may require (direct) the employee to apply for and take recreation leave by giving the employee notice of the requirement at least 3 business days’ notice before the period of recreation leave is to begin. If an employee refuses or fails to apply for and take recreation leave as required, the chief executive or delegate may direct the employee to take that leave. The administration of such leave would be undertaken in accordance with usual leave applications.

Provide access to 15 days special leave with pay for COVID-19 related absencesWhat is it?As outlined in the Commissioner’s Determination 3.1: Employment Conditions – Hours of Work, Overtime and Leave: Supplementary Provisions for COVID-19, in response to the declaration on 16 March 2020 of a public health emergency relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the subsequent declaration of a Major Emergency on 22 March 2020 a new category of special leave with pay of up to 15 days will be available to support absences from the worksite or workplace for COVID-19 situations.

This special leave with pay is not considered to be part of the current 15 days special leave with pay, as currently detailed in the Commissioner’s Determination 3.1: Employment Conditions – Hours of Work, Overtime and Leave (CD3.1).

How is it accessed?Requests for special leave with pay for COVID-19 absences would be submitted to the relevant agency delegate for consideration. Upon approval, such leave would be administered in accordance with the agency’s usual leave processes.

Provide discretionary access to other special leave with pay provisions in line with Commissioner’s Determination 3.1: Employment Conditions – Hours of Work, Overtime and LeaveWhat is it?Special Leave With Pay may be approved where a total of all leave must not exceed fifteen (15) days per service year, for categories including:

• Community responsibilities: emergency services including community service, leave to attend emergency and other community services training courses, special leave to attend emergency service calls, call out fee when attending emergency service calls, members of agency firefighting units (excluded) and Foster Carers Leave.

• Individual needs and responsibilities: including cultural and community responsibilities, ANZAC Commemoration March, care of sick child who is a Dependent (up to 3 days per service year) and moving house (1 day per every 3 years only)



• Urgent pressing necessity: special leave with pay may be granted to enable an employee to be absent due to a matter of pressing or urgent necessity that requires the personal attention of the employee and cannot reasonably be attended to by the employee outside the employee’s hours of duty. Such absences may be due to but not limited to situations involving family members.

Full details for special leave with pay provisions are outlined in the Commissioner’s Determination 3.1: Employment Conditions – Hours of Work, Overtime and Leave.

How is it accessed?Requests for special leave with pay for the abovementioned provisions would be submitted to the relevant agency delegate for consideration. Upon approval, such leave would be administered in accordance with the agency’s usual leave processes.

Assign staff to alternative duties which maintain their employment conditionsWhat is it?A delegate may reasonably direct an employee to undertake duties outside their normal range of duties, provided they are commensurate with the employee’s skillset and classification. This enables managers to ensure employees are continually engaged in meaningful work at times of varying capacity.

In addition, further provisions are outlined in the South Australian Public Sector Mobilisation Policy, the Public Sector Act 2009 Section 10 (1) empowers the Premier of South Australia (‘the Premier’) to give directions to all public sector agencies about the implementation of specified whole-of-Government objectives and the sharing of information and collaboration required for that purpose. Under a Direction issued by the Premier, a range of common law and

legislative provisions provide the authority for the mobilisation of SA public sector employees by the Premier or agency chief executives as required by the Premier for a catastrophic disaster. Further details on the methods of mobilisation are outlined under section 5 of the South Australian Public Sector Mobilisation Policy.

How is it accessed?For the provisions within the South Australian Public Sector Mobilisation Policy these would be activated following the declaration of a major emergency or a disaster under the Emergency Management Act 2004 (the EM Act) or a public health incident or public health emergency under section 86 or 87 of the South Australian Public Health Act 2011 (SAPH Act), the Premier will determine whether the Public Sector Mobilisation Policy will be activated.

options for managing employment arrangements and staff absences · 2020. 6. 11. · options for...

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