AN120332 – Mechanical Opticians (State) Award
(i) An employee who is absent from his/her work by reason of personal illness (not being illness or arising from the employee’s misconduct or default or from an injury arising out of or in the course of employment) shall be entitled to leave of absence without deduction in pay, subject to the following and conditions and limitations:
(a) An employee shall, as soon as reasonably practicable and within three hours of the commencement of such absence, inform the employer of his/her 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.
If it is not reasonably practicable to inform the employer within three hours of such absence the employee shall inform the employer within 24 hours of such absence.
(b) An employee shall prove to the satisfaction of his/her employer that he/she/she was unable on account of such illness or injury to attend for duty on the day or days for which sick leave is claimed. In the case of an employee who claims to be allowed paid sick leave in accordance with this clause for an absence of one day only, such employee if in the year he/she/she has already been allowed paid sick leave on more than one occasion 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 that in his/her, the medical practitioner’s opinion, the employee was unable to attend for duty on account of personal illness.
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 in lieu of a medical certificate.
(c) An employee shall not be entitled during his/her first year of any period of service with the employer to leave in excess of 8 days of ordinary working time or in cases where the employee normally works more than eight ordinary hours in any day, the employee shall not be entitled to leave in excess of sixty-four hours of working time. Provided further that in the first seven months of the first year of a period of service with an employer the employee shall be entitled to sick leave which accrues on a pro-rata basis of one day of ordinary working time for each month of service completed with that employer to a maximum of 64 ordinary hours. On application by the employee during the eighth month of employment and subject to the availability of an unclaimed balance of sick the employee shall be paid for any sick leave taken which payment was not made.
An employee shall not be entitled during the second and subsequent years of any period of service with the employer to leave in excess of 8 days of ordinary working time or in cases where the employee normally works more than eight ordinary hours in any day, the employee shall not be entitled to leave in excess of sixty-four hours of working time.
(d) An employee shall not be entitled during the tenth and subsequent years of service with the employer to leave in excess of 12 days or ordinary working time or in cases where the employee normally works more than eight ordinary hours in any day, the employee shall not be entitled to leave in excess of ninety-six hours of working time.
(e) Sick leave shall accumulate from year to year so that any balance of the period specified in paragraphs (c) and (d) of the subclause which has in any year not been allowed to an employee by the employer, as paid sick leave, may be claimed by the employee, and subject to the conditions hereinbefore prescribed, shall be allowed by that employer in a subsequent year without diminution of the sick leave prescribed in respect of that year.
