AN170068 – Mobile Crane Hire Award
The provisions of this clause apply to full-time and regular part-time employees (on a pro rata basis) but do not apply to casual employees. The entitlements of casual employees are set out in subclause (i).
(a) Definitions
The term ‘immediate family’ includes:
(i) spouse (including a former spouse, a de facto spouse and a former de facto spouse) of the employee. A de facto spouse means a person of the opposite sex to the employee who lives with the employee as his or her husband or wife on a bona fide domestic basis; and
(ii) child or an adult child (including an adopted child, a step child or an ex-nuptial child), parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling of the employee or spouse of the employee.
(b) Amount of Paid Personal Leave
(i) Paid personal leave is available to an employee, when they are absent:
(1) due to personal illness or injury; or
(2) for the purposes of caring for an immediate family or household member who is sick and requires the employee’s care and support or who requires care due to an unexpected emergency.
(ii) The employee shall not be entitled to paid leave of absence for any period for which there is an entitlement to workers' compensation.
(iii) An employee shall be entitled to ten days personal leave per year. Provided that in the first year of employment personal leave shall accrue at the rate of one day at the beginning of each of the first ten calendar months of employment.
(iv) If the employer terminates and then re-engages an employee within a period of six months then any unclaimed balance of the employee’s personal leave shall continue from the date of re-engagement.
(c) Personal Leave for Personal Injury or Sickness
An employee is entitled to use the full amount of their personal leave entitlement including accrued leave for the purposes of personal illness or injury, subject to the conditions set out in this clause.
(d) Personal Leave to Care for an Immediate Family or Household Member
(i) An employee is entitled to use up to 10 days personal leave, including accrued leave, each year to care for members of their immediate family or household who are sick and require care and support or who require care due to an unexpected emergency, subject to the conditions set out in this clause.
Leave may be taken for part of a single day.
(ii) By agreement between an employer and an individual employee, the employee may access an additional amount of their accrued personal leave for the purposes set out in paragraph (d)(i), beyond the limit set out in paragraph (d)(i). In such circumstances, the employer and the employee shall agree upon the additional amount that may be accessed.
(e) Employee Must Give Notice
The employee shall as far as practicable prior to the first day of absence, and in any event within 24 hours of the commencement of such absence, inform the employer of the 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.
(f) Evidence Supporting Claim
(i) Other than for two single days each year, proof to the satisfaction of the employer shall, if required, be supplied by the employee. Proof shall be in the form of a certificate from a medical practitioner or, where acceptable to the employer, a statutory declaration.
(ii) When taking leave to care for members of their immediate family or household who require care due to an unexpected emergency, the employee must, if required by the employer, 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.
(g) Any period of personal leave not taken by an employee in any year shall be cumulative and may be taken in subsequent years.
(h) Unpaid Personal Leave
Where an employee has exhausted all paid personal leave entitlements, they are entitled to take unpaid personal leave to care for members of their immediate family or household who are sick and require care and support or who require care due to an unexpected emergency. The employer and the employee shall agree on the period. In the absence of agreement, the employee is entitled to take up to two days (up to a maximum of 16 hours) per occasion, provided the requirements of subclauses (e) and (f) are met.
(i) Casual Employees – Caring Responsibilities
Subject to the evidentiary and notice requirements in subclauses (e) and (f) casual employees are entitled to not be available to attend work, or to leave work if they need to care for members of their immediate family or household who are sick and require care and support, or who require care due to an unexpected emergency, or the birth of a child.
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.
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.
