Carer's leave: a win for CPSU members?

November 27, 1996
Issue 

By Val Edwards

CANBERRA — A Community and Public Sector Union national bulletin authorised by the joint national secretary Wendy Caird in September heralded the new package of personal/carer's leave for Australian Public Service (APS) employees as a win for CPSU members.

In fact, the opposite is true, for the new leave package constitutes an erosion of previous conditions.

A Department of Industrial Relations publication in September outlines how, following negotiations with unions, amendments were made to the APS General Employment Conditions Award 1995 (GECA). These amendments were agreed on after the Australian Industrial Relations Commission handed down the stage two decision, entitled the personal/carer's leave test case decision, on November 28, 1995.

The new arrangements provide for the current year's full-pay sick leave (10 days) and bereavement leave (three days) to be combined into the 13 day entitlement of personal/carer's leave. Of these 13 days, 10 of which are cumulative (the old 10 days sick leave on full pay), up to five days may be used for carer's leave purposes, up to 10 days may be used for personal sick leave, and up to three days per occasion may be used for bereavement leave on the death of a member of the employee's immediate family or household.

There is no doubt that access to paid leave for caring for an immediate household or family member is a gain, but this particular package is not.

CPSU members have been dismayed to find that, when they apply to use any of the available five-day component of carer's leave, it is first deducted from the 10 days of the 13 that was the old sick leave component — the part that is cumulative. Only when those 10 days have been used does an employee have access to the other three days for carer's purposes.

In the past, many APS employees have been able to access the three days special leave, which still exists as a separate entitlement, for carer's purposes, leaving their sick leave entitlements untouched. The new package specifically prevents this.

The provisions for bereavement leave in the outdated General Conditions of Service APS Award 1985 allowed for leave to be granted per occasion on the occasion of a death in the defined immediate family. This was regardless of any other leave arrangements. If a person was unfortunate enough to have more than one death per year, then up to three days per occasion was available for bereavement leave. This did not come out of any other leave provisions.

As the CPSU bulletin states, under the new arrangements detailed in Clause 24.3 of GECA, up to three days bereavement leave per occasion is still available. What it does not state is that it is now deducted from the 13-day package; in the first instance from the three day non-cumulative portion of the 13 days, and then out of the 10 day cumulative personal (the old sick) leave of the package.

So, employees who in the past had available to them three days per occasion bereavement leave will now be eating into their sick leave after the first three days' bereavement leave are used.

Eating into our sick leave provisions for carer's leave and for bereavement leave is hardly a win for union members.

You need Green Left, and we need you!

Green Left is funded by contributions from readers and supporters. Help us reach our funding target.

Make a One-off Donation or choose from one of our Monthly Donation options.

Become a supporter to get the digital edition for $5 per month or the print edition for $10 per month. One-time payment options are available.

You can also call 1800 634 206 to make a donation or to become a supporter. Thank you.