Procedure: Personal and Wellbeing Leave

Purpose

Personal and wellbeing leave is provided for under the ANU Enterprise Agreement, legislation, and the ANU Policy: Staff leave. This document provides staff with information relating to conditions specific to personal and wellbeing leave including their entitlement and the procedures for taking this leave.

Procedure

1. Personal and wellbeing leave is provided for all staff, other than casual staff, in the following circumstances:

2. For the purposes of personal leave, immediate family member means a staff member’s spouse or de facto partner (including former spouse or de facto partner), child, parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling of the staff member; or a child, parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling of the staff member’s spouse or de facto partner (including former spouse or de facto partner).
3. For the purposes of bereavement leave for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff members, “immediate family member” means: family by marriage, adoption, fostering, or traditional kinship, and refer to staff member’s spouse, former spouse, domestic partner, former domestic partner, their child or adult child (including adopted child, step child, or an ex-nuptial child), parent, brother, sister, grandparent, foster-grandparent, step-grandparent, grandchild, in-law relative, guardian, ward, or person with respect to whom the staff member has an Indigenous kinship relationship of equivalent significance or a person who stands in a bona fide domestic or household relationship with a staff member including situations in which there is implied dependency or a support role for the staff member.
4. Casual staff members will be entitled to sick leave in accordance with clauses 19-22 (below).

Personal leave accrual

5. A staff member is entitled to personal leave on full pay at the rate of:

6. All paid personal leave is cumulative.
7. On commencement a staff member will be credited with the first year’s entitlement. The second and subsequent years’ entitlements accrue throughout the year and become available on the anniversary of the staff member’s appointment.

Wellbeing leave

8. Staff members are entitled to wellbeing leave of up to two days per calendar year for the purpose of focus on their own mental and physical wellbeing. This provision of two days is not cumulative and is drawn from a staff member's personal leave balance.
9. It is intended that staff members applying for wellbeing leave will plan and discuss with their supervisor in advance of the leave being taken, to allow the work area to make appropriate staffing arrangements to cover the period of absence if necessary.
10. Staff members applying for wellbeing leave are not required to provide evidence to support their leave application under this category, and supervisors must not unreasonably refuse an application for wellbeing leave.
11. It is the responsibility of staff member and their supervisor to monitor the number of wellbeing days being taken per calendar year and ensure that this is not exceeded.

Cultural leave

12. Staff members can access cultural leave for the purpose of attending essential religious or cultural obligations associated with the staff member’s particular religious faith, culture or tradition. Cultural leave provision is drawn from a staff member's personal leave balance.
13. Cultural leave is subject to the provision of reasonable evidence regarding the nature of the activity or ceremony the staff member is obliged to attend.
14. Applications for cultural leave will normally be submitted four weeks prior to leave to allow the work area to make appropriate staffing arrangements to cover the period of absence if necessary.

Community volunteering leave

15. Staff members are entitled to community volunteering leave of up to two days per calendar year for the purpose of undertaking volunteering activities with registered charitable groups and not-for-profit organisations. This provision of two days is not cumulative and is drawn from a staff member’s personal leave balance.
16. Applications for community volunteering leave will normally be submitted four weeks in advance, to allow the work area to make appropriate staffing arrangements to cover the period of absence if necessary.
17. Applications for community volunteering leave must be accompanied by reasonable evidence to support the application. This may include written communication from the organisation outlining the activity, date/s and time/s the staff member is expected to be in attendance.
18. It is the responsibility of staff and their supervisor to monitor the number of community volunteering days being taken per calendar year and ensure that this is not exceeded.

Sick leave for casual employees

19. Casual staff covered by the ANU Enterprise Agreement are entitled to up to three instances of paid sick leave per year for when the staff member is unable to attend work because of personal illness, injury, or health reasons.
20. An instance shall consist of one day, and the entitlement to paid leave will be for all work a casual staff member was rostered to work on that day. For the avoidance of doubt, a casual staff member may take multiple instances of sick leave on consecutive days.
21. Casual staff apply for sick leave via their casual timesheet and are required to provide a medical certificate or relevant supporting documentation for all sick leave applications. The evidence may include: a statutory declaration; medical certificate; or other reasonable evidence considered acceptable by the University.
22. Casual staff will be paid at their full pay rate for the hours they were rostered to work in the period they took leave.

Application process

23. All staff must contact their supervisor as soon as practicable to advise their inability to attend work and provide the reason(s) and anticipated period of absence.
24. All staff must submit an online leave application for all periods of personal leave, either prior to taking the leave or immediately on returning to work post personal leave. In circumstances beyond the control of the staff member, the University may enter absence requests on the staff member’s behalf.
25. Where staff seek to access personal leave under compassionate or appropriate grounds that are outside of the provisions as outlined in this procedure, this must be formally requested to the Chief People Officer via email to cpo@anu.edu.au. The request must include evidence of approval by the supervisor and outline the reasons for the request. Such requests are considered on a case by case basis, and will be granted in exceptional circumstances only. Upon approval by the Chief People Officer, the period of personal leave will be processed in the HR System by the Payroll Team as ‘Personal Leave – CPO Approval’, and the staff member and supervisor will be notified.

Evidence requirements

26. Full-time and part-time staff members must provide a medical certificate or relevant supporting documentation for absences in excess of three consecutive days. This is to be uploaded as an attachment to the sick leave request in HORUS, or may be provided to the staff member’s immediate supervisor or another staff member nominated by the University before or after the personal leave has started. Where considered warranted, the University may require a medical certificate for any future absence(s).
27. In the case of long term or chronic illness or disability, a staff member may discuss and agree with a supervisor on the evidence required for absences relating to regular treatment or appointments, or their workplace adjustment plan.
28. With reference to clauses 16 and 20 , other appropriate evidence may include a statutory declaration or a medical certificate from medical service providers including:

1. Registered medical practitioners such as general practitioners, medical specialists, dentists, orthodontists, registered nurses, midwives;
2. Health care providers such as chiropractors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, podiatrists, dietitians; or
3. Natural therapists including naturopaths, herbalists, homeopaths, nutritionists, and massage therapists where a referral to that therapist has been arranged by a registered medical practitioner.

29. An acceptable medical certificate or statutory declaration will state either:

1. The staff member had, has, or will have, a personal illness or injury during the period;
2. The staff member is unfit for duty;
3. The staff member requires (or required) care or support during the period of absence due to a personal illness or injury, or an unexpected emergency; or
4. The staff member’s immediate family member or household member is unwell and the staff member is required to care for the family or household member.

Medical evidence for workers’ compensation

30. For workers’ compensation, as provided by the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (SRC Act), a certificate of capacity, medical certificate or medical report should be provided as follows:

1. Claimants need to provide an original certificate stating a precise medical diagnosis and indicating a work-related injury or disease.
2. If a claim is made for chiropractic, physiotherapy or osteopathic treatment only and not for payment of any time off work, an original medical certificate from the treating chiropractor, physiotherapist, or osteopath is acceptable.
3. In all other cases claimants will need to provide an original medical certificate from a legally qualified medical practitioner (for example a general practitioner or medical specialist), and
4. If a claim is made for an illness or disease the medical practitioner will also need to provide information that indicates how employment with the University contributed to the medical condition.

31. It is important to note that these conditions should also be applied to medical certificates connected with claims under the University’s minor injury guidelines.

Compassionate Leave

32. A staff member may apply for compassionate leave, in addition to personal and wellbeing leave of up to two days per occasion, as provided for in the National Employment Standards, where:

1. a member of the staff members’ immediate family or household dies, or contracts or develops a life-threatening illness or injury;
2. a baby in their immediate family or household is stillborn;
3. they have a miscarriage; or
4. their current spouse or de facto partner has a miscarriage.

33. A staff member can access compassionate leave as:

1. a single continuous period of two days,
2. two separate periods of one day, or,
3. other period as negotiated with their supervisor.

34. Compassionate leave is not cumulative.
35. Compassionate leave is paid for fixed term, continuing and continuing contingent funded staff. Casual staff can access compassionate leave on an unpaid basis.

Other conditions for personal leave

36. Where reasonable circumstances exist, the delegate may approve a staff member taking part of their personal leave entitlement as additional days on a half pay basis.
37. A staff member who is accepted by a relevant superannuation fund, for temporary or permanent incapacity, will have a notional sick leave balance calculated for the purposes of determining the commencement date for incapacity payment. The notional sick leave accruals for the purpose of calculating the balance provided for in this clause will be calculated on the basis of 15 days of sick leave for the first three completed years of service with the University, and 20 days of sick leave for each subsequent completed year of service.
38. A delegate must exercise their delegation to approve a leave application in accordance with the conditions and approval arrangements specified in this procedure.
39. In extenuating circumstances, a staff member who has used all of their personal leave credits (including sick leave for casual staff) and who is suffering substantial hardship may apply to Chief People Officer for assistance.
40. Approval of leave beyond those provided through this procedure requires the approval of the Chief People Officer or the Vice-Chancellor and President.