DISCLAIMERS. Given the above diversity issues and our time limitation today, I have not included any references to Agency Specific Agreements.

Transcription

1 DISCLAIMERS Professional Disclaimer This presentation is of general information only, to provide guidance on what sorts of issues to consider in decision making about your retirement planning. Given the diversity of people attending these seminars; both in terms of industrial coverage and personal circumstances, it is not possible to address all the detailed entitlements under the range of industrial instruments. I have therefore briefly summarised relevant provisions contained in the: Public Service Award 1992 Public Service General Agreement 2008 The provisions I will mention are basically the same as those contained in the Government Officers Salaries, Allowances and Conditions Award 1989 and the Government Officers Salaries, Allowances and Conditions Agreement 2008 with one exception that I will mention in the presentation. I have also considered relevant parts of the following: Public Sector Management Act 1994 and its Regulations Industrial Relations Act 1979 Equal Opportunity Act 1984 Public Sector Standards Various Public Sector Guidelines & Manuals Given the above diversity issues and our time limitation today, I have not included any references to Agency Specific Agreements. As this presentation is only a summary overview of industrial provisions and does not provide specific advice, you should seek further more detailed information from the following and other expert sources before making any decisions about your retirement: The CSA Website which has copies of your Awards, Agreements and Agency Specific Agreements Your own Agency s Intranet for Agency policies and procedures Your own Agency s Human Resources staff The CSA s Union Link officers Also, as many of the industrial choices you make will have financial and superannuation implications, you will obviously need professional financial advice which the Union and its officers cannot legally provide.

2 REASONS FOR CONSIDERING RETIREMENT EEO legislation has protected employees from being mandatorily retired on the basis of age, so the reasons for retiring, the timing of one s retirement and the way one retires have become more complex. Also, employers confronting skill shortages are looking at more creative / flexible ways to retain experienced staff through financial incentives and flexible work options. Employees now consider retiring for any of the following and more reasons: Caring responsibilities (of parents, partners or grandchildren) Ill Health Voluntary Severance Opportunity To make more money in the Private Sector To get a life and enjoy other activities OPTIONS WHEN CONSIDERING RETIREMENT As indicated earlier, employers confronting skill shortages are looking at more creative / flexible ways to retain experienced staff through financial incentives and flexible work options. It is now not necessary for Public Sector employees to retire cold turkey. There are other options that may be available for those who: wish to phase out of full time employment, and/ or try out alternative activities / careers while retaining a Public Sector security blanket. These options can include any of the following: Part time employment Additional Purchased Leave up to 10 weeks per annum Purchased Leave to provide 12 months leave at 80% pay Long Service Leave taken at half pay for double the time. Unpaid Grandparental Leave up to 12 months Part time employment plus approved secondary employment CONTRACT OF SEVICE RETIREMENT AGE [PS Award Cl 8 (4) An officer having attained the age of 55 years shall be entitled to retire from the employ of the employer. PART TIME EMPLOYMENT

3 [PS Award Cl 9 and PS Agreement Cl 14] Defined as regular and continuing employment of less than 37.5 hours per week by permanent or fixed term contract staff. To be confirmed in writing stating: the agreed period of the arrangement, and the agreed hours of duty the prescribed weekly and daily hours of duty starting and finishing times each day ("ordinary hours"). The employer can alter days and times on 1 month s notice but not the total number of hours per week without employee consent. Variations must be agreed in writing. Overtime is not payable unless more than 8 hours worked in a day or for extra days up to 5 per week. Paid Leave accrues on a pro rata basis but sick leave, public holidays and other paid leave applies only for hours/days normally worked Right of Reversion To Previous Position on 4 Weeks Notice: If moved from F/T to P/T for no more than 12 months Automatic Right to revert to F/T If moved from F/T to P/T for more than 12 months practicable by employer. Right to revert to F/T as deemed PURCHASED LEAVE 42 / 52 ARANGEMENT

4 [PS Award Cl 13 and PS Agreement Cl 21] Full Time and Part Time employees may purchase up to 10 week s additional paid leave by reducing their weekly salary. An agreement to take a reduced salary spread over the 52 weeks of the year will yield the following amounts of purchased leave. Number of weeks salary spread over 52 weeks Number of weeks purchased leave The employer will assess each application on its merits and give consideration to the personal circumstances of the employee seeking the arrangement. The employer will give priority access to those employees with caring responsibilities, where an employee is applying for purchased leave of between five and ten weeks Purchased leave cannot be accrued so, if not taken, will be paid back in the following January s last pay period. There are also provisions that address: Variations in P/T employees hours during the year Higher Duties Allowances Mandatory taking of a period of annual leave according to Agency policy or for 9+ weeks purchased leave PURCHASED LEAVE DEFERRED SALARY ARANGEMENT

5 [PS Award Cl 14 ] Employees may elect to receive less salary for 4 years in order to take the entire 5 th year off with pay. As this is a short clause, it is reproduced in full as follows: (1) With the written agreement of the employer, an officer may elect to receive, over a four-year period, 80% of the salary they would otherwise be entitled to receive in accordance with the Award. (2) The employer will assess each application for deferred salary on its merits and give consideration to the personal circumstances of the officer seeking the leave. (3) On completion of the fourth year, an officer will be entitled to 12 months leave and will receive an amount equal to 80% of the salary they were otherwise entitled to in the fourth year of deferment. (4) Where an officer completes four (4) years of deferred salary service and is not required to attend duty in the following year, the period of non-attendance shall not constitute a break in service and shall count as service on a pro-rata basis for all purposes. (5) An officer may withdraw from this arrangement prior to completing a four-year period by written notice. The officer will receive a lump sum payment of salary forgone to that time but will not be entitled to equivalent absence from duty. (6) The employer will ensure that superannuation arrangements and taxation effects are fully explained to the officer by the relevant Authority. The employer will put any necessary arrangements into place. Variation of the Arrangements (7) As an alternative to subclause (5) of this clause, and only by mutual agreement of the employer and the employee, the provisions of the deferred arrangement may be varied subject to the following: (a) (b) the term of the arrangement will not extend beyond that contemplated by this clause, the variation will not result in any consequential monetary or related gain or loss to either the employer or the employee, and (c) the percentage of salary to apply during the 12 months leave as specified in subclause 3 of this clause will be calculated as 80% of the average ordinary prescribed hours worked over the previous four years. ANNUAL LEAVE LOADING

6 [PS Award Cl 23 (11) (h)] Leave loading is paid on both accrued and pro rata annual leave when an employee is being paid out on retirement (or death!) LONG SERVICE LEAVE [PS Award Cl 25] An officer who elects to retire at 55years or older and has at least 12 months service may apply to take pro rata LSL prior to the date of their retirement. Employees may by agreement be permitted to take accrued LSL on the following bases: Half pay for double the time off, or Double pay for half the time off, or Cash out providing they take at least 10 days annual leave in that calendar year. The employer can direct an employee to take accrued LSL and the date it commences. EARLY ACCESS TO PRO RATA LONG SERVICE LEAVE [PS Agreement Cl 25] LONG SERVICE LEAVE [GOSAC Award Cl 25] LSL shall be taken within 3 years of accrual but the employer can defer in exceptional circumstances which includes retirement within 5 years of accrual. Pro rata LSL is paid out to an officer who retires at or over the age of 55 years or who is retired on the grounds of ill health, if the officer has completed not less than 12 months' continuous service before the date of retirement. LONG SERVICE LEAVE [PS Award and GOSAC Award Comparison] Obviously the PS Award is not clear with respect to retirees except to the taking of pro rata LSL prior to retirement. The GOSAC Award provides more explicit rights. However Fortunately Agencies all appear to pay out Pro Rata LSL on retirement as per the GOSAC provisions Notwithstanding the provisions of the Public Service Agreement at Sub clause 25.6 of Early Access to Pro Rata Long Service Leave. EARLY ACCESS TO PRO RATA LONG SERVICE LEAVE

7 [PS Agreement Cl 25] 25.1 This clause is to be read in conjunction with Clause 25 Long Service Leave of the Award For the purposes of this clause, employee includes full time, part time, permanent and fixed term contract employees Subject to clause 25.5, employees within seven years of their preservation age under Western Australian Government superannuation arrangements may, by agreement with their employer, choose early access to their long service leave at the rate of 9.28 days per completed twelve month period of continuous service for full time employees Part time employees have the same entitlement as full time employees, with their entitlement calculated on a pro rata basis according to any variations to their ordinary working hours during the accrual period Early access to pro rata long service leave does not include access to long service leave to which the employee has become entitled, or accumulated prior to being within seven years of their preservation age Under this clause, long service leave can only be taken as paid leave and there is no capacity for payment in lieu of leave Employees may, by agreement with their employer, clear long service leave in minimum periods of one day Where employees access pro rata long service leave early, any period of leave taken will be excised for the purpose of continuous service in accordance with clause 25 (5) of the Award. OTHER OPTIONS

8 WHEN CONSIDERING RETIREMENT FOR CARING OR TIME OUT Leave Without Pay For any period [PS Award Cl 29] Flexible Working Arrangements - Including Employee initiated Span of Hours [PS Agreement Cl ] Personal Leave - Includes Carer s Leave [PS Agreement Cl 20] Unpaid Grandparental Leave [PS Agreement Cl 24] Working From Home But hours must still be worked [PS Agreement Cl 36] Secondary Employment Only with Written permission and unlikely if conflicts of interest. [PS M Act Section 102} LEAVE WITHOUT PAY [PS Award Cl 29] (1) Subject to the provisions of subclauses (2) and (3) of this clause, the employer may grant an officer leave without pay for any period and is responsible for that officer on their return. (2) Subject to the provisions of subclause (3) every application for leave without pay will be considered on its merits and may be granted provided that the following conditions are met: (a) (b) The work of the department is not inconvenienced; and All other leave credits of the officer are exhausted. (3) An officer shall, upon request be entitled to two days unpaid personal (caring) leave. (4) An officer on a fixed term contract may not be granted leave without pay for any period beyond that officer s approved period of engagement. FLEXIBLE WORKING ARRANGEMENTS [PS Agreement Cl 16 Hours and Especially Cl ]

9 This clause replaces Clause 20 - Hours of the Award. The prescribed hours of duty are 150 hours per four week settlement period, to be worked between 7.00am and 6.00pm, Monday to Friday, as determined by the employer, with a lunch interval of not less than 30 minutes. Employees cannot be required to work more than five hours continuously without a break. However the employer can require or agree to the working of standard hours of 7.5 hours per day with a lunch interval to be taken between noon and 2.00pm. Where working of standard hours is required by the employer, the requirement must be consistent with operational needs and customer service requirements. Flexible Working Arrangements 16.6 Flexible working arrangements provide for employees to be compensated for additional hours required to be worked to meet operational and customer service requirements. It is not intended that flexible working arrangements be used to accrue periods of leave. Subject to the prior approval of the employer, an employee may, however, take flexi leave in conjunction with periods of paid leave Application (a) (b) Within the parameters of clause 16.2, flexible working arrangements shall apply unless the employer otherwise specifies. The employer may limit access to and the operation of flexible working arrangements to ensure operational needs and customer service requirements of the agency are met. The employer shall not unreasonably limit access to flexible working arrangements, including the banking of credit hours. Employee Initiated Span of Working Hours Notwithstanding clause 16.2, where the employee requests and the employer approves, an employee may work their ordinary hours outside the span of 7.00am to 6.00pm. The working of ordinary hours outside the span of 7.00am to 6.00pm may only be implemented at an employee s request Agreements under clause are to be in writing and must specify the duration of the agreement, and the times during which ordinary hours may be worked Where written agreement is reached between an employer and an employee for the employee to work their ordinary hours outside the span of 7.00am to 6.00pm, no overtime or shift work penalties shall be applied to those hours An employer shall not require an employee to work outside the span of 7.00am to 6.00pm without the payment of overtime as per clause 22 Overtime Allowance of the Award, or the payment of shift penalties as per clause 21 Shift Work Allowance of the Award, whichever may apply. PERSONAL LEAVE - FOR CARING [PS Agreement Cl 20 ]

10 The clause replaces Award clauses relating to Short Leave, Carer s Leave, Sick Leave, with the exception of subclause 26 (11) War caused illnesses. The intention was to provide greater flexibility by providing leave on full pay for a variety of personal purposes. Quantum is hours p.a. of which all but 15 hours p.a. is cumulative. Is available: where the employee is ill or injured; to provide care or support to a member of the employee s family or household who requires care or support because of an illness or injury to the member; or an unexpected emergency affecting the member; for unanticipated matters of a compassionate or pressing nature which arise without notice and require immediate attention; The definition of family is the definition contained in the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 for "relative. That is, a person who is related to the employee by blood, marriage, affinity or adoption and includes a person who is wholly or mainly dependent on, or is a member of the household of, the employee. Personal leave is not for circumstances normally met by other forms of leave. Part time employees are entitled to personal leave on a pro rata basis but payment is only be made for those hours that would normally have been worked had the employee not been on personal leave. PERSONAL LEAVE - FOR SICKNESS [PS Agreement Cl 20 ]

11 Unused personal leave will not be cashed out or paid out when an employee ceases their employment. Cautionary Notes Where there is doubt about the cause of an employee's illness, the employer may require the employee to submit to a medical examination by a medical practitioner of the employer s choice, which the employee must attend. Where it is reported that the absence is because of illness caused by the employee s serious and wilful misconduct in the course of the employee s employment, or the employee fails without reasonable cause to attend the medical examination, the fee for the examination must be deducted from the employee's salary and personal leave will not be granted. If the employer has reason to believe that an employee is in such a state of health as to render a danger to themselves, fellow employees or the public, the employee may be required to obtain and furnish a report as to the employee s condition from a registered medical practitioner nominated by the employer. The employer shall pay the fee for any such examination. Where an employee who has been retired from the public service on medical grounds resumes duty, personal leave credits at the date of retirement shall be reinstated. This provision does not apply to an employee who has resigned from the public service and is subsequently reappointed. RETIREMENT ON THE GROUNDS OF ILL HEALTH [PS Management Act S 39 and Public Sector Commission Guidelines] 39. Retirement of public service officers on grounds of ill health (1) A public service officer may retire, or an employing authority may call on a public service officer to retire, from the Public Service on the grounds of ill health. (2) A public service officer who is called on to retire from the Public Service under subsection (1) shall forthwith so retire. TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT [PS Award Cl 8 Contract of Service AND Public Sector Standard on Termination] UNPAID GRANDPARENTAL LEAVE [PS Agreement Cl 24]

12 Employees can access up to 52 weeks unpaid leave where they are to be the primary care giver at the birth of a grandchild, or adoption of a grandchild under 5 years, where care is provided during the employee s ordinary hours of work. Leave can be Full Time or Part Time providing the employee is the primary care giver on those days. Requires 4 weeks advance notice. If intend to resume work on a modified basis the employee must advise employer in writing at least 4 weeks prior to the end of their leave. Leave does not affect continuity of service but, if greater than 14 days, none of the leave is counted as service. 36. WORKING FROM HOME WORKING FROM HOME [PS Agreement Cl 36] 36.1 Subject to this clause, employers may consider the introduction of working from home arrangements. The introduction of working from home arrangements does not provide for the employees primary place of work to be moved from the employee s headquarters/work base to the employee s home Statutory requirements apply** to employee s working from home as they do to employees working at an employer s workplace. Employers must ensure understanding and compliance of all affected parties with all statutory responsibilities prior to any arrangements being sanctioned Employers are required to undertake a risk assessment of the work activities carried out by employees to identify and manage hazards. In carrying out any assessment, employers must look at who and what may be affected by, and the possible effects of the work being done from home The introduction of working from home arrangements is subject to:

13 (a) (b) (c) the employees duties are those they would normally undertake at their headquarters/work base; the nature of employees work being such that it is suited to working from home arrangements; approval of any arrangement being at the discretion of the employer; (d) employees agreeing to enter into the working from home arrangements; (e) (f) the introduction of working from home arrangements being in accordance with the provisions of the employer s policy; and the employer s policy and procedures addressing: (i) (ii) (iii) general obligations of both the employer and employees, including such things as insurance, separation of overheads billed to the homeowner and the employee s ordinary hours of work while working from home; duty of care responsibilities owed by the employer and employee under the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984; and all additional statutory obligations affecting the employer/employee relationship. ** Eg, Privacy, State Records legislation, Health & Safety etc SECONDARY EMPLOYMENT [PS Management Act S 102]

14 102. Employees not to engage in activities unconnected with their functions (1) Except with the written permission of his or her employing authority, which permission may at any time be withdrawn, an employee shall not (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) accept or continue to hold an office, post or position under the Government or a paid office, post or position in or under any local government or regional local government or the council of a local government or regional local government or any other public body corporate; accept or continue to hold or discharge the duties of or be employed in a paid position in connection with any banking, insurance, mining, mercantile or other commercial business, whether it be carried on by any corporation, company, firm or individual; engage in or undertake any business referred to in paragraph (b), whether as principal or agent; engage or continue in the private practice of any profession; or accept or engage in any employment for reward other than in connection with the functions of his or her office, post or position under the State. (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to or in relation to any case or class of case specified in public sector standards for the purposes of this section. (3) A person shall not be regarded as holding a paid office, post or position in or under any local government or regional local government or the council of a local government or regional local government for the purposes of subsection (1)(a) by reason only of the person being paid a fee or allowance or being reimbursed for an expense if the payment or reimbursement is in accordance with Part 5, Division 8 of the Local Government Act MISCELLANEOUS

15 Other Sources of Information in Support of Your Submissions / Arguments Phased Retirement Department of Commerce - Work Life Fact Sheet No 12 Phased Retirement Department of Health Phased Retirement Policy; Guidelines and Application Form Public Sector Commission Public Sector Workforce 2009 Retiring to Seek Higher Pay? Approved Procedure 7 Determining Remuneration Attraction and Retention Benefits. Flexible Work Options Public Sector Commission Public Sector Workforce 2009 Department of Commerce - Work and Family in the Public Sector Department of Commerce - Work Life Fact Sheet No 10 Carer Friendly Workplaces Department of Commerce - Work Life Balance Work Life Initiatives are a key Attraction and Retention strategy for Western Australian Businesses. Department of Commerce - Mature Age Employment Using Flexible Work to Attract and Retain Mature Workers