Page 1244 - Week 03 - Thursday, 31 March 2011
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Mr Stanhope: Based on advice provided by the ACT Auditor General, the answer to the member’s question is as follows:
(1) Staff of the Auditor-General’s Office accrue the equivalent of 20 days annual leave each year. Part-time staff accrue leave on a pro-rata basis. Under the Auditor-General’s Office’s Staff Enterprise Agreement (Clause F7.12) and ‘Leave Administration – Policy and Procedures’ (Clause 7.1) staff are encouraged to take their annual entitlement each year.
Under Auditor-General’s Office’s Staff Enterprise Agreement (Clause F7.20), where an employee has accrued two years worth of annual leave (i.e. 40 days annual leave for a full time employee), the employee and relevant manager must agree and implement an annual leave usage plan to ensure an employee’s accrued leave credit does not exceed two and a half years worth of annual leave credit (this equates to 50 days annual leave for a full-time employee).
(2) Under the Auditor-General’s Office’s Staff Enterprise Agreement, staff do not lose their annual leave entitlements because there are provisions in this Agreement which generally ensure staff take leave. Under the Agreement:
• staff who reach two years worth of annual leave must agree and implement an annual leave usage plan to ensure an employee’s accrued leave does not exceed two and a half years worth of annual leave credit (Clause F7.20)
• the Auditor-General must, unless there are exceptional circumstances, approve an application for annual leave where it would enable an employee to reduce their annual leave credit below two and half years worth of annual leave credit. Further, if exceptional circumstances exist, the Auditor-General must consult with the employee and agree on a mutually agreeable time for annual leave to be taken (Clause F7.17); and
• where the employee does not agree to a reasonable annual leave usage plan, the Auditor-General may, with one month’s notice, direct an employee who has accrued two and a half years worth of credit to take annual leave. (Clause F7.21) The Auditor-General cannot give this direction where an employee has previously applied for leave to reduce their excess leave and this application has not been approved.
Staff may also elect to ‘cash out’ up to two weeks of leave where their annual leave has exceeded two years worth of credit (Clause F7.32).
In practice, the staff rarely accumulate leave in excess of 40 days because staff have taken their annual entitlement of leave each year. There have been no cases where staff have lost their annual leave entitlements.
(3) The amount of annual leave at 31 December 2010 in hours and dollars was 6 697 hours and $434 236 respectively.
Budget—program management and funding
(Question No 1462)
Mr Smyth asked the Chief Minister, upon notice, on 16 February 2011:
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