33. Annual Leave Cash Out

33.1 Employees may cash out up to 5 days of their annual leave after informing their manager. These clauses should be read in conjunction with the AEC's Leave Policy.

33.2 Employees must have taken at least three weeks of annual leave in the preceding 12 month period and have not cashed out any annual leave in the preceding 12 month period.

33.3 Payment will be at the actual rate of salary on the date of cash out, including allowances payable during annual leave, and will be subject to usual taxation rates.

34. Purchased Leave

34.1 An ongoing employee may elect to purchase up to four additional full weeks leave per year, with salary payments averaged over the year to ensure that a standard rate is received each fortnight. The use of Purchased Leave is subject to operational requirements. These clauses should be read in conjunction with the AEC's Leave Policy.

34.2 Purchased Leave counts as service for all purposes. The employee's salary for superannuation purposes is their salary as if they had not purchased leave.

35. Personal Leave

Ongoing employees

35.1 Ongoing employees will accrue 18 working days paid Personal Leave credited on 1 January of each year, for each full calendar year worked. The accrual will be reduced for periods of leave without pay that do not count as service, and any unauthorised absences.

35.2 On initial commencement in the APS, ongoing employees will be credited with 18 working days paid Personal Leave. On the following 1 January, their credits will be calculated on a pro rata basis for service between their commencement date and 31 December of the year of commencement. Ongoing employees engaged on a part-time basis will accrue Personal Leave in the same manner based on their actual hours worked.

35.3 Ongoing employees commencing with the AEC on a transfer or promotion from other agencies will have their existing personal leave credits, however described, transferred to the AEC on commencement. These credits will then reflect the normal daily hours of 7 hours and 30 minutes (7.5 hours) in this Agreement. All subsequent accruals will be in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement.

35.4 Paid Personal Leave shall be available to ongoing employees when they are absent for the following reasons:

• personal illness or injury; or
• the caring for an ill member of their immediate family or household who is dependent on the care and support of the employee or for whom the employee has primary caring responsibility; or
• the death of an immediate family member; or
• for emergency exceptional circumstances.

35.5 Ten working days' Personal Leave may be accessed for parental leave purposes for the birth of a child. Personal Leave used for this purpose will count as service.

35.6 Unused Personal Leave from previous years will accumulate but cannot be converted to salary or cashed out upon cessation or termination of employment.

35.7 Personal Leave at half pay may be accessed for absences due to personal illness or injury of 10 days or more duration, provided that the employee has five or more years of service.

35.8 Unless otherwise agreed by the Electoral Commissioner, no more than five consecutive days of Personal Leave may be taken without satisfactory medical evidence (or personal declaration in the case of caring responsibilities). The delegate may also request that an employee provide satisfactory evidence for any future periods of Personal Leave.

35.9 A maximum of five working days paid Personal Leave in a calendar year may be taken without the requirement of satisfactory medical evidence for personal illness.

35.10 Personal Leave for personal illness or injury may be granted up to the limit of accrued Personal Leave credits.

35.11 An employee who is on Personal Leave will not, without the employee's consent, have their employment terminated before their Personal Leave credits have been exhausted.

35.12 An employee who has had their employment terminated and is subsequently re-engaged as a result of action taken under section 75 of the Superannuation Act 1976, is entitled to be credited with Personal Leave equal to the balance of Sick and Special Leave, or equivalent leave types, in credit at the time of retirement.

35.13 An employee receiving workers compensation for more than 45 weeks will accrue Personal Leave on an hours actually worked basis.

35.14 Employees who are medically unfit for duty for one day or longer while on Annual Leave, Long Service or Purchased Leave and who produce satisfactory medical evidence may apply for Personal Leave. Annual Leave and/or Purchased Leave will be re-credited to the extent of the period of Personal Leave granted. Long Service leave will be re-credited in accordance with legislation. Purchased Leave will be re-credited for use in the same Purchased Leave accounting year.

35.15 An employee will not be entitled to paid Personal Leave while on paid maternity leave in accordance with legislative requirements.

35.16 An employee who has previously been engaged in the APS, or in government service as defined in s10 of the Long Service Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Act 1976, or a service referred to in s.11 (2) of that Act, may have that period of previous employment recognised as service for Personal Leave purposes provided that any break in employment between employers is no more than two months, or a longer period where the Electoral Commissioner determines special circumstances exist.

Non-ongoing Employees

35.17 Non-ongoing employees, who are engaged for less than 12 months, may be granted personal leave accrued during the course of their employment. A non-ongoing employee engaged for less than 12 months may be granted paid personal leave on a pro rata basis for each completed four weeks of service.

35.18 After one completed year of service, non-ongoing employees will accrue Personal Leave on the same basis as ongoing employees.

36. Other Leave

36.1 An ongoing or non-ongoing employee may in some circumstances be granted Other Leave at full or half pay or without pay, by the delegate, having regard to operational needs of the AEC and the specific workplace. These clauses should be read in conjunction with the AEC's Leave Policy.

36.2 Where an employee is on Annual Leave or Purchased Leave and is granted Other Leave with pay for purposes such as compassionate, jury duty or emergency service, or Personal Leave, their Annual Leave or Purchased Leave will be re-credited with the amount of Other Leave with pay or Personal Leave granted.

37. Defence Reservists

37.1 The AEC may grant an employee Defence Reserve Leave with or without pay to enable the employee to fulfil Australian Defence Force or like obligations. This clause should be read in conjunction with the AEC's Leave Policy.

38. Compassionate Leave

38.1 If a person who is a member of the employee's immediate family or household dies, or has a personal illness or injury that poses a serious threat to his or her life, paid leave of up to two days on each occasion may be granted to the employee on application. Employees will if possible provide medical evidence or other supporting evidence for compassionate leave. This clause should be read in conjunction with the AEC's Leave Policy.

39. Long Service Leave

39.1 Employees are entitled to accrue and access Long Service Leave. This clause should be read in conjunction with the AEC's Leave Policy.

40. War Service Sick Leave Conditions

40.1 The Electoral Commissioner will grant War Service Sick Leave to employees who are unfit for duty because of a war caused or defence caused condition that has been determined under the Veterans' Entitlement Act 1986. Employees eligible for these conditions should refer to the AEC's Leave Policy.

41. Maternity Leave

41.1 The entitlement to 12 weeks paid Maternity Leave is provided for under Commonwealth legislation. Eligible employees are also entitled to an additional two weeks paid leave to count as service, provided it is taken consecutively with the 12 weeks paid maternity leave. Employees eligible for these conditions should read these clauses in conjunction with the AEC's Maternity Leave Policy.

41.2 An employee may elect to spread the payment for Maternity Leave up to a period of 24 weeks at a rate of half of their normal salary if taking 12 weeks or up to a period of 28 weeks if taking 14 weeks leave.

41.3 Leave that extends beyond the initial 12 week or 14 week periods does not count as service (except for superannuation purposes).

42. Parental Leave

42.1 AEC employees are able to access leave for parental responsibilities. These clauses should be read in conjunction with the AEC's Leave Policy. Employees are able to use unpaid adoption leave, which does not break the employee's period of continuous service, but will not count as service for any purpose.

42.2 An employee who has at least 12 months continuous service in the APS is entitled to unpaid short adoption leave and/or unpaid long adoption leave.

43. Payment on Death

43.1 Where an employee dies, or the Electoral Commissioner determines that an employee will be presumed to have died on a particular date, the Electoral Commissioner may authorise the payment of the amount of salary, Annual Leave and allowances to which the former employee would have been entitled had employment been ceased other than by death.

43.2 On the death of an employee, any monies owing to the AEC as a result of purchased leave credits will be waived.

44. Public Holidays

44.1 Employees will observe and be paid for Statutory Public Holidays as follows:

• New Years Day or, if that day falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday;
• Australia Day or, if that day falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday;
• Good Friday and the following Saturday and Monday;
• 25 April - Anzac Day or, where another day is substituted by State or Territory governments, that day;
• the relevant Queen's Birthday observance day;
• the relevant labour day or equivalent;
• Christmas Day (or, if that day falls on a Saturday or Sunday, 27 December) and Boxing Day (or substitute);
• the additional public service holiday (which is to be observed on the next normal working day after the Boxing Day holiday); and
• further days for gazetted public holidays observed by the APS at the locality as determined by the Electoral Commissioner.

45. Christmas Shutdown

45.1 Subject to operational requirements, the AEC will close down all offices during the period between Christmas and New Year and will re-open on the first working day after 1 January each year. AEC employees will not be required to use Annual Leave or flextime for the working days during this period.

45.2 Should operational requirements necessitate employees working on the days between Christmas and New Year's Day, a substitute period of time off will be granted.

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