Recently at Camden Council a member was denied the use of Annual or Long Service leave to compensate for no sick leave. In this case, the member had been off on extended sick leave due to a serious car accident. The member’s sick leave had been exhausted and at a meeting with management on return to work, there was a verbal agreement that he could utilise his annual leave and/or long service leave should he need a day off.
The member submitted a grievance seeking the reconsideration and approval as per the meeting agreement, however, it was refused at the local level on the grounds that staff need to pre apply for annual and/or long service leave and if they do not have adequate leave available, they are advised and alternative arrangements are made. The Union argued that in this case, leave would have needed to be applied for retrospectively and therefore, this process is not relevant and shouldn’t be considered.
Subsequently, a Stage 2 grievance was submitted and the Union argued that this case wasn’t common and that probably, only about 5 occurrences of the pre-leave situation were experienced each fortnight. In these cases, the staff member is advised and as previously mentioned, alternative arrangements are made. However, in this case, a simple phone call, or email to the supervisor, from payroll, seeking clarification on what leave is sought would have addressed the matter at a local level.
Again, the grievance was denied and the Union pushed for a review by the Chief Executive Officer.
Subsequently, the Union argued as it did previously, by council not taking or having any contingency in place to accommodate an incident like this, then unfair processes have been realised which subsequently, have disadvantaged the member, causing an immediate financial concern.
To the satisfaction of the member, council reversed its decision and paid the member the day’s leave from his recreation leave
A great win for the member, the Union and persistence.
