University of New South Wales - - Additional Leave and Equalisation of Salary Scheme - General Staff Policy, Human Resources, UNSW

Approving Authority:	Vice-Chancellor's Advisory Committee
Date of Approval:	26 October 2000
Last Amended:	September 2006
Contact Officer:	Industrial Relations Advisory Unit

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Clause 15.0 of the UNSW (General Staff) Enterprise Agreement 2006 allows for the equalisation of an employee's salary over the course of a year.

Equalisation of salary is a flexible payment of salary arrangement, available in particular, but not exclusively, to those employees who are continuing employees working on a sessional basis, which allows those employees' total annual hours of employment to be equalised and paid over the entire calendar year.

(a) An employee and the University may, by agreement, agree to equalise his/her salary so that the annual earnings are paid in equal portions over the whole year, rather than only those weeks where work is performed.

(b) Where the above arrangement is entered into, the employee will be entitled to all benefits to which he/she would otherwise have been entitled on the same proportion as in subclause 15.0(a) above.

2.0 ADDITIONAL LEAVE AND EQUALISATION OF SALARY SCHEME

2.1 Overview

The Additional Leave and Equalisation of Salary Scheme (the Scheme) will have application to two particular employment circumstances for professional & technical staff.

2.1.1 Sessional Employees
Sessional employees who earn a salary only for that part of the year that they actually work will be able to annualise their payments over the year, thereby receiving regular fortnightly payments.

2.1.2 Employees seeking additional leave
Professional & technical staff employees may apply for additional leave during a year with a commensurate reduction in salary which will be equalised over the whole year. The employee's salary will be reduced by 1/52 of the gross annual salary for each week of additional leave.

An employee may only participate in the Scheme with the approval of his/her supervisor and Faculty or Divisional Head. Participation must be for a period of twelve months unless otherwise determined at the commencement of employment with the University. Participation beyond the specified 12 month period is subject to another application by the employee which will be considered on its merits by the supervisor and Faculty or Divisional Head.

2.2 Example

A professional & technical staff employee who has approval to take an additional four weeks leave would have his/her annual salary of, for example, $35,000 reduced as follows:

$35,000 / 52 = $673 per week ($1,346 per fortnight)
4 x $673 = $2,692
$35,000 - $2,692 = $32,308
$32,308 / 52 = $621 per week ($1,242 per fortnight)

Superannuation contributions would be deducted from the above as per paragraph 3.2 below.

2.3 Employees likely to be attracted to the Scheme

2.3.1 Employees with family/carer responsibilities
The Scheme might be attractive to those employees who have family responsibilities or other commitments. An employee may, for example, apply for additional weeks of leave so that he/she can be absent from the workplace during school holiday periods.

2.3.2 Sessional employees

The Scheme might also be particularly attractive to sessional employees. For example, an employee who receives $500 per week for each week of the two fourteen week University sessions could equalise his/her salary over the course of the year as follows:

2 x 14 week sessions = 28 weeks

28 x $500 = $14,000 per annum

$14,000 / 52 weeks = $269 equalised per week over 12 months ($538 per fortnight)

2.3.3 Long term employees

Longer serving employees may be increasingly attracted to the idea of having more time off for a reduction in annual salary.

3.0 EMPLOYMENT CONSIDERATIONS

3.1 Impact on individuals

The above arrangements assist staff to receive a regular income and to receive ongoing superannuation benefits. However, staff considering taking up the Scheme should seek independent financial advice on the impact of such arrangements on their superannuation and other benefits.

The additional leave applied for will be deemed to have been taken at the end of the 12 month period. An employee will be required to seek the agreement of his/her supervisor prior to the taking of such leave and to establish in advance the dates that the additional leave will be taken.

3.2 Superannuation

An employee may choose to either:

(a) continue to pay superannuation at their normal salary, that is, their salary prior to the adjustment for equalisation arrangements. Under this arrangement, the employee will be expected to pay their normal fortnightly employee superannuation contribution; or

(b) contribute superannuation at the reduced salary rate, that is, the fortnightly rate of pay after adjustment for equalisation arrangements.

3.3 Recreation leave

Employees will normally be expected to take all recreation leave accrued during the 12 month equalisation of salary period (ie. 4 weeks recreation leave) by the end of the period. Leave taken during the 12 month period will be paid at the employee's reduced salary rate, that is, the fortnightly rate of pay after adjustment for equalisation arrangements.

Where an employee is seeking to take recreation leave, a leave form should be completed in the normal way.

3.4 Overtime

Overtime payments will be based on the employee's normal rate of pay, that is, the rate of pay prior to the equalisation arrangements.

3.5 Application

Where an employee wishes to apply for additional leave, he/she must complete the form HR105. If the supervisor and the Head of Division approve the arrangement, the form should be forwarded to Human Resources.

3.6 The Scheme and Prospective Employees

It could be possible for an employee to enter into the Scheme prior to commencing employment. A work unit that is advertising a position should give consideration to making prospective employees aware that such employment arrangements are possible, either in the advertisement or at some other stage of the recruitment process.

3.7 Termination of Employment

An employee who enters into the Scheme and resigns during the specified 12 month period, an appropriate adjustment may be made to his/her final salary payment to take account of additional leave applied for under the Scheme which may not have been taken.

An employee whose position is made redundant and is retrenched will be paid severance benefit at the rate of salary that they are earning at the date that they are retrenched.

3.8 Further Queries

Any questions on the operation of the Scheme should be addressed to the HR Consultant/HR Officer responsible for your Faculty/Division.

Download HR105 in RTF or PDF format