Adoption Leave
Teaching Service
An employee in the teaching service who is an approved applicant for the adoption of a child is entitled to eight weeks’ paid leave commencing on the date of placement of the child.
Conditions for granting and payment of adoption leave are the same as those specified for maternity leave.
When both adopting parents are employees in the teaching service, and apply for adoption leave in respect of the placement of the same child, each staff member is entitled to leave with pay for four weeks commencing on the date of placement of the child.
Where no legal adoption ensues, the employee has no further entitlement to leave.
An employee who is eligible for paid adoption leave and is in receipt of WorkSafe payments is entitled to adoption leave with pay less the amount paid by way of weekly compensation under the Accident Compensation Act 1985 and has no further entitlement to leave during the adoption leave period.
An employee (other than an employee in the education support class) who is required to take leave during school holidays, whose period of paid adoption leave expires immediately before or during a school holiday period, is entitled to receive normal pay for the remainder of that vacation period provided he or she return to duty immediately after the vacation.
In circumstances not covered by the above, the principal may grant adoption leave to an employee who has the daily care and control of a child following the:
- adoption by the employee of a child who is their relative, or
- becoming the guardian of a child pursuant to a will.
An employee who is granted custody of a child under the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic) by the Children’s Court or the Family Court, and who is the primary care giver of the child, is entitled to two weeks paid leave at a time agreed with the principal/Regional Director.
An application for leave must include a statement from:
- an adoption agency or other appropriate body of the expected date of placement, or
- the appropriate government authority confirming that the staff member is to have custody of the child pending application for an adoption order, or
- the Children’s Court or the Family Court as to the granting of custody.
Teaching Service | Public Service
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