Parental absence
Principal and teacher class
Overview
Principal and teacher class employees can access up to a total of seven years’ parental absence following or in conjunction with the birth or adoption of a child comprising one or more of the following forms of leave:
- Maternity leave
- Adoption leave
- Partner leave
- Family leave without pay (the portion of a parental absence not covered by paid leave)
- Long service leave
Entitlement
Apart from any paid leave taken in conjunction with the birth or adoption of a child parental absence is without pay. Parental absence may extend up to the seventh birthday of the child for whom the leave was granted with the exception that further leave beyond the seventh birthday may be granted to allow for resumption of duty at the start of a school term. If a total of seven years of parental absence has been taken, a further period of parental absence may be approved in the event of any subsequent birth or adoption.
Excluding partner and adoption leave, one period of parental absence can be taken per employee per child (or children in respect of a multiple birth). Where both parents are employees in the principal or teacher class, they are each entitled to a maximum of seven years of parental absence. Both employees are not entitled to parental absence at the same time and the leave taken by an employee must be contiguous with that of his or her partner and must not extend beyond the child's seventh birthday. In circumstances where an employee becomes pregnant or is an approved applicant for the adoption of a child while her or his partner is on parental absence, one of the employees must resume duty within six weeks of the date of birth or placement of the child.
Where an employee is pregnant and, in the opinion of a registered medical practitioner, illness or risks arising out of the pregnancy or hazards connected with the work assigned to the employee make it inadvisable for the employee to continue at her present work, the employee will be temporarily transferred to a safe job on the conditions attaching to that job for such period as is certified necessary by a registered medical practitioner. An employee temporarily transferred to a safe job will be paid not less than her substantive salary immediately prior to the temporary transfer.
If temporary transfer to a safe job is not practicable the employee may elect, or may be required to absent herself on paid leave for such period as is certified necessary by a registered medical practitioner.
Commencement of parental absence
An employee can commence a period of parental absence at any time on or after:
- the date the employee submits satisfactory medical evidence that she is pregnant;
- the date of birth or adoption of a child (including the adoption of a child who is a relative of the employee);
- the date an employee becomes the guardian of a child; or
- the date an employee is granted custody of a child under the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005.
An employee who is pregnant is required to absent herself from duty for the period six weeks before the expected date of birth of her child until six weeks after the actual date of birth of her child. In the event that the actual date of birth occurs earlier than the expected date of birth the employee is required to absent herself from duty for the period six weeks from the actual date of birth. For information regarding attendance during the required period of absence refer to maternity leave below
Resumption of duty following parental absence
An employee may return to duty following parental absence:
- immediately following the expiration of maternity or adoption leave or parental absence period; or
- on the first day of any term (but not earlier than the expiration of any maternity or adoption leave), if written notice of intention to return is given by 1 November in the year preceding the intended date of return; or
- at such other times as may be approved in any particular case provided that applications on compassionate or hardship grounds will not be unreasonably refused.
An employee may request to return to duty following parental absence on a part-time basis until the child reaches school age to assist the employee in reconciling work and parental responsibilities. Any such request will be considered in the context of the Department’s Flexible Work/Family/Life Balance policy below and will only be refused where the request cannot be reasonably accommodated having regard to the effect on the education program of the school.
Temporary resumption from parental absence
Where a principal cannot fill a fixed term vacancy of six weeks or more with a suitable qualified teacher, a temporary resumption for a teacher currently on parental absence can be considered. A temporary resumption from parental absence should only be considered where all other avenues of employment have been exhausted, .i.e. potential over entitlement teachers and teachers able to be offered fixed term employment are not available.
When a teacher returns from parental absence on a temporary resumption:
- salary will be at the teacher's substantive salary level
- service will be recognised for all purposes (e.g. long service leave, personal leave)
- at the end of the period the teacher will resume parental absence under the same provisions as before the temporary resumption
- a temporary resumption may extend the period of parental absence provided that the period of parental absence does not go beyond the seventh birthday of the child for whom parental absence was taken or exceed a total of seven years
- superannuation contributions will be deducted at the usual rate from the teacher's salary
- Where the temporary resumption is at a lower time fraction than the teacher’s substantive time fraction the teacher’s time fraction does not alter. In this case the teacher will resume duty at the lower time fraction with the remainder being parental absence (for example: a full time teacher agrees to temporarily resume for three days a week. In this example 0.6 would be duty and 0.4 would be parental absence).
A teacher on parental absence who temporarily resumes duty is entitled to be paid during school vacations that occur during the resumption period under the same terms and conditions that apply to other teachers. Where the temporary resumption is for less than one term, the teacher is entitled to be paid 1.66 days annual leave for each month of service during the temporary resumption period.
Approval for a temporary resumption from parental absence
The temporary resumption of a teacher on parental absence into a fixed term vacancy will require consultation to be undertaken between the two principals and the teacher involved so that the implications of the temporary resumption are clear to all.
- The teacher who has been asked to resume temporarily from parental absence must provide details of the temporary resumption to his or her base school principal and seek the base school principal's written approval prior to the temporary resumption.
- The principal planning to offer temporary resumption to a teacher on parental absence must consult with the teacher's base school principal to ensure that the approval has been sought.
- The base school principal may give written permission for the teacher to resume temporarily from parental absence. Unless the temporary resumption is going to adversely affect the base school's workforce plan, it is expected that the base school principal would normally approve the temporary resumption.
Non approval from base school principal
In planning to fill a vacancy with the temporary resumption of a teacher who is on parental absence the principal of the appointing school must ensure that the base school principal has been made aware of the resumption and been given an opportunity to endorse it. In the event that the base school principal does not agree to the temporary resumption, the principal of the appointing school may only proceed with the temporary resumption by accepting responsibility for the teacher's placement at the expiration of the parental absence period (i.e. the appointing school becomes the teacher's new base school).
A sample letter is provided in the procedures and forms section below. Where the temporary resumption is at the teacher’s base school or where the resumption is at another school and the base school principal does not support the temporary resumption the sample letter will need to be varied to reflect the arrangements.
Education Support Class | Principals and Teachers | Public Service
Other Resources
Procedures & Forms
- Sample letter for temporary resumption (Word - 32Kb)
- Parental Leave Administration procedures (Word - 384Kb)
Legislation
Related Topics