Enterprise Agreement 2011-14 - Department of Climate Change

Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency – Enterprise Agreement 2011-14
will not count as service for redundancy pay purposes.
84.7. Absences from work, which do not count as service for any purpose, will not count as service
for redundancy pay purposes.
85. Retention Period
85.1. The retention period commences on the day after the expiration of the consideration period.
85.2. An excess employee who does not agree to be retrenched with the payment of a
redundancy benefit will be entitled to the following period of retention:
o 7 months; or
o 13 months where an employee has 20 or more years of service or is over 45 years of
age.
85.3. If an employee is entitled to a redundancy payment under the NES, the retention period at
clause 86.2 will be reduced the employee’s redundancy pay entitlement under the NES on
termination, calculated as at the expiration of the retention period (as adjusted by this
clause).
85.4. It is the excess employee’s responsibility to take all reasonable steps to identify and apply for
suitable vacancies at their substantive level during the retention period.
85.5. During the retention period the Secretary:
o will assist with attempts to find alternative employment; and/or
o may, on request, provide assistance in meeting reasonable travel costs and
incidental expenses incurred in seeking alternative employment where these are not
met by the prospective employer;
o where an excess employee is required to move the employee’s household to a new
locality the Agency Head may approve reasonable expenses where these expenses
are not met by the prospective employer;
o may, after giving 4 weeks’ notice to the employee, reduce the employee’s
classification as a means of securing alternative employment. If this occurs prior to
the end of the retention period, the employee will continue to be paid at their
previous level for the balance of the retention period.
85.6. The retention period will not be extended by any periods of paid or unpaid leave. The
Secretary may consider extending a retention period where medical evidence indicates the
employee is substantially incapacitated and are considered to be unfit for work by a medical
practitioner nominated by the Department. It would only be in exceptional circumstances
that the retention period would be extended beyond an additional 2 months.
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