Expanded leave options in latest Industrial Agreement

With the WA Health System – Medical Practitioners – AMA Industrial Agreement 2024 now registered and commenced operation from 28 November 2024, there are a number of other changes and new types of leave now in effect, in addition to the overview of key changes in the Sep-Oct 2024 edition of Medicus.

Parental leave

Professional Development Leave can now be accessed during periods of parental leave, in addition to accessing other paid leave entitlements such as annual or long service. Professional Development Allowance will also now be paid during Paid Parental Leave (PPL) and for DiTs, this means also continuing to receive the separate DiT Support Payment. Twenty-four (24) weeks of superannuation payments will now be paid on unpaid parental leave, an increase from the previous 12 weeks.

New provisions have been introduced to provide a clear entitlement to continued access to both PPL and unpaid parental leave in unfortunate circumstances where a pregnancy ends without the birth of a living child (within 20 weeks of expected date of birth), the child passes away or is hospitalised following the birth, or the birth parent is incapacitated as a result of the birth.

Compassionate leave for early pregnancy loss

The new Agreement provides for separate bereavement (compassionate) paid leave provisions of up to three consecutive days, where a pregnancy ends without the birth of a living child up to 20 weeks before the expected date of birth (applicable to both the birth parent and partner).

Long service leave (LSL)

A practitioner may now access their pro rata LSL entitlement after seven years’ continuous service instead of waiting for this to fully crystallise after 10 years, by agreement with their employer. In addition, any public holiday falling within a practitioner’s period of LSL will now have their leave increased by one day for each public holiday to which they were entitled. Previously, public holidays were treated as part of LSL and were deducted from the balance.

Personal leave

The personal leave entitlement (formerly referred to as sick leave) has been expanded to provide greater support for practitioners facing unexpected situations. The revised provisions include the following:

• Compassionate or urgent matters: Personal leave can now be taken for unanticipated matters of a compassionate or pressing nature that arise without notice and require immediate attention.
• Planned matters: Personal leave can also be used for planned matters that cannot be organised outside normal working hours, provided they cannot be accommodated by flexible working arrangements or other leave. These matters may be:
  • one-off situations; or
  • ongoing needs related to the management of an illness or injury affecting the practitioner or a member of their family or household.

Foster carers leave

Foster and short-term carers leave is available to those who are a foster carer, to enable them to attend to the care of a child in an emergency or other out-of-home-care placement. A foster carer includes kinship arrangements and respite care that is not permanent. Practitioners will have access to three paid days non-cumulative per calendar year up to a cap of 24 hours. This leave type can be used to attend training associated with the practitioner’s foster carer responsibilities.

Public health emergency leave

Public health emergency leave will provide practitioners with access to 20 days of non-cumulative leave each year (pro rata for fixed term <12 months, part-time or casual). This leave type is to be utilised if a practitioner is absent from work due to a public health emergency or other significant events as agreed between the Association and the Executive Director, GSLR. To be eligible for access to this leave, a practitioner will need to either test positive for a disease which is the subject of a public health emergency, required to isolate or quarantine, or have caring responsibilities if caring for or providing support to a member of their family who meets the above criteria.

Emergency service leave

Practitioners who are members of, or have a member-like association with, an emergency management agency and who are absent from work to carry out an emergency management response on a voluntary basis for an emergency management agency, are entitled to be paid their ordinary rate of remuneration (which may include applicable allowances) for the time they would ordinarily have worked; have continuity of service preserved for the purposes of long service leave, sick leave, recreational leave and other entitlements; and not be victimised by the employer because of the absence.

Defence force reserve leave

Provisions have been included to incorporate the current public sector policy-based entitlement for Defence Force Reserve Leave, which provides reservists with four weeks paid leave per annum for defence service (pro rata for part-time), with an additional two-weeks’ paid leave in the first year for recruitment and/or initial training.

Annual leave

Amendments to the annual leave provisions include a four-week maximum cap on early access to annual leave in advance of it having accrued, as well as a requirement for Heads of Department and/or Medical Directors to review the annual leave entitlements of each practitioner within their department annually.

Regional entitlements

Employers are now required to provide DiTs travelling to or from a WACHS site on secondment with 48 hours free from all rostered duty on either side of travel. Rostering responsibilities will rest with the employer prior to the commencement of the secondment; and the WACHS site at the completion of the secondment.

The employer will now have the ability to implement a Fly-in-Fly-out (FIFO) and/or Drive-in-Drive-out (DIDO) arrangement, subject to agreement between the employer and practitioner. The AMA (WA) will be working to develop a template FIFO and/or DIDO roster agreement with WA Health.

Association recognition and rights

Provisions have been included to recognise the Association and its rights to organise and represent its members, including protections for Association representatives; access to orientation programs; paid time-off for Association representatives; and the establishment of a Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) to use effective communication to improve the business/operational performance and the working environment at each employer under the Agreement.