9. Long Service Leave (Extended Leave)

9.1 General

1. The terms "long service leave" and "extended leave" are identical but the term "long service leave" is used as this is the commonly accepted terminology in the Education Teaching Service.
2. All periods of service as a temporary teacher (broken and continuous) will be combined to determine years of service and therefore a temporary teacher's long service leave entitlement. Other service may also be recognised for long service leave purposes (see sections 9.12 - 9.18 for details).
3. Long service leave will only be granted for periods that fall within a temporary teacher engagement. A temporary teacher must have entered on duty in a temporary engagement before applying for long service leave.
4. In determining the time when long service leave should be taken, teachers should exercise their professional judgement as to the impact of such leave on the students of the school. The personal circumstances of the temporary teacher will also be a relevant factor.
5. If the period for which long service leave has been applied is not convenient to the school because of reasons such as relief difficulties, educational programs and student needs, then a mutually convenient time may be negotiated between the principal and the temporary teacher prior to the application being submitted to Payroll Services.
6. Temporary teachers should provide as much advance notice as possible of their intention to seek long service leave. Minimum periods of notice required for submission of long service leave applications are as follows:

• Temporary engagements of one year - three months prior to the first date of long service leave
• Temporary engagements of three terms - 9 weeks prior to the first date of long service leave
• Temporary engagements of two terms - 6 weeks prior to the first date of long service leave
• Temporary engagements of one term - 3 weeks prior to the first date of long service leave
• Temporary engagements of four weeks - 1 week prior to the first date of long service leave.

Should special circumstances arise such as compassionate or other good reason, shorter notice may be given.

7. Long service leave may be taken on full or half pay or as a combination of full and half pay after completion of ten or more years of service.
8. Temporary teachers who have an entitlement to long service leave and who terminate their employment with the Department should advise Payroll Services that they wish to be paid the monetary value of any long service leave balance.
9. Where the services of a temporary teacher with at least five years service but less than ten years service are terminated by the Director-General for any reason other than the temporary teacher's serious and wilful misconduct, payment of the monetary value of proportionate long service leave is made.
10. Temporary teachers who terminate their employment having completed more than five years paid service but less than ten years service may be paid the monetary value of proportionate long service leave where their reasons for leaving the service include either illness, incapacity, domestic or other pressing necessity. Pressing necessity may include marriage, family responsibilities or the impending birth of a child.
11. Temporary teachers with less than ten years service should advise Payroll Services of the reason for leaving the service so that full consideration may be given to whether they are entitled to a proportionate payment of long service leave.
12. In the case of part time temporary teachers the same entitlements exist, however long service leave is paid at the prevailing full time equivalent.
13. Temporary teachers are not permitted to undertake paid employment (including casual relief) whilst on long service leave with the exception of educational employment while interstate or overseas and School Certificate and Higher School Certificate marking.

9.2 Calculation of Entitlement

a) For service of ten years or more:

On completion of ten years service temporary teachers are eligible for two calendar months long service leave on full pay and for fifteen calendar days for each completed year of service after ten years.

b) Long service leave accrued between five and ten years cannot be taken as long service leave but the monetary value of this may be paid on termination of services depending upon the reason (refer to section 9.1 for more detail). In such cases, the entitlement for service between five years and ten years is as follows:

9.3 Effect of Leave Without Pay

a) Except for the circumstances outlined in c) below, prior to the completion of ten years paid service, leave without pay does not count as service for long service leave purposes.

b) On completion of ten years paid service, leave without pay counts as service for any period of leave without pay not exceeding six months.

c) Irrespective of a temporary teacher's length of service, absences without pay count as service for long service leave purposes in the following circumstances:

• periods of sick leave without pay not exceeding six months;
• periods during which workers' compensation is being paid by the Fund Manager;
• absences due to major interruptions to public transport;
• absences without pay for military purposes.

d) Unauthorised absences do not count as service for long service leave purposes, irrespective of a temporary teacher's length of service.

9.4 Calculation of Leave

5. If long service leave is granted for a short period that is less than the temporary teacher's normal working week and is not immediately preceding a weekend or public holiday, the following conversion scale applies:

Period Taken	Long Service Leave Debited
1 day 2 days 3 days 4 days	1 day 3 days 4 days 6 days

6. The minimum period of long service leave that may be taken is half a day.
7. Where a teacher is working concurrently as permanent part time and temporary part time and takes long service leave from both types of work, the long service leave will be processed as one period of leave.

• all periods of prior temporary full time or part time teaching and permanent full time or part time teaching, whether broken or continuous service, with the NSW Department of Education and Training;
• all periods of prior full time or permanent part time service under the Public Sector Management Act 1988 and/or the Public Service Acts 1902 and 1979, the Teaching Services Act 1970 or the Teaching Services Act 1980;
• all prior casual supply teaching service with the NSW Department of Education and Training prior to 20 May 1985, whether continuous or broken;
• all prior continuous casual teaching service (supply and relief) with the NSW Department of Education and Training from 20 May 1985. Continuous service is defined by the Long Service Leave Act 1955.

Generally, a break in service in excess of two months will break continuity of service.

Temporary teacher service, school vacations or approved leave are not counted in the two month period, nor do they constitute a break in continuity of service for the calculation of service for long service leave.

b) Temporary teachers should make written application to Payroll Services for recognition of previous periods of full time and permanent part time teaching service.

c) Temporary teachers who have previously been employed in the Public Service or by TAFE NSW must make written application to Payroll Services for recognition of such service. A statement of service from the previous employer must accompany the request.

d) Temporary teachers who have had previous supply casual service (prior to 20 May 1985) or continuous casual service (from 20 May 1985) should make written application for recognition of casual teaching service to Payroll Services providing information regarding the school, district or region and dates where previous casual service has been undertaken.

The temporary teacher's application will be assessed in accordance with the provisions as outlined in a) above.

e) Temporary teachers who have previously had supply casual teaching service (post 20 May 1985) recognised for long service leave purposes may apply for reassessment of their credit for prior service to take into account any relief teaching service.

A reassessment will be made on the provisions of the Long Service Leave Act 1955.

Should reassessment under these provisions be more advantageous, such accreditation shall be applied with service previously recognised disregarded.

If reassessment under these provisions reveals a lesser amount of creditable service due, the previous calculation of credit for prior service stands. Thus, a temporary teacher will not be disadvantaged.

f) Casual teaching service is recognised as full time equivalent in accordance with the following formula:

number of days creditable casual service 365	X 1.79803	= number of years recognised service
decimal portion of recognised years service	X 12 months	= number of months recognised service
decimal portion of recognised months service	X 30 days	= number of days recognised service

9.13 Recognition of Other Service

a) Teaching service overseas or service with a private school in Australia is not recognised for long service leave purposes.

b) In some circumstances previous teaching service with other State or Commonwealth Departments of Education or service other than teaching with a Governmental authority of the Commonwealth or another state or a New South Wales authority may be recognised for long service leave purposes under the provisions of the Transferred Officers Extended Leave Act 1961.

9.14 Basis for Recognition

A temporary teacher who had a period of service in the public service of another state, the Commonwealth, a declared authority under the Transferred Officers Extended Leave Act 1961, or in the armed forces of the Commonwealth of Australia and whose service is continuous shall have such service recognised in accordance with the requirements of the Transferred Officers Extended Leave Act 1961.

Temporary teachers eligible for recognition of service are those who:

• transferred from a department of the Commonwealth or of any state public service to which the various Public Service Acts apply or from the armed forces of the Commonwealth of Australia and were employed by the Department subsequent to 24 March 1961; or
• transferred from a Governmental authority of the Commonwealth or another state or a NSW authority and were employed by the Department on or subsequent to the date of publication of a notice in the Government Gazette that such a governmental authority or state authority is declared to be an employer under the Act.

9.16 Criteria for Continuous Service

For the purpose of the Transferred Officers Extended Leave Act 1961, service shall be deemed to be continuous under the following circumstances:

• if the temporary teacher entered on duty in the Education Teaching Service on the next working day following cessation of employment with the former declared employer;

 

• if the temporary teacher was accepted for employment in the Education Teaching Service prior to the last day of service with the former governmental employer, in which case a break of up to two months may be allowed between cessation of duty with the former governmental employer and commencement of duty in the Education Teaching Service;
• if having served with the armed forces of the Commonwealth of Australia during or partly during a period of war in which the Naval, Military or Air Forces of Australia were engaged, or having served in an area prescribed as an operational area for the purposes of subsection two of Section 4 of the Act, commenced employment in the Education Teaching Service within twelve months after ceasing service with the armed forces; or
• if a temporary teacher, with former governmental service recognised by the Transferred Officers Extended Leave Act 1961, undertakes an approved course of teacher training and on completion of the course is immediately appointed as a temporary teacher. In this case the period of teacher training does not count as service for long service leave purposes but is not regarded as a break in service for the purposes of the above Act.

9.17 Service Recognition

a) With the exception of temporary teachers who transfer from a declared NSW Public Sector Authority no monetary liability shall be accepted for any long service leave accrued with another employer. Where applicable, the temporary teacher shall be paid the monetary value for such leave by the previous employer and recognition shall only be granted for the period of service.

b) If a temporary teacher transfers within the meaning of the Act, to the Education Teaching Service from a declared NSW Public Sector Authority, monetary liability for accrued long service leave will be accepted by the Department provided that the temporary teacher does not accept payment on resignation from the previous employing authority.

c) Where a temporary teacher is employed by the Department and has had previous service with a declared employer under the Transferred Officers Extended Leave Act 1961 recognised as service for long service leave purposes, all previous service accepted by the prior employer for long service leave purposes shall be credited.

d) As a general rule, a temporary teacher becomes entitled to long service leave in respect of the total period of acceptable service less leave paid for or taken during service.

9.18 Procedures for Recognition of Service

a) In order to apply for recognition of previous service with a state or Commonwealth authority, temporary teachers should submit a written request to Payroll Services, and accompany the application with a statement of service from the previous employer. The statement of service should indicate the period or periods of employment, if applicable, details of any leave without pay or unauthorised absences and where appropriate details of leave taken during service or for which payment in lieu of leave was made on cessation of employment.

b) Temporary teachers requesting recognition of service with the armed services of the Commonwealth of Australia should make application to Payroll Services for recognition of such service and accompanying the application with a copy of their service record from the Department of Defence.

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Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005