e-LAPS ban lifted after safeguards put in place

Federation has lifted the ban on e-LAPS, the electronic leave application and processing system, writes JENNIFER LEETE.

The ban has been lifted because Federation has negotiated safeguards and conditions to regulate its use.

The most important condition for teachers is that the use of e-LAPS is not mandatory. Teachers may continue to use paper application forms for leave.

The conditions that have been met, that led to the lifting of the ban are:

1. Where a principal does not endorse leave, the current right of appeal outside of the school will continue to be available. Information about appeal rights will be notified electronically to teachers who choose to use e-LAPS.
2.To protect teachers' privacy, all medical certificates will be held off school site at Department of Education and Training (DET) offices in Newcastle and Wollongong.
3. Principals will be required to notify teachers in writing before they access teacher leave records either via e-LAPS or from the DET's leave section.
4. The use of e-LAPS is not mandated and teachers may continue to make paper lodgements of leave applications.
5. A 7-year restriction exists on a principal's ability to access the historical leave records of their staff through e-LAPS.
6. Delegated leave approvers will not be given access to leave records on e-LAPS.
7. Principals will be reminded that to access a teacher's leave record is a breach of privacy unless it is done for bona fide management purposes.
8. The next version of e-LAPS will include electronic flagging to show that a principal has accessed a leave record.

e-LAPS was originally banned in 2003 because the DET attempted to devolved responsibility for teachers' leave to the school level without any consultation or negotiation with the Federation. This attempt had privacy and workload implications for everyone involved at school level.

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March 2005 contents