Part 2 - Flexible Working Conditions

2.1 Statement of Intent

Managers and employees in Treasury have a responsibility to ensure that the flexible working conditions contained in this Agreement are both administered and accessed in such a way as to ensure that:
1. working patterns are fair and encourage a balance between work and private lives for all employees;
2. assessment of, and reward for, an employee's performance is based primarily on their output, not hours at work;
3. opportunities for improved productivity are able to be identified and achieved; and
4. these conditions are applied fairly and consistently across the Department.
It is the role of managers to recognise that employees need to balance their work and private lives and where consistent with both operational requirements and the employee's family and other responsibilities, managers should ensure that employees are able to access flexible working conditions through this Agreement, where eligible. It is the responsibility of individual employees to consult their managers when accessing flexible working conditions, and to be aware that operational requirements may limit access at certain times.
In circumstances where a manager is unable to approve:
1. an application for leave;
2. a proposal to vary working hours or work part-time; or
3. an application to purchase additional leave;
4. the manager will provide the employee with reasons in writing including evidence that alternative arrangements or options that might meet the needs of the employee have been considered.

2.2 Attendance and Hours of Duty

2.2.1 Flexibility

The Treasury recognises that employees have responsibilities outside the workplace that may limit their ability to adjust their normal working patterns in response to workload pressures. Managers will accommodate those responsibilities whenever possible and will consult with an employee if there is a need for the employee to work beyond their normal hours of work. Employees undertake to meet reasonable demands asked of them by their managers in times of workload pressure.
An employee's normal hours are those hours and times, within the bandwidth, that the employee works on a regular basis.
Managers have a responsibility to minimise the extent to which employees are required to work beyond normal working patterns, and to ensure that employees have reasonable access to departmental resources such as remote access to assist them in achieving appropriate work life balance.
Hours worked will continue to be monitored in conjunction with flextime and TOIL guidelines and otherwise as agreed between managers and employees.

2.2.2 Full-time Employees

The ordinary hours of work for a full-time employee are 37.5 hours per week, implying a standard day of 7 hours and 30 minutes from Monday to Friday, within a bandwidth from 7 am to 7 pm.
Using flexible working hours, employees are not expected to work more than 10 hours in any given day. Overtime (or, where agreed, time off in lieu of overtime for those who are entitled to overtime) will be paid for hours required by the manager to be worked outside the bandwidth or for work in excess of 10 hours on any one day, in accordance with clause 2.4.1.
For this Agreement, a standard day for the purposes of leave, attendance (including flextime) and payment of salary shall constitute the hours 8:30 am to 12:30 pm and 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm.
For the purposes of section 62 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (maximum weekly hours), the parties agree that the averaging periods will be successive twenty six (26) week periods beginning on the day this Agreement comes into operation.

2.2.3 Part-time Employees

Any employee who has an agreement with their General Manager to work fewer hours than the standard week of 37.5 hours is a part-time employee.
Managers will facilitate requests from full-time employees for part-time work arrangements, subject to Treasury's operational requirements. All employees returning from maternity, parental or adoption leave will have access to part-time work, where Treasury's operational requirements permit, at least up until the child has reached school age. A manager must provide a written response to the request for part-time work arrangements stating whether the request has been granted or refused.
The terms and conditions of employment of a part-time employee shall be, unless otherwise provided for in this Agreement, those of full-time employees but reduced on a pro-rata basis (where appropriate) for the number of hours worked.
An employee may return to full-time arrangements with the agreement of the Secretary and the employee. At the expiry of the part-time arrangement an employee has the right to revert to full-time work.
Part-time hours included in part-time work agreements will be within the 7 am to 7 pm bandwidth as specified in this Agreement.
No full-time employee will be compelled to change to part-time arrangements.

2.2.4 Variation of Hours in Special Circumstances

The 7 am to 7 pm bandwidth may be varied in special circumstances if the employee and manager agree, having regard to operational requirements.

2.2.5 Regular Breaks

An employee should not work more than five hours without a break of at least 30 minutes. Managers and employees have joint responsibility in this regard.

2.3 Flextime

Employees at or below the APS 6 level are entitled to access flextime arrangements, as described in the Treasury Flextime Guidelines.
Subject to guidelines the Treasury Flextime arrangements include the following features:
1. An employee may carry over a maximum of 37.5 hours as a flex credit or up to 10 hours as a flex debit into the next settlement period.
2. A settlement period is a four (4) week period.
3. An employee may take up to 5 days as flextime in any one settlement period.

2.4 Overtime and Time Off in Lieu

2.4.1 APS Level Employees: Overtime and Time Off in Lieu

Overtime is payable to employees at or below APS 6 level.
Overtime will be paid at the appropriate penalty multiplier as prescribed in this subclause for hours worked outside the bandwidth or in excess of ten (10) hours on any one day, with the approval of an employee's manager.
For part-time employees at these levels, overtime is work performed at the direction of a manager which is not continuous with the employee's agreed or specified hours or is beyond the total hours of work specified for the employee.
For an employee eligible to receive overtime payments, overtime hours worked will be paid at the following penalty rates:
1. Overtime worked Monday to Saturday will be paid at time and one quarter for the first three hours each day and time and one half thereafter.
2. Overtime worked on Sunday will be paid at the rate of time and one half. Emergency duty, where no notice is given to the employee prior to ceasing ordinary duty, will also be paid at the rate of time and one half.
3. Overtime worked on a public holiday will be paid at the rate of double time. Duty on a public holiday, not in excess of the prescribed weekly hours (that is duty during prescribed standard hours) will be payable at ordinary time in addition to payment for the holiday.
Where overtime is continuous with ordinary duty, overtime payments will be made for hours actually worked (that is there will be no minimum period for which overtime will be paid). Where overtime is not continuous, or where overtime constitutes emergency duty, payment for each separate overtime attendance will be for a minimum of two (2) hours.
Where an employee is directed to work outside the bandwidth, the employee will be entitled to an eight (8) hour break plus reasonable travelling time before commencing work again, and the employee's manager should direct the employee to take a break of eight (8) hours. If the break occurs during standard working hours, then the employee will receive their normal salary during that period.
Subclause 2.4.1 (6) does not apply to an employee who is directed to work outside the bandwidth for a period of two (2) hours or less and the period of work commences no earlier than two (2) hours before the beginning of the bandwidth.
Where a break as described in subclause 2.4.1(6) above is not possible due to operational requirements, the employee will be paid for subsequent periods of work at one and one half times the rate of the employee's usual rate of salary until the employee has taken an eight (8) hour break.
Where agreed with managers, employees may elect to take time off in lieu of overtime at the appropriate penalty multiplier specified in this subclause.
Where time off in lieu of payment of overtime has been agreed, but the employee has not been granted that time off within four (4) weeks or another agreed period due to operational requirements, the employee may elect to receive payment of the original entitlement.

2.4.2 Executive Level Employees: Flexible Hours and Time Off in Lieu

Employees above the overtime barrier (Executive Level 1 and 2) are able to work flexible hours, under Treasury's Guidelines on Time Off In Lieu (TOIL). This means that variations in attendance times and absences, including for part-day or full-day absences may be agreed with managers without the need for a leave application.

2.5 Public Holidays

Employees will be entitled to the following public holidays:
1. New Year's Day (1 January);
2. Australia Day (26 January);
3. Good Friday;
4. Easter Monday
5. Anzac Day (25 April);
6. The Queen's birthday holiday (on the day on which it is celebrated in a State or Territory or a region of a State or Territory);
7. Christmas Day (25 December);
8. Boxing Day (26 December);
9. Any other day, or part-day, declared or prescribed by or under a law of a State or Territory to be observed generally within the State or Territory, or a region of the State or Territory, as a public holiday, other than a day or part-day, or a kind of day or part-day, that is excluded by the Fair Work regulations from counting as a public holiday.
If under a state or territory law, a day or part day is substituted for one of the public holidays listed above, then the substituted day or part day is the public holiday.
Treasury employees will observe as if it were a public holiday, one of the normal working days between Christmas Day and New Year's Day — for the term of this Agreement, those days will be Wednesday 28 December 2011, Thursday 27 December 2012 and Friday 27 December 2013.
The Secretary and an employee may agree on the substitution of a day or part day that would otherwise be a public holiday, having regard to operational requirements.
An employee, who is absent on a day or part-day that is a public holiday in the place where the employee is based for work purposes, is entitled to be paid for the part or full day absence as if that day or part-day was not a public holiday, except where that person would not normally have worked on that day.
1. Where a public holiday falls during a period when an employee is absent on Long Service or Maternity Leave there is no entitlement to receive payment as a public holiday. Payment for that day would be in accordance with the entitlement for that form of leave, (e.g. if on long service leave half pay, payment is on half pay).

2.6 Christmas Closedown

The Agency will close its normal operations from 12:30 pm on the last working day before Christmas, with business resuming on the first working day after New Year's Day.
Employees will be provided with time off for the working hours between the last working day before Christmas and New Year's Day and will be paid in accordance with their ordinary hours of work. Where an employee is absent on Long Service or Maternity Leave, payment for the Christmas closedown provision will be in accordance with the entitlement for that form of leave, (e.g. if on long service leave half pay, payment is on half pay).
With the exception of Long Service and Maternity Leave there will be no deduction from paid leave credits for the closedown.
If an employee is directed to work on any of the working days, then the employee may elect to have his/her credit of annual leave increased by the equivalent period, or to receive the equivalent period as time off in lieu.
A part-time employee as defined in clause 2.2.3 who would not usually work one or more of the working days between Christmas Day and New Year's Day will be granted a period of absence equal to 20 per cent of their weekly part-time hours for each of the days on which they would not usually work. Where they would not usually work after 12:30 pm on the last working day before Christmas they will be granted a period of absence equal to 10 per cent of their weekly part time hours.
An absence under this subclause will count as service for all purposes.

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