Severance pay period is defined in the Commonwealth Members of Parliament Staff Enterprise Agreement 2020-23 to mean: ‘the period, commencing from the date of termination of the employee’s employment under the MOP(S) Act, which corresponds to the number of weeks’ pay of the relevant gross benefit in clause 62.2.’
What this means in practice is that if you are entitled to 10 weeks’ severance benefits following the cessation of your ongoing employment, your ‘severance pay period’ is the 10 week period commencing from the date of termination of your old employment.
Under clause 62.6 of the Commonwealth Members of Parliament Staff Enterprise Agreement 2020-23, if you are re-employed under the MOP(S) Act during the severance pay period, you must choose one of the following options as part of completing your new contract:
- Keep your entire severance benefit, but waive your option to have your previous MOP(S) Act service recognised for severance and/or annual leave purposes; OR
- Not waive your option, but be required to repay a portion of your severance benefit.
In order to make a waiver, you must:
- have a break in their employment of at least one business day; and
- when completing a new contract, make an irrevocable written election that you will not have your prior service recognised for the purposes of a future severance benefit and annual leave.
Before making a waiver, you should note the effects on other employment entitlements and consider obtaining independent financial advice.
The effect of retaining a severance benefit under clause 62.6 of the Enterprise Agreement has the following effects on entitlements if the employee is re-engaged.
|
Entitlement |
Effect of enacting Clause 62.6 |
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Annual Leave |
Prior balance is not re-credited as it has been paid out. Credits are reset and accrual starts from re-commencement of MOP(S) Act employment. The anniversary date for additional crediting becomes the date of re-commencement of employment. |
|
Personal Leave |
Prior balance will be re-credited if the break in service is not more than a period of two months. The period of the break in service does not count as service. |
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Long Service Leave |
Prior balance is not re-credited or recognised as it has been paid out as severance and under the Long Service Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Act 1976 cannot be paid back. Prior service will be recognised in calculating total service. For example, if an employee were to be paid out 8 years of Long Service Leave pro rata and is then re-employed for another 2 years, they will have 10 years total service. They will be entitled to 2 years pro rata Long Service Leave, i.e. 18 days. |
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Maternity Leave |
On re-commencement, service for the purposes of paid maternity leave resets. Prior service is not recognised. 12 months of continuous service is required to be eligible to take maternity leave. Staff on paid maternity leave when they are automatically terminated will have their remaining maternity leave paid out. |
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Future severance benefits |
Prior service is not recognised. The service period for purposes of a future severance benefit begins on re-commencement of employment. |
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Retention Payment |
Employees will not be eligible for retention payments in June where they have a break of at least one business day in the preceding 12 months, including in order to retain a prior severance benefit |
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Salary advancement |
Not impacted by retaining a prior severance benefit if the conditions of clause 17.9 of the Enterprise Agreement are met |
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Competency assessment |
Competency assessment immediately ceases on termination of employment, regardless of later re-employment. Employees are not eligible for competency assessment where they have a break of at least one business day in the preceding 12 months. |