The severance pay period is defined in the Commonwealth Members of Parliament Staff Enterprise Agreement 2024-27 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 73.2.’
What this means in practice is that if you are entitled to 10 weeks’ severance pay following the cessation of your ongoing employment, your ‘severance pay period’ is the 10-week period commencing from the date of termination of your previous employment.
Under clauses 73.4–73.6 of the Commonwealth Members of Parliament Staff Enterprise Agreement 2024-27, 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 employment agreement:
- 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 to have your previous MOP(S) Act service recognised for severance and/or annual leave purposes, but be required to repay a portion of your severance benefit.
In order to keep your entire severance benefit upon re-employment under the MOP(S) Act, you must:
- have a break in employment of at least one business day; and
- when completing a new employment agreement, make an irrevocable written election to waive your prior service for the purposes of a future severance benefit and annual leave. This election is part of the employment agreement form. You are not required to make an irrevocable election until you are re-engaged under the MOP(S) Act.
Before deciding to waive the recognition of your prior service, you should note the effects on other employment entitlements and consider obtaining independent financial advice.
The effect of retaining a severance benefit under clause 73.6 of the MOPS EA has the following effects on entitlements if you are re-engaged.
| Entitlement | Effect of enacting Clause 73.6 |
|---|---|
| Annual Leave | Prior balance is not re-credited as it has been paid out. Your annual leave entitlement will reset and your leave will accrue daily from re-commencement of MOP(S) Act employment. |
| Personal Leave |
Prior balance will be re-credited if the break in service is not more than a period of 60 days. The period of the break in service does not count as service. If the break in service is more than a period of 60 days, your personal leave entitlement will reset and your leave will accrue daily from re-commencement of MOP(S) Act employment. |
| Long Service Leave | Prior balance is not re-credited or recognised as it has been paid out and under the Long Service Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Act 1976 cannot be repaid. Prior service will be recognised in calculating total service (provided the break in employment has not exceeded 12 months). 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. |
| Parental Leave |
If you are automatically terminated under section 14 of the MOP(S) Act during a period when you are absent on paid parental leave or, for the pregnant employee, in the six weeks prior to the expected date of birth of the child, you may be eligible to have the remaining parental leave entitlement paid out that you would have received had your employment not been terminated. In circumstances where you are accessing paid parental leave flexibly (e.g., under a flexible/part-time work arrangement), and your employment is automatically terminated under section 14 of the MOP(S) Act and clause 55.12 of the MOPS EA applies, you will be eligible to receive a payment equal to any remaining paid parental leave which had been formally requested and approved prior to the termination of your employment, and which you would have otherwise received had your employment not been terminated (irrespective of your termination occurring on a day when you are on duty or on a day you are accessing paid parental leave). Upon returning to MOP(S) Act employment, an employee who is a primary or secondary caregiver will be eligible for paid parental leave in accordance with clauses 55.7 and 55.8 of the MOPS EA. Eligibility for paid parental leave is not impacted by a break in service. However, when an employee returns to MOP(S) Act employment and has received a payment of paid parental leave for the same child, they will only be entitled to an amount of paid parental leave that has not already been paid to them in accordance with clauses 55.7 and 55.8 and/or paid in lieu in accordance with clause 55.12. If an employee receives a payment in accordance with clause 55.12, and, after the employee's employment is terminated, receives paid leave in accordance with the ML Act or additional paid parental leave from another Commonwealth employer, then the employee will be required to repay the amount to the Commonwealth within 60 days or the Commonwealth is entitled to recover the equal amount as a debt from the employee in accordance with clause 55.13 of the MOPS EA. |
| Future severance benefits | Prior service is not recognised. The service period for the purposes of a future severance benefit begins on re-commencement of employment. |
| Retention Payment | Employees will not be eligible for retention payments in November where they have a break of one business day or more in the preceding 12 months, including in order to retain a prior severance benefit. |
| Salary increment | Eligibility for the salary increment will not be impacted by a waiver of recognition of prior service provided the conditions of clause 23.9 of the Enterprise Agreement are met. |
| 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 one business day or more in the preceding 12 months. |
Payment of Final Entitlements
The Final Entitlements Estimator is an online tool which can provide you an estimate of your likely final monies following the cessation of your employment, including an estimate of your severance benefit (should you be eligible).
MaPS is unable to provide you with tailored estimates or calculations of final monies prior to your cessation.