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A Health Professional working in the public sector has gained an extra eight years of service towards their Long Service Leave entitlement with assistance from the VHPA.
Her employer recently told the member that she would not have any entitlement to pro-rata long service leave until 2020.
This was despite having worked at the same employer for more than eleven years.
The employer claimed their records showed the member had broken her service because she was casually employed in 2002, then went part time and then went back to being a casual.
While accepting the fact that the member had been employed as a ‘casual’ for certain periods, the VHPA argued that this was a nominal designation and did not accurately account for the member’s work practice.
Given that the member’s pattern of work was regular and systematic it was argued that the more accurate characterisation of her employment during these periods was part-time. Consequently those periods of ‘casual’ employment did not constitute a break in service.
After discussions with the Union the employer reviewed the issue and agreed to date the employee’s Long Service Leave back to August 2002.
With an entitlement of six months Long Service Leave after fifteen years and the ability to take pro-rata leave with agreement after ten years, the VHPA member is now able to plan a well-earned rest.