r/AusPublicService • u/Beginner45678 • 1d ago
Pay, entitlements & working conditions Bargaining offer - super while on unpaid parental leave
One of the offers mentioned is:
Employer superannuation contributions will be paid for up to 52 weeks of unpaid parental leave, as if you had been at work.
What's the chance that this WON'T go through?
I'm currently on unpaid parental leave for anther 5 months but I have heaps of paid leave still (parental/annual/LSL)- i just deferred it to next March cos I wanted the pay rise (which is pathetic).
In thinking of changing my leave structure asap to take my paid leave now and then unpaid leave from March so that I'll get the super contributions! Even if the agreement comes in a little later, I should still benefit.
Right now Im on 5 months of unpaid leave so I'm potentially missing out on 10-11 payments of super!
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u/rolopup 1d ago
Don't make any changes to your plans based on the potential EA going through. I know people with state government who planned their mat/ parental leave based on the new EA policy being discussed. The EA has been voted down twice now and they couldn't do what they planned and as a result didn't really fully utilise their entitlements imo.
I don't know which department you're with but if it's one impacted by the changes to xmas shutdown and daily working hours, I doubt it's going to get voted in anytime soon.
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u/Beginner45678 1d ago
Hmm good point. I do sense this one is going to take a while given the very shit pay offer and other shit things
For me it doesn't matter if I take 4 months full pay now and take unpaid leave from March, so what I'm putting at risk is my effort and the measly 3.2-3.5% pay rise we may end up with
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u/WizziesFirstRule 1d ago
Is your agency FCS or OTE?
If FCS, you already get this.
They are extending it to OTE to soften the blow....
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u/SgtBatten 1d ago
Super on unpaid leave is already a thing? I wouldn't think so.
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u/Beginner45678 1d ago
They're right.
If your superannuation is calculated using the FCS methodology, superannuation is paid on all periods of parental leave (paid and unpaid)
But nope we're on ote
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u/SgtBatten 1d ago
Yeah I read about it after. Fte would be terrible for me but if never heard of that kind of method before.
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u/WizziesFirstRule 1d ago
Unpaid parental leave under FCS rules, super is still paid.
https://csc.sitecorecontenthub.cloud/api/public/content/0697db55aacd405283c569d0bfa820ab?v=d838c142
They are proposing to extend this to OTE as part of the switch.
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u/Pepinocucumber1 1d ago
Surprised you’ve been allowed to take unpaid leave when you have plenty of paid leave.
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u/Beginner45678 1d ago
I was forced to use 12 weeks mat leave first under the maternity leave act. Then I've got a mix of unpaid and paid. Not sure why they would care how I used my leave other than ensuring I don't breach the annual leave cap
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u/Appropriate_Volume 1d ago
Stuff the APSC has offered is very unlikely to be taken off the table. The CPSU usually pockets them as wins during bargaining processes.
The bigger risk here is that the bargaining process could be drawn out, which the CPSU warned about in a meeting with members in my agency this week. As a result, any improvements to parental leave conditions resulting from the new EAs may not come into effect until after they are of use to you.
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u/Nifty29au 1d ago
I’m not sure how I feel about this one. Super is supposed to be % of your salary/earnings. If your earnings are 0 why would you expect to get your super paid? It’s a genuine question and I am not hating on people taking any kind of leave especially parental.
Parental leave provisions in my Agency are extremely generous.
I would prefer to see an overall increase in super for all staff. The big drawcard for APS was that super was much higher than other employers. Now it’s just a few percent.
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u/Beginner45678 1d ago
Because when mothers take time off to look after our baby, our super takes a massive hit and we often never recover. Now that I have a 4 month old i finally understand that 18 weeks mat leave is pathetic.
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u/Nifty29au 1d ago
Fair enough. However the hit would be 6-8 months? In the overall scheme of things that’s not really significant i.e. over a 30-40 year period. I think the problem would be then that anyone else taking any other kind of unpaid leave would be saying “where’s mine?”, and rightly so.
In our agency the other parent also gets 14 weeks which is very generous. Compared to 20 years ago it is great.
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u/Efficient-Row-2916 18h ago
It’s much greater because of how many return to part time work, actually.
Comparison to the past also unhelpful, we are trying to improve conditions for women by going forward.
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u/Nifty29au 15h ago
You mean conditions for parents, surely? Women are not the only primary caregivers.
I don’t object to super with unpaid mat leave so long as anyone who takes any other kind of unpaid leave receives it also.
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u/Efficient-Row-2916 49m ago
Of course women are not. But this is a systemic problem, and largely, because of both historic and systemic issues, women largely bear the cost of being the primary caregiver. The impact on super, career progression and security later in life is reflected statistically, wherever you look.
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u/Nifty29au 2m ago
I accept that, but those with chronic illness face similar obstacles and they should also be part if the conversation.
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u/ShreddedCoconutz 21h ago
It's a measure to combat inequity/the gender super gap. Even if the primary parent only takes one period of parental leave, many don't return to work full time for ages so the cumulative loss of super including the compounding interest adds up. While the super is only for unpaid parental leave it at least does something to narrow that gap. The VPS has had this entitlement since the most recent EBA (I think) so I would be surprised if this doesn't go through at the federal level as it should be the norm
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u/biznessracoon 1d ago
The average person doesn’t have one child though, and then often returns to work on a part time basis for a number of years due to the cost/availability of childcare. So the impact of that loss of super compounds over many years.
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u/archangelska 1d ago
Even if it goes through usually they put a caveat in about the commencement date of your mat leave when it comes to new changes and benefits. Ask me how I know. Happened twice, 3 years apart.
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u/muuuu 22h ago
We aren’t getting the 26 weeks paid parental are we? I’d hope for super payments on unpaid leave as a consolation
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u/Beginner45678 18h ago
I don't think so
Its so crazy to me to me now that I have a baby that we only just started getting 18w. They're still just so tiny and need their mums, let alone they say that exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for the first 6 months.
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