Working together, SA unions have won a a special Public Sector Skills and Experience Retention Entitlement.
The Public Sector Skills and Experience Retention Entitlement consists of an additional entitlement of four working days leave after 15 years of service.
This entitlement was good news for many people across many unions who had worked hard to win this entitlement, announced in the recent State Budget.
This entitlement differs from Long Service Leave in that it is calculated in working days rather than calendar days and must be taken within five years.
After a phasing-in period the new scheme will provide public sector employees with a comparable benefit to that which existed prior to the reduction of long service leave entitlements in the 2010/ 11 Budget.
Together unions in SA have restored annual leave loading and long service leave entitlements that were unilaterally taken from public sector workers through legislation. Members are now campaigning together to get a fair and reasonable deal in the EBA being negotiated.
Here is the relevant excerpt from the 2012-13 Budget; Budget Paper 3, page 23:
“$81.9 million over four years for the introduction of a public sector skills and experience retention entitlement for public sector employees who have completed 15 or more years of effective service.
The new entitlement will be phased in, with up to two working days entitlement (prorated for part-time employees) in 2011–12 and 2012–13, up to three working days entitlement in 2013–14, and then fixed at a maximum of four working days entitlement from 2014–15 onwards. Unlike other standard leave entitlements, employees will also have the option each year of electing to take a cash payment of $180 per day (indexed by Consumer Price Index from 2013–14) instead of taking leave days. Leave days can be accumulated for up to five years, after which point any unused days will expire. It will not apply to employees who benefit from the Retaining Police Knowledge and Experience entitlement established in the South Australia Police Enterprise Agreement 2011”
Thank you to all those who worked together to achieve this – it proves that unity does work.
