Commonwealth Numbered Acts

LONG SERVICE LEAVE (COMMONWEALTH EMPLOYEES) ACT 1976 No. 192, 1976 - SECT 12

12. (1) Where a person is, or has been, absent, without the approval of his
employer, from his employment in a qualifying service, otherwise than for a
continuous period of more than 12 months, the continuity of the employment of
the person in that service shall be deemed not to be, or to have been, broken
by that absence, but the person shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act,
not to be, or to have been, employed in that service during the period of the
absence.

(2) For the purposes of this Act, a person shall be deemed not to break, or to
have broken, the continuity of his employment in a qualifying service by
reason of his being or having been-

   (a)  on leave of absence with pay or part pay; or

   (b)  on leave of absence without pay, and, subject to sub-sections (3) and
        (4), the person shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to have
        been employed in that service during the period of the absence.

(3) Subject to sub-section (4), where a person is or has been absent from his
employment on leave of absence without pay (not being leave of absence on
account of illness or in respect of a period of specified defence service
referred to in sub-secton (10)) and the period during which he is or was so
absent would, but for this sub-section, be included in his period of service,
the period during which he is or was absent on that leave does not form part
of his period of service for the purposes of this Act-

   (a)  unless-

        (i)    in a case where the leave of absence is or was granted under
               the Public Service Act 1922-the Public Service Board; or

        (ii)   in any other case-the person by whom the leave is or was
               granted,

determined at the time of the grant of that leave or at a subsequent time,
otherwise than under this Act, that the period during which he is or was so
absent be included in his period of service for the purpose of the granting to
him of long service leave; or

   (b)  unless the approving authority determines under this Act that the
        period during which he is or was so absent be included in his period
        of service for the purposes of this Act.

(4) Where a person is or has been absent from his employment in Government
Service on leave granted for the purpose of enabling him to occupy an
executive office as provided in sub-section (11)-

   (a)  the period of the absence shall be reckoned as part of his period of
        service for the purpose of determining whether a provision of this Act
        that applies only to and in relaton to employees whose periods of
        service are at least 1 year or 10 years, as the case may be, applies
        to and in relation to him; and

   (b)  the person shall be deemed not to have been employed in that service
        during the period of absence for any other purpose.

(5) Where a continuous period of employment of a person in a qualifying
service has commenced after, but not more than 12 months after, the expiration
of a continuous period of previous employment of the person in a qualifying
service, those periods of employment shall, for the purposes of this Act, be
deemed to be continuous with one another.

(6) For the purposes of sub-section (5), where a person, having ceased to be
employed in a qualifying service, has undertaken a course of full-time
training-

   (a)  under a scheme established by the Commonwealth for the training of
        persons who have served in the Defence Force; or

   (b)  under a prescribed training scheme, before resuming employment in a
        qualifying service, the resumption of his employment in a qualifying
        service shall be deemed to have occurred not more than 12 months after
        he ceased to be so employed if the period between his ceasing to be so
        employed and the resumption of that employment, less the period of his
        course of full-time training under that scheme, does not exceed 12
        months.

(7) Where a continuous period of employment of a person in a service, being
Government Service or a service referred to in paragraph 11 (2) (c), (d), (e)
or (f), has commenced after, but not immediately after, the expiration of a
continuous period of previous employment of the person in such a service,
those periods of employment shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to
be continuous with one another if the approving authority is satisfied that-

   (a)  the termination of his employment at the expiration of that period of
        previous employment was due to ill-health; and

   (b)  the commencement of that first-mentioned period of employment occurred
        not more than 12 months after his health became so restored as to
        enable him to perform duties of a kind that were suitable to be
        performed by him having regard to the duties performed by him
        immediately before the expiration of that period of previous
        employment.

(8) Where-

   (a)  a continuous period of employment of a person in a service, being a
        service referred to in paragraph 11 (2) (a) or (b), has commenced
        after, but not immediately after, the expiration of a continuous
        period of previous employment of the person in a service, being
        Government Service or a service referred to in paragraph 11 (2) (c),
        (d), (e) or (f); or

   (b)  a continuous period of employment of a person in a qualifying service
        has commenced after, but not immediately after, the expiration of a
        continuous period of previous employment of the person in a service
        referred to in paragraph 11 (2) (a) or (b), those periods of
        employment referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) of this sub-section,
        whichever is applicable, shall, for the purposes of this Act, be
        deemed to be continuous with one another if the approving authority is
        satisfied that-

   (c)  the termination of his employment at the expiration of that period of
        previous employment was due to ill-health;

   (d)  the person was, due to his ill-health, unemployed for a period
        immediately following the expiration of that period of previous
        employment; and

   (e)  the commencement of the period of employment first- mentioned in
        paragraph (a) or (b), whichever is applicable, occurred not more than
        12 months after the expiration of the period of unemployment referred
        to in paragraph (d).

(9) A person shall not be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to have been
employed in a qualifying service during a period that would, but for
sub-section (5), (6), (7) or (8), have broken the continuity of his service.

(10) For the purposes of sub-section (3), a person shall be taken to have been
absent in respect of a period of specified defence service if he was, during
that period, serving-

   (a)  on continuous full-time service in a part of the Reserve Forces or of
        the Citizen Forces;

   (b)  in a part of those Forces for such a period as was fixed by or in
        accordance with regulatons in force under the Defence Act 1903, the
        Naval Defence Act 1910 or the Air Force Act 1923, as in force at the
        relevant time; or

   (c)  on national service.

(11) For the purposes of sub-section (4), an employee shall be taken to occupy
an executive office if and only if-

   (a)  he occupies an executive office in an organization (as defined in the
        Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904)-

        (i)    of employees in an industry, within the meaning of that Act,
               connected with the employment of the employee; or

        (ii)   of employees engaged in an industrial pursuit related to the
               employment of the employee; or

   (b)  he occupies an office that is a prescribed office for the purposes of
        this sub-section, and he is required to devote the whole of his time
        to the duties of the office.