Leave Approval Guidelines

Leave Approval Categories

A number of categories of leave are able to be approved by an employee’s direct supervisor.  For the purposes of leave approval, a supervisor is defined as any employee who has direct reports in the approved organisational structure of the Faculty/Section as recorded in the University’s Human Resource Management System (HRMS). 

Supervisor

Categories for approval by a supervisor are:

Other Delegate

Leave categories which require approval of Category 4 Delegate or above, or other Delegate as identified, are:

Employee Self Service (ESS) - Online Leave Approval

The Employee Self Service (ESS) functionality includes the ability to apply for and have leave approved online.  The categories of leave available online through ESS are those identified in Table 1.  Employee Self Service is accessed via the HR Self Service or Manager Self Service buttons on your UConnect homepage.

Leave categories in Table 2 will remain paper-based utilising the Absence Request Form or other relevant application process as described in policy and approved forms will be forwarded to Human Resources for processing and entry into the PeopleSoft HRMS.

Leave Approval Guidelines

Online leave approval by an employee’s direct supervisor may require a number of internal procedures or processes to be implemented within a Faculty of Section to ensure that good communication is maintained and workloads are equitably managed. 

Human Resources provides the following guidelines for Faculty/Section to implement as appropriate to assist with these processes.  Note that these are recommendations for good practice only and may not be applicable in all Faculties and Sections or in all circumstances – individual work areas are encouraged to develop their own processes based on these principles which recognise their unique needs and structures.

• For short periods of planned leave (eg up to and including 3 days) where the supervisor is satisfied the leave meets policy requirements, approval should be granted as soon as practicable after application. This type of approval would not normally require consultation beyond the employee and supervisor concerned.  
   
• For longer periods of planned leave, and particularly in instances where the employee and supervisor form part of a broader team with workload implications for each other, prior to any approval being granted the supervisor should discuss the intended leave with other affected employees and supervisors and obtain a mutual agreement on any associated working arrangements. Examples of this may include:
• At a regular (eg weekly, fortnightly) team meeting, the supervisor may discuss proposed individual periods of leave with all their immediate team members to agree on workload coverage during the period of leave.
• Once leave is mutually agreed at the individual team level, in instances where there are other related teams within the broader Faculty or Section, supervisors of the individual teams may meet on a regular basis to discuss team leave plans and the impact this may have on the other areas and seek mutual agreement on workload matters.
• In some instances, it may also be appropriate for broader team agreements to be considered by a central supervisor/manager for coordination purposes across an entire Faculty or Section, prior to leave being approved by the supervisor. A supervisor/manager will have the ability to view the leave of all employees under their direction on a cascading basis according to the organisational structure.
• Alternatively, employees and supervisors may wish to discuss intended leave for the forthcoming year at the annual BUILD review (or Workload Allocation discussions for academic employees) to allow a broad leave plan to be developed for the year. 
   
• It is important to note that a number of leave categories have special associated requirements and these need to be considered by the supervisor prior to granting such approval online.
• Personal Leave – periods in excess of three (3) days require a medical certificate. In this instance, the employee will apply online for the period of absence upon their return to work and provide their supervisor with a hard copy medical certificate to accompany the application. The supervisor must sight the certificate before approving the leave and send the certificate, along with a print out of the approved leave screen from ESS, to Human Resources for filing as part of the employee’s formal employment record.
• Carer’s Leave – as above for period in excess of three (3) days.
• Jury Service/Court Attendance – a certificate/summons from the Sheriff’s Office or relevant court officer indicating attendance is required. In this instance, the employee will apply online for the period of absence upon their return to work and provide their supervisor with hard copy documentation to accompany the application. The supervisor must sight the documentation before approving the leave and send the document, along with a print out of the approved leave screen from ESS, to Human Resources for filing as part of the employee’s formal employment record.
• Major Sporting Competitions – documentary evidence of selection for Australian representation at the State or National level is required. In this instance, the employee will apply online for the period of absence at least two (2) weeks period to the intended leave and provide their supervisor with hard copy documentation to accompany the application. The supervisor must sight the documentation before approving the leave and send the document, along with a print out of the approved leave screen from ESS, to Human Resources for filing as part of the employee’s formal employment record.
• Defence Reserve Forces – an authorised training notice is required. In this instance, the employee will apply online for the period of absence at least two (2) weeks period to the intended leave and provide their supervisor with hard copy documentation to accompany the application. The supervisor must sight the documentation before approving the leave and send the document, along with a print out of the approved leave screen from ESS, to Human Resources for filing as part of the employee’s formal employment record.
• Workplace Relations – a notice of registration for the course/seminar is required. In this instance, the employee will apply online for the period of absence at least two (2) weeks period to the intended leave and provide their supervisor with hard copy documentation to accompany the application. The supervisor must sight the documentation before approving the leave and send the document, along with a print out of the approved leave screen from ESS, to Human Resources for filing as part of the employee’s formal employment record. 
   
• All paper-based applications utilising the Absence Request Form must continue to be accompanied by the specified documentation (ie notice of placement for Adoption Leave, medical certificate noting expected date of confinement for Maternity and Paternity Leave). Refer to Supporting Documentation for Absence Requests table below for further details. 

Leave Terminology 

The terminology used to describe certain categories of leave has been amended to reflect the National Employment Standards (NES) terminology as follows.

Previous Terminology	New Terminology (from 28 September)
Recreation Leave	Annual Leave
Sick Leave (and Unpaid Sick Leave)	Personal Leave (and Unpaid Personal Leave)
Bereavement Leave	Compassionate Leave
Leave Application	Absence Request
Leave Code	Absence Name

Supporting Documentation for Absence Requests