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Managing Employee Absences Policy

  1. Purpose
    1. This policy sets out employee and manager obligations concerning absence from the workplace and mandatory procedures for managing employee absences.
  2. Policy Statement
    1. Employees must submit an application for leave before all instances of planned leave, and within 10 working days after commencing an unplanned absence where possible, unless there are exceptional circumstances such as hospitalisation. Employees must also submit relevant documentary evidence, such as a medical certificate or statutory declaration, where required.
    2. Employees submit application for personal leave (all employees) and annual leave (staff other than teachers) electronically using HR21. Applications for all other types of leave are submitted via the OneGov Service Centre.
    3. Managers should ensure all staff are aware of their obligations to submit applications for leave. Relevant documentary evidence, such as medical certificates and statutory declarations, must be sighted before leave is approved and stored at the worksite for a period of seven years.
    4. Periods of leave not covered by an approved application for leave will be treated as unauthorised absence and may result in salary and/or disciplinary action.
    5. Managers are responsible for managing employee absences in accordance with the related Managing Employee Absences - Mandatory Procedures and relevant leave guidelines. They are also responsible for approving leave and where required submitting a leave application on behalf of the employee via OneGov Service Centre.
    6. The Mandatory Procedures must be applied consistently and in accordance with the principles of natural justice and procedural fairness and in a manner that promotes the values and general principles of the ACT Public Service.
    7. When implementing the Mandatory Procedures, managers should ensure they are familiar with the relevant leave guidelines and delegations.
    8. Under the Mandatory Procedures, the manager must:
      • establish why the employee is absent and what form of leave applies
      • record the absence
      • provide a written direction to the employee if they have not submitted an application for leave within 10 working days after commencing the absence
      • advise Shared Services Payroll to take salary action where an employee fails to submit an application for leave within a further 10 working days of the reminder period.
      • Seek advice from HR Business Partner where an employee repeatedly fails to fulfil their obligations under this policy.
  3. Scope
    1. This policy applies to all Directorate employees.
  4. Context
    1. The purpose of this policy is to provide managers with a framework for managing employee absences in accordance with ACTPS enterprise agreements and relevant legislation.
    2. The Managing Employee Absences - Mandatory Procedures related to this policy apply to all permanent and temporary employees who accrue leave entitlements under an award, enterprise agreement or the Public Sector Management Act 1994. The Mandatory Procedures do not apply to casual employees.
    3. The Public Sector Management Act 1994 (Section 9) provides the legislative framework for any disciplinary action that may be taken when an employee fails to fulfil their duty as an officer.
    4. The Public Sector Management Standards 2016 (section 106) provides the basis for any action, including salary action that may be taken in response to an employee’s unauthorised absence.
    5. The ACTPS Enterprise Agreements:
      • require employees to submit applications for leave when absent from duty
      • contain provisions for salary and disciplinary action that may be taken in response to an employee’s unauthorised absence.
  5. Responsibilities
    1. Employees: are responsible for notifying their manager of the reason for their absence and for submitting an application for leave for all absences.
    2. Managers: are responsible for implementing the Managing Employee Absences - Mandatory Procedures related to this policy.
    3. Policy Owner:The Executive Branch Manager, People and Performance Branch is responsible for this policy.
  6. Monitoring and Review
    1. The Senior Director, People and Conduct Section, People and Performance Branch monitors the policy. This includes an annual scan of operation and review. A full review of the policy will be conducted within a three-year period.
  7. Contact
    1. For support contact HR Business Partners on (02) 62079772 or email hrbp.edu@act.gov.au.
    2. Any concerns about the application of this policy or the policy itself, should be raised with:
  8. Feedback
    1. Any feedback about this policy, should be raised with the policy owner. Refer to Contact information above.
  9. References
    1. Definitions
      • Employee:includes permanent and temporary employees of the ACT Public Service Education Directorate. For the purposes of this policy, it does not include casual employees.
      • Employee Assistance Program: provides independent, confidential and professional counselling services for employees with work related or personal problems. The services are provided free to employees and can be sought by contacting Converge International on 1300 687 327 (1300 OUR EAP).
      • HR Business Partners means the section in People and Performance Branch in Education Directorate.
      • HR21 is the ACT Government employee system for submitting electronic applications for personal leave (all permanent staff) and annual leave (staff other than teachers).
      • Manager includes school principals and Senior Directors in education support office.
      • Manager Assist is a free telephone consultancy service providing practical assistance and advice to managers and supervisors on people management issues. It is part of the Employee Assistance Program and can be sought by contacting Converge International on 1300 687 327 (1300 OUR EAP).
      • Managing Employee Absences - Mandatory Procedures refers to the procedures related to this policy.
    2. Legislation
    3. Implementation Documents
    4. Related Policies and Information

Managing Employee Absences Policy: MEA201602 is the unique identifier of this document. It is the responsibility of the user to verify that this is the current and complete version of the document, available on the Directorate’s website at http://www.education.act.gov.au/publications_and_policies/school_and_corporate_policies/A-Z/.

Policy Identifier: 00031

Published: July 10, 2025

Implementation Documents:

Managing Employee Absences Mandatory Procedures (Word 865.4 KB)

Managing Employee Absences – A Best Practice Guide (Word 141.3 KB)

Related Policies and Information:

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