11 Types of Employment

  1. Academic and ELC Teaching Staff Collective Agreement 2014–2017
    1. Engagement of Employees
      1. The University shall engage a person as an employee on terms that correspond with one or other of continuing, fixed term, or casual employee basis in accordance with this clause.
      2. Provided that prior approval is not unreasonably withheld by the employee’s supervisor, nothing in this Agreement prevents an employee engaging in additional work as a casual employee at UNE in work unrelated to, or identifiably separate from, the employee’s normal duties and hours of work. The provisions of this Agreement to not work excessive hours should also be considered by employees and supervisors if engaging in additional casual work.
    2. Continuing employment — “Continuing Employment” means all employment other than “fixed-term”, or “casual”. Continuing Employment may be full-time or part-time.
    3. Continuing contingent - “Continuing Contingent Contract” means a contract for continuing employment that is contingent upon available funding, that is, if the funding that is used to pay for contract ceases to be available then the contract shall be terminated. This category of employment may be offered only to English Language Centre Teaching staff.
    4. Part-time employment - “Part-time employment” means employment for less than the normal weekly ordinary hours specified for a full-time employee, for which all entitlements are paid on a pro-rata basis calculated by reference to the time worked.
    5. Fixed-term employment — “Fixed-term employment” may be full-time or part-time, and means employment for a specified term or ascertainable period, for which the instrument of engagement will specify the starting and finishing dates of that employment, (or in lieu of a finishing date, will specify the circumstance(s) or contingency relating to a specific task or project, upon the occurrence of which the term of the employment shall expire). Other than for Research Only Academics, the University shall engage an employee on a fixed-term contract for a minimum of nineteen (19) weeks.

      The use of “fixed-term employment” shall be limited to the employment of an employee engaged on work activity that comes within the description of one or more of the following circumstances:

      1. “Specific task or project” shall mean a definable work activity which has a starting time and which is expected to be completed within an anticipated timeframe. Without limiting the generality of that circumstance, it shall also include a period of employment provided for from identifiable funding external to the University, not being funding that is part of an operating grant from government or funding comprised of payments of fees made by or on behalf of students.
      2. “Research” means work activity by a person engaged on research-only functions for a contract period not exceeding five years.
      3. “Replacement Employee” means an employee:
        • undertaking work activity replacing a full-time or part-time employee for a definable period for which the latter is either on authorised leave of absence (including study leave) or is temporarily seconded away from his/her usual work area, or has reduced their fraction of employment for a defined period of time; or
        • performing the duties of:
          • a vacant position for which the University has made a definite decision to fill and has commenced recruitment action*; or
          • a position the normal occupant of which is performing higher duties pending the outcome of recruitment action initiated by the University and in progress for that vacant higher duties position*

            *until a full-time or part-time employee is engaged for the vacant position or vacant higher duties position as applicable.

      4. “Early Career Academic” – The University will establish and advertise Early Career Academic Positions (ECAPs) designed to attract talented early career academics from its own cohort of postgraduate students and casual academic employees and from elsewhere where appropriate. Such an appointment would be for a period of two years. Eligibility to apply for ECAPs will be restricted to applicant employees who have:
        • been awarded a PhD (or Professional Doctorate) over the last five years or
        • been active candidates in their final year and have made satisfactory progress toward completion of their PhD (or Professional Doctorate) during the preceding two years and performed casual teaching work for the University over the last five years.

        At the end of ECAPs, the incumbent may be offered continuing employment subject to an assessment of the staff member’s satisfactory performance and the continuing need for the work being performed. Where such a further appointment is made, it shall be to a convertible two-year fixed-term position, meaning that at the end of the further period of two years, the position may be converted to continuing employment unless the holder were considered not to be appointable on academic merit and performance in the role, in which case they shall be so advised three months prior to the expiry of the convertible contract.

      5. “New area” — shall mean a work activity where a new discipline or work area has been established, there is genuine uncertainty over future requirements and where the practicality or ongoing need for the position is not known. New area does not mean the shifting of existing functions from an existing work area through a restructure or workplace change. The fixed-term contract period shall not exceed three years.
      6. If the position or substantially the same position occupied by the employee  continues beyond three years the employee shall be offered conversion to continuing employment in that position (or in another agreed position) at the conclusion of the contract period as long as the original appointment was via merit selection.

      7. “Disestablished area” shall mean a work activity where a discipline, course or work area/unit has been disestablished and the work of that area/unit is to be phased out over a period of time. The fixed-term contract period shall not exceed three years.
      8. A fixed term contract under this sub-clause can only be offered where a final decision has been made to disestablish a work activity after following the procedures in Clause 42.

        Should the decision to disestablish the work area/unit be reversed, or should for any other reason the employee's position or substantially the same position continue beyond a three year period, the employee shall be offered conversion to continuing employment as long as the original appointment was via merit selection.

      9. “Recent professional practice” required - Where a curriculum in professional or vocational education requires that work be undertaken by a person to be engaged who has recent practical or commercial experience, such a person may be engaged on a fixed-term contract. For the purpose of this paragraph, practical or commercial practice will be considered as “recent” only when it has occurred in the previous two years.
      10. “Pre-retirement” contract - Where a full-time or a part-time employee declares that it is his or her intention to retire, a fixed term contract expiring on or around the relevant retirement date may be mutually agreed as the appropriate type of employment for a period of up to five years.
      11. Fixed-term contract employment subsidiary to studentship — Where a person is enrolled as a student, employment under a fixed-term contract may be adopted as the appropriate type of employment for work activity, not within the description of another circumstance in the preceding paragraphs of this sub clause, that is work within the student’s academic unit or an associated research unit of that academic unit and is work generally related to a degree course that the student is undertaking within the academic unit, provided that:
        • such fixed-term contract employment shall be for a period that does not extend beyond, or that expires at the end of, the academic year in which the person ceases to be a student, including any period that the person is not enrolled as a student but is still completing postgraduate work or is awaiting results; and
        • that an offer of fixed-term employment under this paragraph shall not be made on the condition that the person offered the employment undertake the studentship
    6. "Casual employment" shall mean a person engaged either by the hour and paid on an hourly basis; or by the session and paid a rate that includes a specified amount of delivery time and a specified amount of preparation time. In both cases, the rate includes a loading related to benefits for which a casual employee is not eligible.
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