QTAD Q&A

I plan to resign at the end of this year, am I entitled to receive summer vacation pay?

If you are completing the teaching year, you should resign as of the last day of the summer vacation, i.e. 17 January 2018, in order to ensure payment for the entire summer vacation.

I am a permanent teacher currently on unpaid leave from my base school. I have been employed on a contract for semester two. Am I entitled to any payment during the Christmas break?

For permanent teachers, entitlement for the summer vacation period is based on the number of school days that was worked during the school year. Remote schools attract an entitlement of 33 days’ vacation. All other schools are entitled to 28 days’ vacation. Leave loading entitlement will be paid in December 2017.

Permanent teachers who undertake periods of contract work during unpaid leave will receive a pro-rata entitlement to Christmas holiday pay in accordance with the portion of the year worked, i.e. one semester contract = 50 per cent of Christmas holiday pay.

Formula: Number of days teaching service multiplied by 28 (or 33 days) vacation divided by the number of days in the school year.

Teachers on pay suspend over the summer vacation (leave end date last day of the summer holidays) will be paid their entitlement as a lump sum in late December 2017.

I worked full time in semester one and have been on paid maternity leave at half pay, which will carry into 2018. What happens over the summer vacation period?

Similar to the above scenario, when on paid parental leave, permanent teachers are entitled to a pro-rata payment for the Christmas vacation to reflect the proportion of paid leave during the preceding year. Even if the paid leave was taken at the half-pay rate, they are entitled to the equivalent full-time pro-rata Christmas pay. You will expect to receive the full payment of the summer vacation period.

What if I have been on changed fractions throughout the year?

It is important to note rosters do not apply for the payment over the summer vacation period where an employee has worked more than one fraction. For those employees who have worked at different fractions during the 2017 school year, the summer vacation is apportioned according to the number of school days worked at each fraction, and an average roster is applied for these periods, with the highest fraction paid first.

Example:

For an employee who worked at the following fractions during the 2017 school year – 0.4 from 19 January to 7 July and then 0.6 from 10 July to 8 December – payment for the summer vacation would be as follows:

19 January to 7 July @ 0.4 fraction = 101 school days, which is an entitlement of 14 days summer vacation at the 0.4 fraction

10 July to 8 December @ 0.6 fraction = 99 school days, which is an entitlement of 14 days summer vacation at the 0.6 fraction

I worked in term one, however since term two I have been on a combination of sick leave from DET and income protection with QSuper. My medical certificate covers me until the end of the summer vacation. Do I still receive payment for the summer vacation?

Yes, the department pays for school vacations that fall in the first 12 months of sick leave (paid or unpaid).

I’ve been acting on higher duties, what impact will that have?

• A teacher acting or performing higher duties for the whole school year would be paid higher duties for the autumn, winter and spring vacation periods only. Entitlement to the summer vacation will only occur if the teacher recommences higher duties from the first day of the following school year (see below).
• A teacher acting or performing the higher duties from the first working day in April to the last working day in March the next year would be paid higher duties for the autumn, winter, and spring vacation periods only and not the summer vacation.
• A teacher acting or performing higher duties for more than a whole school year from the first working day in January to a working day in the following school year would be paid higher duties for the vacation periods across which they worked including the summer vacation.

Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 122 No 8, 3 November 2017, p29