Miscarriage leave and 20 day DV allowance in City of Newcastle council staff enterprise agreement

The agreement is set to be put to the Industrial Relations Commission next week, to start on January 1 next year. It features miscarriage leave, Defence service leave and an increase from 10 days domestic violence leave per year to 20.

"It's a horrible thing to have to have provision for that sort of an issue, but we know it happens in society, we know happens in our community," City of Newcastle executive director corporate services David Clarke said.

"We want to make sure that our enterprise agreement has got a safety net for employees, if they are impacted by that."

In what the United Services Union described as a "major win", Civic Theatre-based workers will be included in the agreement, providing an average wage increase of 32 per cent for the lowest-paid workers.

The previous agreement from 2019 included the option for a nine day fortnight, which will be continued in this proposal, along with a four-day week option.

Mr Clarke said more than 60 per cent of employees voted in the negotiations, and 96 per cent of those were in favour of the agreement.

USU organiser Luke Hutchinson said support for the agreement was unanimous among union members.

He said inflationary pressures were a huge issue brought up by members, which had been addressed through a Christmas bonus and a base rate increase in July.

Mr Hutchison said the union would be advocating to other councils to introduce similar provisions.

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