Spouse Leave for Teaching Service

Policy and Guidelines

An employee may apply for leave without pay to accompany their spouse or domestic partner where that employee’s spouse or domestic partner is:

• required to shift residence interstate or overseas as a consequence of pursuing their occupation
• travelling interstate or overseas
• transferred within Victoria where no employment in the teaching service can be offered to the employee at the new location or
• also an employee and is granted long service leave, provided that spouse leave may be granted for the period of long service leave granted

An employee may elect to use any long service leave entitlement in conjunction with a period of leave without pay to accompany their spouse or domestic partner.

Applications for leave without pay between 3 months and 12 months to accompany a spouse or domestic partner must be granted once every 3 years to an employee whose spouse or domestic partner, as a consequence of pursuing their occupation, is required to shift residence interstate or overseas.

All other applications for leave to accompany a spouse or domestic partner may be granted at the principal’s discretion in accordance with the normal leave without pay policy.

An employee granted leave without pay to accompany their spouse or domestic partner is expected to resume duty at the commencement of a school term other than where the leave is for the purpose of accompanying a spouse or domestic partner on long service leave.

An application for spouse leave must be made in sufficient time to enable the application to be considered prior to the commencement of the period of leave. An employee’s application for spouse leave must be accompanied by satisfactory evidence supporting their application for leave, such as a letter from the spouse's or domestic partner’s employer indicating that the spouse or domestic partner is required to shift as a result of employment.

Leave without pay granted to accompany a spouse or domestic partner does not count as service for any purpose but does not break the continuity of an employee's service. In general the leave without pay policy applies to spouse leave.