IEU members in the Bathurst Diocese have achieved a major win regarding their Long Service Leave (LSL) entitlements today.
This morning, Catholic Education Diocese Bathurst (CEDB) reversed their decision to include pupil vacation periods in short blocks of LSL and have agreed to restore the leave of those who had their leave deducted earlier this year.
IEU members, including the principals’ chapter, reacted strongly to the initial decision, with over 450 members signing a petition requesting it be reversed and the leave restored.
Although only a small number of members were affected by this current LSL dispute, their colleagues stood beside them to fight an arbitrary and unfair decision that had the potential to impact all employees over time. Congratulations, and thank you to all our members in the Bathurst Diocese who signed our petition.
“This is a great win for IEU members and demonstrates the power of collective action”, said Carol Matthews, IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Secretary.
The IEU will be meeting with representatives from the Diocese to discuss this and other issues. We will also be working with affected members to ensure their leave is restored correctly.
The IEU has been fighting for our members who had up to 10 days of long service unfairly deducted.
The dispute centred on the correct interpretation of clauses 37.5(f) and (g) of the current enterprise agreement (EA) relating to long service leave.
The issue was whether non-term time adjacent to a period of long service leave is counted as part of the long service leave taken.
A number of teachers who took short periods of long service leave adjacent to the pupil vacation period (PVP) in July 2025 had additional days of long service leave deducted by CEDB.
The IEU successfully sought a reversal of the decision, arguing that:
- the decision to deduct PVP as long service leave should have been made at the time the teacher applied for leave
- clear criteria for the deduction must be available before leave applications are made.
Affected teachers had applied for their long service leave with six-to-nine months’ notice (and had approval from their principal and CEDB). But they were only advised of CEDB’s decision to deduct additional long service leave a few days prior to commencing their leave. CEDB has now reversed this decision and will restore leave to those affected.
Wins like these are only possible because of our members who stand alongside us. Know someone who isn’t a union member yet? Invite them to join the IEU.
Read the letter sent from CEDB to members on 13 November reversing their decision below, or download here.