Legislative Council Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2) 53 2 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Answers to Questions Annual Leave Annual Leave The Hon. R.I. LUCAS Legislative Council Annual Leave 111 The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (3 December 2014). For each Department or Agency then reporting to the Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion— 1.	What is the estimated annual leave liability as at 30 June 2014 in days and dollars? 2.	What is the highest annual leave entitlement that has not been taken for any employee, as at 30 June 2014, in days and dollars? 3. (a)	What funding, as at 30 June 2014, was held in accounts controlled or administered by the Department or Agency to fund annual leave; and (b)	What were the names of the accounts and total funds held in these accounts as at 30 June 2014? 4. (a)	What policies, and monitoring of these policies, are in place to ensure that there is not a build up of annual leave liability within the Department or Agency; and\ (b)	Are employees required to take annual leave after a certain level of entitlement has accrued? The Hon. I.K. HUNTER Legislative Council Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change Annual Leave The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change): The Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion has received this advice: The following information is provided in relation to the Communities and Social Inclusion, Social Housing, Multicultural Affairs, Youth and Volunteers portfolios. Information regarding annual leave in the other portfolios within the relevant departments will be reported by the responsible Ministers. 1.	As at 30 June 2014, the estimated annual leave liability was $13,786,394 which represents 45,692 working days (based on 342,693 hours on 7.5 hour days). 2.	As at 30 June 2014, the highest annual leave entitlement in dollars that had not been taken for any employee was $100,247 which represents 74 working days (based on 554 hours on 7.5 hour days). The highest annual leave entitlement in days was 109 working days (based on 816 hours on 7.5 hour days) which represents $25,042. 3. (a)	The Department for Communities and Social Inclusion (DCSI) holds no funds specifically for annual leave liability. When annual leave is taken, it is paid by the department out of appropriation. If appropriation is insufficient to fund the annual leave expense, additional funding is sought from the Department of Treasury and Finance. (b)	As stated in the answer to III (a), no funds are held in a specific account. 4.	Managers are required to monitor leave balances and encourage staff to take their entitled leave each service year. A report on excess annual leave balances is issued monthly to Directors for staff in their division to assist in monitoring leave across the department. Delegates are required to work with employees to manage recreation leave balances. In most circumstances leave should not be deferred. However, delegates may, under exceptional circumstances, approve deferment of recreational leave (with the agreement of the employee) where: business unit requirements have prevented the employee from expending all recreation leave entitlements within that service year; or an employee requests deferment of their recreation leave for an approved specific reason. For example, if they are planning an extended overseas holiday during their following service year.