20Termination of employment
(1)
The employment of a person under this Part by a
member of Parliament terminates—
(a)
in the case of a person employed by a member of
Parliament under section 14—if the member ceases to be a member of
Parliament, or
(b)
in the case of a person employed by a member of
the Legislative Council under section 14—if the member becomes a
political office holder, or
(c)
in the case of a person employed by a member of
Parliament in his or her capacity as a special office holder under section
15—if the member of Parliament ceases to be a special office holder or a
member of Parliament, or
(d)
on the day appointed for the taking of the poll
for the next general election, or
(e)
if the person resigns by letter addressed to the
member of Parliament, or
(f)
if the person’s services are dispensed with
by the member of Parliament.
(1A)
The employment of a person under this Part by a
member of Parliament may also be terminated by the relevant Presiding Officer
under section 20A.
(2)
The relevant Presiding Officer may direct in a
particular case that the employment of a person that would otherwise terminate
because of the operation of subsection (1) (a)–(d) does not terminate.
In that case, the person’s employment continues for such period as the
relevant Presiding Officer directs and the person is taken to be employed by
the relevant Presiding Officer during that period.
(3)
A member of Parliament may at any time dispense
with the services of a person employed by the member of Parliament under this
Part.
(4)
This section has effect despite anything in the
written agreement of employment of the person concerned.
s 20: Am 2017 No 44,
Sch 1.18 [1].
20ATermination by relevant Presiding Officer of employment for
misconduct
(1)
The employment of a person under this Part by a
member of Parliament may be terminated by the relevant Presiding Officer after
consulting the member of Parliament if the relevant Presiding Officer is
satisfied that the staff member has engaged in
misconduct.
(2)
The relevant Presiding Officer may not terminate
the employment of a staff member unless—
(a)
the staff member is notified in writing of the
proposed termination and the reasons for taking that action,
and
(b)
the staff member is given a reasonable
opportunity to make submissions in relation to the proposed termination,
and
(c)
if any such submissions are made, the relevant
Presiding Officer has taken those submissions into
consideration.
(3)
If—
(a)
any matter relating to the misconduct by a staff
member is being dealt with by the relevant Presiding Officer,
or
(b)
a staff member is charged with a serious
offence,
the relevant Presiding Officer may, after consulting the
member of Parliament who employed the staff member, suspend the staff member
from duty until the matter or the criminal charge has been dealt with and any
subsequent action has been taken by the relevant Presiding Officer. Any such
suspension may be removed by the relevant Presiding Officer at any
time.
(4)
The relevant Presiding Officer may direct that
any remuneration payable to a staff member while the staff member is suspended
from duty under this section is to be withheld.
(5)
If, in the case of a staff member whose
employment is suspended—
(a)
the relevant Presiding Officer terminates the
employment of the staff member for misconduct, or
(b)
the staff member is convicted of the offence
concerned,
any remuneration so withheld is forfeited to the State
unless the relevant Presiding Officer otherwise directs or that remuneration
was due to the staff member in respect of a period before the suspension was
imposed.
(6)
Action may be taken or continued under this
section in respect of a staff member despite the staff member resigning or
otherwise ceasing to be employed by the member of Parliament
concerned.
(7)
A member of Parliament may not, except with the
approval of the relevant Presiding Officer, employ a person under this Part if
the person’s employment has been terminated at any time under this
section.
(8)
This section does not limit the power of a member
of Parliament to dispense with the services of a staff member under section
20.
(9)
This section has effect despite anything in the
written agreement of employment of the staff member
concerned.
(10)
In this section—
detrimental action
has the same meaning as in the Public Interest Disclosures
Act 2022.
detrimental action
offence has the same meaning as in the Public Interest Disclosures Act
2022.
misconduct in relation to
a staff member includes the following—
(a)
taking action that constitutes a detrimental
action offence,
(b)
taking detrimental action against another person
in circumstances where—
(i)
the person taking the detrimental action
suspects, believes or is aware, when taking the action, that any person has
made, may have made, may make or proposes to make a disclosure about alleged
misconduct by a staff member, and
(ii)
the suspicion, belief or awareness, whether
correct or incorrect, is a contributing factor in the taking of the
detrimental action,
(c)
a conviction or finding of guilt for a serious
offence.
The subject matter of any misconduct by a staff member
may relate to an incident or conduct that happened while the staff member was
not on duty, before his or her employment or before the commencement of this
section.
serious offence means
an offence punishable by imprisonment for life or for 12 months or more
(including an offence committed outside New South Wales that would be an
offence so punishable if committed in New South Wales).
staff member means a
person who is employed under this Part by a member of
Parliament.
s 20A: Ins 2017 No
44, Sch 1.18 [2]. Am 2022 No 14, Sch 8.17[1] [2].