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Last updated
20/10/2022
Implementation date
31/07/2007
Reference number
PD-2003-0007-V09.1.0
Publicly available
Yes
Policy cluster
People

Private and Secondary Employment

Sets out the principles and provides direction and guidance on requirements for private and secondary employment approval for NSW Department of Education employees.

Changes since previous version

2022 Oct 20 - updated the policy statement and implementation document, Private and Secondary Employment procedure, to ensure relevance and accuracy. Clarified compliance requirements for leave without pay in the procedures (section 4.1) and incorporated existing (standalone) content on private tutoring (section 6.3). Application form was converted to a writable PDF.

Document history

2021 Apr 14 - policy maintenance, which may include but not limited to, updated contact details, business unit or position titles, typographical, text and style changes and repairing hyperlinks.

2019 Dec - minor updates to the Private and Secondary Employment Procedure to add references to the Corruption Prevention Policy, as required by the Corruption and Fraud Prevention Plan. Revised in August 2007 following amendments by the Education Legislation Amendment (Staff) Act 2006 to the Teaching Service Act 1980, the Technical and Further Education Commission Act 1990 and the Education (School Administrative and Support Staff) Act 1987. The major changes since the last version relate to the following, The Education Legislation Amendment Staff Act 2006 inserted new provisions in the Teaching Service Act 1980, Education (School Administrative and Support Staff) Act 1987 and Technical and Further Education Commission Act 1990 (sections 5A, 7A and 22C respectively) which provide that the protection of children is to be a paramount consideration in taking any action with respect to employees under those Acts. Determination no 950 of 2006 made under section 130 (1) of the Public Sector Employment and Management Act 2002 states that Public Service staff seeking to undertake duties as Returning Officers must comply with the private employment requirements in accordance with section 59 of the Public Sector and Employment Management Act 2002.

Superseded documents

2021 Apr | Title: Private and Secondary Employment Procedure

  1. Policy statement
    1. The department recognises that private or secondary employment can provide an employee with additional skills and capability. Employees may engage in private or secondary employment provided they meet the requirements under the policy and Private and Secondary Employment Procedure.
    2. Private or secondary employment must be lawful and not damage the reputation of the department.
    3. When considering applications for private or secondary employment, the safety, welfare, wellbeing and protection of children is the paramount consideration. Where an application for private or secondary employment is inconsistent with the protection of children, it will be declined.
    4. Employees may not work in competition with the department. In certain cases, approval may be granted if it is in the interest or of benefit to the department. Conflicts of interest must be addressed by the applicant. This provision applies to private employment during full- or part-time leave without pay, long service leave, extended leave and the deferred salary leave year under the Deferred Salary Scheme.
    5. Where the work may be in competition with the department, section 4 (Private Employment) of the Private and Secondary Employment Procedure applies.
    6. Private or secondary employment may be approved where any conflicts of interest can be resolved or managed. Where the conflict of interest is not managed, approval should be withdrawn.
    7. Employees must not use department resources, such as telephone, stationery, computing equipment, mobile phone, other equipment or facilities, or information for approved private employment or to help gain private employment.
    8. Employees must not accept employment in the business of a department employee, without declaring the relationship in the application.
    9. Private or secondary employment undertaken without written approval is a breach of the Code of Conduct and may result in disciplinary action.
  2. Audience and applicability
    1. This policy applies to all permanent full-time and temporary full-time employees employed under the Teaching Service Act 1980, Education (School Administrative and Support Staff) Act 1987 and the Government Sector Employment Act 2013.
    2. The following employees are not required to obtain approval for other employment provided the other paid work is undertaken during the period the person is not required to perform duties for the department:
      1. all casual employees
      2. temporary employees, employed for less than 10 weeks under the Education (School Administrative and Support Staff) Act 1987
      3. all permanent part-time and temporary part-time employees.

        Note: For the purposes of section 92B of the Teaching Service Act 1980 and section 7C of the Education (School Administrative and Support Staff) Act 1987, permanent part-time employees and temporary part-time employees covered by these Acts are deemed to have approval provided the other paid work is undertaken during the period that the person is not required to perform duties for the department.

        Employees identified in this section must assess the discharge of their duties for the department is not adversely affected and that no conflict of interest arises (See section 7of the Private and Secondary Employment Procedure). In cases where a real or perceived conflict of interest exists, the employee must advise their immediate supervisor. The supervisor must then assess the manageability of the conflict of interest and/or review the continuation of the private or secondary employment.
    3. This policy does not apply to contractors.
  3. Context
    1. This policy is consistent with current legislation, including the Government Sector Employment Act 2013, the Teaching Service Act 1980 and the Education (School Administrative and Support Staff) Act 1987.
    2. The policy should be read in conjunction with the Private and Secondary Employment Procedure, the Code of Conduct and the Teachers Handbook.
  4. Responsibilities and delegations
    1. Principals, managers and supervisors:
      1. have a responsibility to be aware of the policy requirements and conditions of approval and ensure these requirements or conditions are satisfied
      2. must observe the work performance of employees with approved private or secondary employment to ensure it does not adversely affect the proper and efficient performance of their primary department duties.
    2. The approving delegate:
      1. must maintain a record of all applications, including the outcome, nature of any conflict of interest, mitigation strategies and management, and ensure the currency of approvals. A copy of the approval must be placed on the employee's personal file. The delegate must provide the applicant with a copy of their completed application.
    3. Permanent and temporary full-time employees:
      1. have a responsibility to notify their supervisor of any private and secondary employment, and complete the private and secondary employment application form.
    4. Employees (identified in section 2 of the procedure):
      1. must disclose any real or perceived conflict of interest to their supervisor and if required complete the private and secondary employment application form.
    5. Delegations:
      1. Public service senior executives under the Government Sector Employment Act 2013, staff employed under the Teaching Service Act 1980 and staff employed under the Education (School Administrative and Support Staff) Act 1987 may exercise their power under those Acts giving permission for employees to undertake private and secondary employment. Administrative delegations provided as follows.
        • Public service and senior executives employed under the Government Sector Employment Act 2013 (Delegation number 2.2) (Staff Only)
        • Staff employed under the Teaching Service Act 1980 (Delegation number TSD2.7) (Staff Only)
        • Staff employed under the Education (School Administrative and Support Staff) Act 1987 (Delegation number EAD2.8) (Staff Only)
  5. Monitoring and review
    1. The Director, Human Resources Operations, Policies and Systems monitors the implementation of this policy, regularly reviews its contents to ensure relevance and accuracy, and updates it as needed.
  6. Contact
    EDConnect
    EDConnect online query
    1300 32 32 32 and select option 3
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