External
If a member is injured while attending at a place of education for the purposes specified in the Act, but the member is on LWOP, coverage can not be extended under S6(1)(v) or (vi).
Note, how — ever, that care must be taken to identify with precise accuracy whether the member was on LWOP at the time of the injury. This is illustrated by the following circumstances:
- LWOP, as with other types of leave, can only be granted for standard work hours (hours where salary would usually be paid). In the mainstream Public Service, these hours are usually between 8.30am to 12.30pm and 1.30pm to 5pm.
- Some part-time study leave approvals may involve short periods of LWOP if the contact/travel hours exceed the allowable hours of paid study leave.
- A member may be able to choose to take recreation leave or flexitime to supplement their study leave hours. The LWOP exclusion does NOT apply during any period of paid leave or any period outside standard hours. LWOP can only be granted during periods where the member would otherwise have been paid.
This exclusion was originally included in the 1971 Act to ensure that employees who availed themselves of full time study leave without pay did not attract cover dur — ing that time (the wording in the 1971 Act specifically referred to full-time attendance on LWOP). In the SRCA, this exclusion has been extended to any LWOP for education purposes.