32.1 Employees who possess a basic level of competence in a community language and who work in locations where their community language is utilised at work to assist clients and such employees are not:

32.1.1 Employed as interpreters and translators; and

32.1.2 Employed in those roles where particular language skills are an integral part of essential requirements of the role,

must be paid an allowance as specified in Table 1 of Schedule 2, Part B, subject to subclauses 32.2 and 32.3 of this clause.

32.2 The base level of the CLAS is paid to employees who:

32.2.1 are required to meet occasional demands for language assistance (there is no regular pattern of demand for their skill); and

32.2.2 have passed an examination administered by the Community Relations Commission, or who have a National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) language Recognition award.

32.3 The higher level of CLAS is paid to employees who meet the requirements for the base level of payment and:

32.3.1 are regularly required to meet high levels of customer demand involving a regular pattern of usage of the employee’s language skills, as determined by the Secretary; or

32.3.2 have achieved qualifications of NAATI interpreter level or above. This recognises that employees with higher levels of language skill will communicate with an enhanced degree of efficiency and effectiveness.