Shutting down over Easter? What you need to know

With only 30 days until Easter, the countdown is officially on! Is your business planning to shut down over this period? And if yes, do you know your obligations with staff leave? Our HR Manager, Lisa has some answers to help.

• Whether or not an employee can be directed to take annual leave during a shut down depends on their award or registered agreement. Most awards will outline rules around how and when this can be addressed.
• If an employee isn’t covered by an award or an agreement, you can direct them to take annual leave if the direction is reasonable.
• If the award or agreement provides for it, you can direct an employee to take annual leave in advance of accrual, or unpaid leave, for some or all of the time.
• If an award or agreement doesn’t have rules about annual leave during shutdowns, you cannot direct an employee to take leave.
• If a public holiday falls during an employee’s annual leave, they need to be paid for the public holiday – not annual leave. This means that an employee should be paid their base pay rate for the day and it shouldn’t be taken off their annual leave balance.