Under the Fair Work Act, an employee can take paid annual leave for a period of time agreed upon with their employer, but what if your employer wants you to take annual leave on dates you don’t agree with? Do you have to agree?
The answer is yes but only if the request is considered reasonable. To determine if a request is reasonable, the following will be considered:
- The notice you were given regarding the request;
- If you have excessive amounts of leave; and
- How long you were requested to take off.
An employer and employee must agree on the taking of annual leave, and an employer cannot unreasonably refuse a request to take annual leave.
If your employer is forcing you to take annual leave or refusing your request to take annual leave and you believe it is unreasonable, contact one of our employment lawyers who can help assess the request and help you with the next steps.
National Employment Standards
The National Employment Standards contained in the Fair Work Act outline the minimum safety net requirements for most employees, this includes annual leave.
Other entitlements’ contained in the National Employment Standards include but are not limited to personal/carers leave, compassionate leave, family and domestic violence leave, and long service leave.
What is annual leave?
Annual leave is a statutory entitlement and is protected by the Fair Work Act as a National Employment Standard, which requires employers to provide four weeks of paid annual leave for each year of employment, which accumulates throughout the employee’s employment.
If you are a shift worker, then, this entitlement increases to five weeks a year. This means an employee must accrue their annual leave and build up their leave as it progressively accumulates to take the leave. If you are a part-time worker, then, your annual leave will accrue on a pro-rata basis. Casual workers do not accrue annual leave and instead are paid a casual loading.
Your contract of employment may also provide additional leave entitlements over and above the statutory minimum, and, is what is called a contractual safety net entitlement.
If you are not currently accruing annual leave, and believe you should be, contact one of our employment lawyers, who will be able to help assess your situation.
How does an Award or Enterprise Agreement affect a request to take annual leave by my employer?
An Award or Enterprise Agreement can permit periods where employees are able to be directed to take leave, such as during the festive period from December to January where a lot of businesses close. However, the request to take the leave must still be a reasonable one, such as the business is closed for a two-week period and not operating.
If you believe your employer is trying to force you to take annual leave and the request is unreasonable, contact Turner Freeman on 13 43 63 to discuss your situation with one of our employment lawyers.
