Annual Leave, also known as Holiday Pay, is paid when an employee requests time off work, usually to holiday or to take a break.
Annual Leave is paid at the employee’s base rate of pay and is not inclusive of overtime, penalty rates, or additional allowances. The method of payment and leave loading differs in accordance with industry specific awards, employment contracts and other registered agreements.
Eligibility
A permanent full-time employee is entitled to and accrues 4 weeks of annual leave per year, whilst a permanent part-time employee is entitled to and accrues such on a pro rata basis determined by the employee’s ordinary weekly hours. For example, a part-time employee that works 10 hours each week for a year will accrue 1 week of annual leave.
Shift workers may be eligible to receive up to 5 weeks of annual leave per year, this varies in accordance with industry specific awards.
Casuals are not entitled to annual leave, however they can request time off with notice as specified within Company Policy.
Annual Leave Request and Refusal
Employees need to request annual leave in accordance with the process defined in their award, employment agreement or Company policies. Employers can refuse an employee’s request for annual leave if they can prove reasonable grounds for refusal such as:
- Inadequate notice from the employee to allow the employer to properly cover the absence of leave;
- Other employees have applied for leave around the same time and further staff absence would effect essential operations and be detrimental to business production; OR
- The time in which an employee has applied for leave is within a company ‘block out period’ as specified within Company policy for peak productivity and essential operations.
A request for annual leave should be submitted as early as possible, inclusive of the expected leave duration and anticipated return date. Employees can request leave as consecutive or separate days across calendar weeks and there is no requirement to use all hours of annual leave at once, as it can be left to further accumulate. Annual leave requests should not surmount the hours accrued by an employee. In the circumstance that an employee requires further time off, unpaid annual leave can be requested in accordance with Company policies.
If an employee falls ill whilst on annual leave, they can follow the usual Company process to have such converted to sick/carer’s leave. For more information see the blog post Converting Annual Leave to Sick Leave.
Contact Assurance HR Management today on 1800 577 515 if you would like further information or assistance surrounding annual leave entitlements, particularly those that apply to part time and shift work employees.
