Employees can be required to take a period of paid annual leave during a shutdown in conjunction with the Christmas / New Year holidays.

The requirement to take annual leave must be in writing and must be reasonable.

All affected employees must be given at least 2 months’ written notice of the shutdown period. The notice period can be less if the majority of affected employees and their employer agree.

If an employee doesn’t have enough paid annual leave to cover all of the shutdown, the employee and employer can agree to other options for the days not covered, such as using:

• other paid time such as time off in lieu
• annual leave in advance
• leave without pay.

Where an employee has agreed to take unpaid leave during a shutdown, they may be entitled to payment for the public holidays that fall during that time. This will depend on:

• if the employee has ordinary hours of work on those public holidays
• any award or agreement provisions that apply
• the circumstances of the unpaid leave
• any agreement between employer and employee to be paid for public holidays.

If an employee is hired after the initial notice of the shutdown, the employer must give that employee written notice as soon as reasonably possible.

Use the Notice of requirement to take annual leave template when directing employees to take annual leave during a shutdown.

Accumulating annual leave during a shutdown

An employee will continue to accumulate annual leave during a shutdown period, unless they’re taking leave without pay.

To find out more about who this award applies to, go to the Building and Construction Award summary.

Source reference: Building and Construction General On-site Award [MA000020] clause 31.3