Changes to Annual Shut Down Provisions - May 1

annual leave fair work hr compliance leave and entitlements modern awards new south wales northern territory queensland south australia tasmania victoria western australia Mar 02, 2023

Effective May 1 2023, a new model clause is set to come into effect in the National Fair Work IR system, impacting 78 Awards. The 'model clause' may be slightly altered between Awards to account for industry and occupational differences.

The FWC is expected to publish proposed determinations setting out the specific changes to individual awards soon. We will keep you posted!

The major change is that an Employer's right to direct an employee to take unpaid leave if they have run out of paid annual leave has been removed (During the shutdown period).

Employers will also have to provide 28 days' written notice if they intend to shut down over the holiday period.

Note: employees can still accept to take unpaid leave but it must be by genuine agreement.

What about Causal Staff?

Casual staff are not entitled to annual leave, therefore not rostering them during a shutdown period will not be problematic.

What if I'm in the State IR system (e.g. WAIRC)?

These changes won't apply to you. Refer to the Awards, Agreements and legislation within your relevant industrial relations system . Remember: not everyone comes under Fair Work!

What does this mean for employers?

Assess who in your team, if anyone, will be impacted by these changes.
Review your policies and procedures, and contracts of employment.
Assess any changes that will be required to the various documents and how to manage these.
Assess how you may need to alter your leave management processes throughout the year to account for this.
Staff communications and change management will also need to be considered. It's important to keep your team informed of the changes - especially if it means you need to adjust how you manage leave throughout the year.

Employii Clients

We will be reaching out to everyone to advise of any impact on your team and your options to ensure you remain compliant.

For active Retainer and HR On Call clients who we have developed Employee Handbooks for, we can update these for you within your existing package. If you have a different service arrangement, lets chat through what will work best for you.

Not an Employii client (yet)?

Reach out and let us help you stay on top of your HR.

While no changes to legislation are set to change just yet, if you have any questions about your annual leave entitlements and shutdown periods, reach out to the Employii team ([email protected]).

To stay up to date, check out the Fair Work Ombudsman website (here).

Author: Chelsea Finlay (HR Officer)

Changes to Annual Shut Down Provisions - May 1

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