Annual Leave

Accrual of leave
Your paid annual leave is accrued week to week during each year of service based on your ordinary hours of work. It carries over year to year if you don’t use it.

Taking paid annual leave
Your employer should not unreasonably refuse to agree to a request to take paid annual leave.
You should aim to give as much notice as possible about intending to take annual leave and to submit a leave request.
Do not assume that your annual leave is approved if you are given verbal approval by management.

Payment of annual leave
If you take annual leave, your employer must pay you at the base rate of pay for your ordinary hours of work.
You may also be entitled to leave loading and/or penalties.
If you leave your job, you will be paid out for any accrued leave that has not been taken.

Cashing out of annual leave
Many Awards and Enterprise Agreements contain provisions enabling employees to cash out some of their annual leave.
Normally, this is by agreement with your employer and you will be required to maintain a balance of annual leave after the cash out has occurred.

Remember: Make sure you get your leave approved before booking any flights or accommodation.

• Blackout periods
  Some employers have “blackout periods” which are generally times that the employer feels are extremely busy trading periods such as Christmas, Easter and stocktake. You should not be afraid of or discouraged from applying for annual leave during these times.
• Public holidays
  If the period during which you take annual leave includes a public holiday or a part-day public holiday in your workplace, it will not be considered annual leave. You will still receive a payment of wages at your ordinary rate of pay for the public holiday or part-day public holiday.