A ruling earlier this year from the Fair Work Commission has
changed the rules around employee leave during office closure
period.
As a result of this 4 yearly review of modern awards, from 1 May
2023, employers may no longer require an employee to take unpaid
leave during an office closure period.
This is an extensive list of awards and includes the Clerks-
Private Sector Award, and the General Retail Industry Award.
This has implications for situations where an employee may not
have sufficient annual leave to last the entire office closure
period.
What happens if an employee does not have sufficient
leave?
Pursuant to the new rules, an employer has four options.
- The employer and the employee may agree for the employee to
take unpaid leave during the office closure. This needs to be
genuine consent from the employee and agreed in writing.
