"Phantom" Paid Annual Leave - Is it there even though you can't see it?

First Published by CCH Australia Limited

The majority decision of a Full Bench of Fair Work Australia in the recent cases concerning approval of the special annual leave arrangements contained in the Hull-Moody Finishes Pty Limited Enterprise Agreement 2011 has come at an interesting time bearing in mind the scheduled review of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) in 2012.

The majority (Vice President Watson and Senior Deputy President Hamberger) held that the agreement's provisions - whereby employees were paid a specific "annual leave" component with their regular wages and then required to take a minimum of two weeks' leave per year (although unpaid) - was not contrary to the National Employment Standard's provisions relating to paid annual leave, and thus were permissible in the proposed agreement.