Quick Guide: Shutdowns & Operating Over Xmas

With only 2 months until Christmas, now is the time to start communicating with your team about your intentions and theirs, over the Christmas and New Year period.

For some businesses, Christmas can be the busiest time of year where everyone will be required to work. On the other hand, some business may only require limited staff to work (i.e. skeleton staff) or the business may have a shutdown period where employees will be requested to take annual leave for a specific period. You may have a combination of these across different locations or departments.

Hopefully by now, your business should know what will be happening over this period because it’s time to start notifying your staff of your intentions.

SHUT DOWN PERIODS

Whether you’re closing for Christmas, a maintenance shut down, or another reason, there are a few things to consider.

NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

If your business is closing completely for any period (other than public holidays), you should notify your team now, if you haven’t already. You should check the relevant Awards/Enterprise Agreements for the specific requirements for providing notice (it is often at least 28 days written notice).

For example, under the Clerks – Private Sector Award 2020, the Award requires employers to notify employees of a shutdown period by giving at least 28 days’ written notice (refer to clause 32.5).

You can use the Fair Work Ombudsman’s handy shutdown tool to check the relevant Award provisions:  FW – Direction-to-take-annual-leave-during-a-shut-down

Please remember that whilst you can usually direct employees to take paid annual leave during a shutdown (as long as their Award or Enterprise Agreement allows it and the requirement is in writing and reasonable), you cannot always direct them to take unpaid annual leave during a shutdown.

If an employee doesn’t have enough paid annual leave to cover the shutdown, you can agree other options with them to cover the days, such as:

  • time off in lieu
  • annual leave in advance
  • leave without pay

You should ensure that any agreement reached, is confirmed in writing to the employee.

Don’t forget, that if an employee has agreed to take unpaid leave during a shutdown, they may still 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

Non-Award or agreement employees: For employees that are not covered by an Award or agreement, the Fair Work Act 2009 does allow for employers to still be able to direct employees to use annual leave if the request is reasonable. The Fair Work Act 2009 uses a shutdown period (such as Christmas or New Year) as an example of what is a reasonable request.

Remember that in some businesses, there will be different notice requirements for different groups of employees depending on which industrial instrument they are covered by (ie. Award vs. Registered Agreement).

COMMUNICATING THE SHUTDOWN PERIOD

It is important that if you intend to shutdown over the Christmas period (or any other period), you inform your team as required by the applicable Award or Agreement, usually in writing. This would generally include:

  • The dates the shutdown period will commence and end;
  • The reason why the business will be shutting down for this period;
  • The requirement for employees to take paid annual leave during the shutdown period, and guidance on what employees should do if they haven’t accrued enough annual leave to cover them for the shutdown period (eg. speak to their Manager/supervisor to agree how it will be covered).

These points should be provided to employees in writing, in accordance with the notice requirements mentioned above.

ADDITIONAL LEAVE

When communicating with your team about the shutdown, it is also best practice to confirm whether anyone wishes to request additional leave (eg. Finish earlier than the shutdown commencement date or return to work later). Asking your team ahead of time will help with planning, payroll and meeting customer needs during this busy time.

PROCESSING PAYROLL DURING A SHUTDOWN

If your regular payroll processing day/s fall during any shutdown period, you will need to plan ahead; particularly if it falls on a public holiday. Consider whether you need to make alternative arrangements, this might mean processing payroll the day before or having someone available for one day during the shutdown to process payroll.

Be sure to communicate any changes with your team ahead of time and ensure all leave requests are appropriately actioned before the shutdown period commences.

WE ARE OPEN OVER XMAS

If your business will be open over the Christmas period (even if only for some employees), there are some additional considerations to plan for.

COMMUNICATING BLACKOUT PERIODS (no leave permitted)

If Christmas and New Year period is your busiest time of year, and you wish for your employees to not take leave during that time, now is the time to start consulting with them if you have not already done so.

You will need to ensure you inform your team on the following:

  • The dates the blackout period will commence and end;
  • The reason as to why the business requires employees to be available during that time.

Just like communicating a shutdown period, it is best practice that the above points are provided to your employees in writing to confirm the blackout period. Ideally, any blackout periods should also be communicated to employees in a Leave Policy – contact the Edwards HR team if you need a hand preparing one.

PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

The following dates/times are public holidays in Queensland and must be paid accordingly.

Generally, this means permanent employees are paid for the day (if it is a day they usually work), or penalty rates will apply if they work on the public holiday.

  • 24 December 2024 (Tue) – part-day public holiday on Christmas Eve from 6pm to midnight (does not apply to all states)
  • 25 December 2024 (Wed) – Christmas Day
  • 26 December 2024 (Thur) – Boxing Day
  • 1 January 2024 (Wed) – New Year’s Day

For public holiday dates in other states and territories, check this page by the Fair Work Ombudsman.

If employees are expected to work on a public holiday, please be aware that the requirements have recently changed. Employers can no longer assume an employee will be able to work a public holiday, they must now request that the employee work and be aware that the employee may refuse. Read this update for further information.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year for employers and for HR/payroll teams, which is why Edwards HR is releasing a suite of updates early so you can plan ahead.

If we can provide any advice or support during this period, please contact our team on 07 3568 0866.

Get our free HR and payroll planning checklist for Christmas now and start preparing today.

Perfect for HR professionals, payroll specialists, managers, and employers!

Edwards HR is here to assist you in complying with your obligations and creating a safe, respectful workplace. If you need help with policy updates or team training, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Stay up to date with all the upcoming changes via our Linkedin or sign up to our ‘Employer Update’ newsletter.

For more guidance about this update, or to find out how Edwards HR can support your business, contact our team today on 07 3568 0866.

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