2016 amendments to annual leave entitlements
2016 amendments to annual leave award provisions
During 2016 the Fair Work Commission amended all modern awards so that from 29 July they incorporate new provisions about annual leave entitlements including including:
(a) a right for employers to direct employees to take annual leave if they have accruals exceeding eight weeks;
(b) the ability for employees to take leave in advance with agreement from their employer (and where an employee’s employment is terminated before they have accrued the leave taken in advance, the right for an employer to make an appropriate deduction from the employee’s final pay); and
(c) the inclusion of a cashing-out provision which permits employers to agree with an award employee to cash out accrued annual leave if they have a signed written agreement with their employer or they have a balance of at least four weeks’ annual leave remaining after they have “cashed out”; and they don’t cash out more than two weeks in a 12-month period.