Preparing for the Christmas and New Year period

At this time of year, employers and staff are looking towards the Christmas and New Year period.  Here are some tips to keep in mind:

Employees taking leave / office shut down

Employers can ask their staff to take leave, particularly if there is a Christmas Shutdown, however, make sure that you give enough notice (4 weeks) and have agreement with the employee if they are salaried or there is no ability within their award to do this.

If the employee does not have enough leave accrued, consider letting them accrue a negative balance until the leave is accrued.  The good faith that can be gained can far out way the risk of overpayment should the employee leave.

Public holidays (PH) are in addition to annual leave, during the Christmas/ New Year period, as Boxing day falls on a Saturday there are 3 – 4 PH depending on which state you have offices in and whether your staff work weekends (you can check via https://info.australia.gov.au/about-australia/special-dates-and-events/public-holidays).

The run up to Christmas is normally a frantic time, don’t forget to celebrate your companies achievements during the year, acknowledging key contributors at all levels within an organisation can have a significant impact on morale and discretionary effort