Shutdown rules for Modern Awards

Previous versions of the awards did not specify the amount of notice employers were required to provide employees, nor did it outline how the direction to take annual leave should be communicated by employers. 

With the update to the Awards and Christmas fast approaching, now is the time to think about when and for how long your practice may shut down. 

Now, the Award includes the following:

• employers may require employees to take paid annual leave during a temporary shutdown
• employers must provide at least 28 days’ written notice of the temporary shutdown period to all impacted employees
• the requirement to take annual leave must be reasonable
• notice periods can be reduced if the majority of affected employees and their employer agree
• if an employee doesn’t have enough annual leave to cover all of the shutdown, the employee and employer can agree to alternative options for days not covered. This may include:
  • using other paid time off such as time off in lieu
  • annual leave in advance, or
  • taking leave without pay. 

Should public holidays occur during a shutdown period, employees are to be paid the public holidays during this period which fall on days they would normally work. 
All employees continue to accumulate annual leave during a shutdown period unless they’re taking leave without pay. 

The opportunities 
Depending on your practice's shutdown length, you may need to get creative with leave arrangements during the shutdown. Some ideas are:

• to gift annual leave, this is a nice way to assist new staff who may have not accrued enough annual leave to get through the shutdown period and acknowledge the hard work the wider team has put in during the year
• to enable staff to take annual leave a few days in arrears
• being flexible enough for staff to request a mix of available leave as mentioned under the Awards but to consider leave without pay as a last resort as leave does not accrue on leave without pay.

Shutdown provisions in modern Awards
Health Professionals and Support Services Award – Clause 27.5 Direction to take annual leave during shutdown 
Nurses Award – Clause 22.7 Direction to take annual leave during shutdown

	Workplace Relations Support  Workplace Relations Support can provide general advice to members on modern award enquiries and how clauses in awards relate to your staff. You can contact us via phone (07) 3872 2222 and email support workplacerelations@amaq.com.au.
	Workplace Relations Toolkit Workplace Relations Toolkit subscribers receive template documents such as practice policies. These policy templates include a leave policy that outlines shutdown periods.
	Workplace Relations Consultancy Workplace Relations Consultancy can review current policies you have in place and recommend the required amendments that should be made to ensure they remain consistent with the relevant awards.