Holidays+and+Leave



﻿ Holidays and Leave under Holidays Act 2003 

//By Samrat Majumder//

**__Topic Question __**

**Under what circumstances is an employee entitled for Holidays and Leave? **


 * What kind of Holidays and Leave is an employee entitled for? **

An employee can be entitled for Annual Holidays, Public Holidays, Sick Leave and Bereavement Leave. Holidays and leave are the minimum rights that apply by law to all employees whether full-time, part-time or casual. The employees enjoy the privilege of these rights even if they have not been included in an employment agreement.


 * When can an employee take the Holidays and Leave as stated above (including paid and unpaid Holidays and Leave)? **

**Annual Holidays:** Annual Holidays: An employee is entitled to minimum of 4 weeks paid annual holidays after the end of each anniversary of the date of commencing employment on or after 1st April 2007.The annual leave can be taken at any time that has been agreed between the employer and employee. All employees must be given an opportunity to take at least two of the four weeks leave in a continuous period if they wish to do so.   Employees annual holidays are adjusted under these circumstances:- 1. When the business has an annual closedown period;  2. When an employee has taken unpaid leave of more than a week during the year.

**Public Holidays:** All employees whether casual, part time or full time are entitled to a public holiday. They are entitled to be paid for a public holiday if the public holiday falls on a day that would have been otherwise working day for the employee. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">**Sick Leave:** Most employees are entitled to a minimum of five days’ paid sick leave whether they are full or part-time, permanent or fixed-term employees, providing that they have completed six months' continuous service. Employees are entitled to sick leave if they are sick or injure, or their spouse or partner is sick or injured, or person who is dependent on employee’s care is sick or injured. The employer and employee can agree to the employee anticipating the sick leave entitlement if, the later does not have a sick leave entitlement. In that case, any sick leave taken can be deducted from the next entitlement that will arise. A<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">n employee can carry over unused sick leave but the accumulated sick leave cannot be exchanged for cash, nor form part of any final payment to the employee on resignation or termination unless otherwise mentioned in employment agreement. All the employees must inform the employer about their intention to take sick leave at the earliest opportunity. An employee could be required to provide proof, such as a medical certificate of the sickness or injury if the employee is sick or injured for three consecutive calendar days. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;"> **Bereavement Leave:** Most of the employees are entitled to a minimum of three days' paid bereavement leave after the first six months of continuous employment. Under the Holidays Act 2003, an employee is entitled to bereavement leave on the death of an immediate family member i.e. the employee’s spouse, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild or the spouse’s parent. If there is more than one death in the family, employee is entitled to three days’ bereavement leave in respect to each death. An employee need not use the bereavement leave immediately, nor in consecutive days, nor even use any or all of the entitlement. The employee is entitled to one day of paid bereavement leave on the death of a person outside the immediate family if the employer accepts that the former has suffered bereavement due to the incident.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">What area of law does Holidays and Leave comes from? **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Holidays and Leave is covered by the “Holidays Act 2003 and Holidays Amendment Act 2004”.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">The intention of this Act is to promote a balance between work and other aspects of an employee’s lives such as family, social etc. This Act is also meant to strengthen the bond between employer employee relationships as both parties understand and abide by these entitlements.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">By providing employees with minimum entitlements to: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;"> 1. Annual holidays gives them an opportunity for rest and recreation which in turns <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">refreshes their minds and leads to better performance. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">2. Public holidays to commemorate of the days of national, religious, or cultural <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">significance. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">3. Sick leave to help employees who are unable to attend work because they are sick or injured or because someone who is dependent on the employee for care is sick or injured. 4. Bereavement leave to assist the employees who are unable to attend work due <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;"> to the loss of their immediate family.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Where can you find more information about Holidays and Leave? **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">We can find more information by visiting the following websites: 1. [] 2. []