INTHEBLACK February 2022 - Magazine - Page 17
As restrictions ease and
border closures are lifted,
organisations are
considering strategies for
encouraging staff to take
leave while planning task
allocation.
At the same time, COVID-19 restrictions, including
closed borders and self-isolation requirements for
close contacts, have left many workplaces shortstaffed. Coupled with an increase in the volume of
work experienced during the pandemic, some
employers have needed all available staff on deck,
leaving them unable to grant leave requests.
Accounting firms and public practitioners have
faced similar challenges when struggling to keep
on top of the large workload amid all the upheavals
experienced by small businesses in particular.
Excessive amounts of accrued leave pose a problem
for both employers and employees.
Employers “end up with large annual leave accruals
on their books, which presents a financial problem”,
says Byrnes.
Dr Robyn Johns, a senior lecturer in human resource
management and industrial relations at the University
of Technology Sydney, adds, “If people are allowed to
accumulate a huge amount of leave, and they’ve had
pay increases during that time, it’s a higher cost to the
business to pay it out because they pay it out at the
current rate.”
TOOLS FOR MANAGING LEAVE ACCRUAL
For employees, the restorative benefits of taking leave
are even more critical than usual during a pandemic.
According to the ELMO Employee Sentiment Index
for Q3 2021, 42 per cent of surveyed employees have
reported feeling “burnt out”, up from 34 per cent in
Q1. However, the number of workers taking annual
leave has dropped for the second consecutive quarter
to 24 per cent, down from 37 per cent in Q1.
“Employees have not had the benefit of being able
to take leave and be refreshed, rested and restored
in order to do their work,” says Byrnes.
Byrnes says employers have two main legal tools
at their disposal to address the issue of annual leave
accrual.
The first is to direct staff to take annual leave.
“If the employee is covered by a modern award or an
enterprise agreement, there are rules that are set out
regarding a direction to take annual leave,” he says.
According to the Fair Work Ombudsman, “an
employer can only direct an employee to take annual
leave in some situations”, such as during a Christmas
and New Year shutdown or when an employee has
accumulated excess annual leave – usually considered
eight weeks for full-time staff.
“SAY, ‘HERE ARE THE
KPIS, BUT ALSO LET’S
TALK ABOUT WHEN
YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE
SOME TIME TO GET
AWAY AND HAVE A
BREAK’. MAKE THAT
PART OF THE
CONVERSATION,
RATHER THAN IT BEING
A SIDELINE THAT
PEOPLE ARE TRYING
TO FIT IN AND ALWAYS
FEELING THEY DON’T
HAVE TIME FOR IT.”
DR ROBYN JOHNS,
UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
SYDNEY
CLICK HERE
TO LISTEN
to this story as
an audiocast
In instances where an employee is not covered
by a modern award or an enterprise agreement,
“the direction to take annual leave must be
reasonable. That can include where an employee has
accumulated excess annual leave,” Byrnes explains.
The second option is to cash out leave. Again,
modern awards and enterprise agreements set out
rules governing this action. Generally speaking, an
employee must have at least four weeks’ leave
remaining after the cash-out, the agreement must be
in writing, and the employer must not apply duress to
the employee, Byrnes says. “The annual leave is paid
out at the rate at which the employee would have
been paid if they’d taken the leave. There are similar
requirements if you’re dealing with an employer who
is award- or agreement-free.”
LEAVE FOR WELLBEING
Of course, when restrictions ease and travel
resumes, employers could face a barrage of leave
requests. “That can create a headache for
businesses,” says Byrnes. Given that “an employer
can’t unreasonably refuse an employee’s request
to take annual leave”, employers may have to
“demonstrate operational reasons why all the
employees who have requested to take annual
leave aren’t able to do so at the same time”.
Given its importance for staff mental and physical
health and wellbeing, organisations should cultivate
a culture that promotes taking time off. Some
employers have offered employees incentives to
take leave, such as paying time and a half or offering
extra time away from work. Westpac NZ, for example,
recently announced an additional five days of
wellbeing leave for its workforce on top of the extra
day of COVID-19 leave already available to staff.
Johns recommends taking a proactive approach to
leave planning. Integrate discussions around annual
leave into the formal performance management
process. Use an annual review as an opportunity to
discuss not only an employee’s tasks and goals for
the next 12 months, but also where annual leave fits
into their workflow schedule.
“Say, ‘Here are the KPIs, but also let’s talk about
when you’re going to have some time to get away
and have a break’,” suggests Johns. “Make that part
of the conversation, rather than it being a sideline
that people are trying to fit in and always feeling
they don’t have time for it.”
intheblack.com February 2022 17