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How much annual leave do I get, and when is it paid out?

28 quoted answers, each with its source

The short answer

All employees except casual employees accrue paid annual leave under the National Employment Standards from their first day of employment, including during any probation period; full-time and part-time employees get 4 weeks a year based on their ordinary hours, and the entitlement accumulates from year to year. Annual leave is taken for a period agreed between the employee and employer, the employer must not unreasonably refuse a request, and payment is at the employee's base rate for ordinary hours; a public holiday falling during annual leave is treated as not being annual leave, and an employment contract cannot provide less than these minimums. Paid annual leave cannot be cashed out except under cashing-out terms in a modern award or enterprise agreement or an agreement with an award/agreement-free employee, and an employer cannot force or pressure an employee to cash out leave. Unused annual leave is paid out when employment ends at the amount that would have been payable had the leave been taken, and an employer cannot force an employee to take annual leave during the notice period.

Every part of this comes from the quotes below. How we write these.

What the rules actually say22

Quoted straight from the Fair Work Ombudsman, the Fair Work Act 2009 or the applicable modern award.

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The Fair Work Ombudsman states that unused annual leave gets paid out when an employee's employment ends.

first-party
1 quote from 1 source
An employee’s unused annual leave gets paid out when their employment ends.
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The Fair Work Ombudsman states that the annual leave payment on termination must be the same as the amount that would have been paid if annual leave was taken during employment.

first-party
1 quote from 1 source
The annual leave payment on termination must be the same as the amount that would have been paid if annual leave was taken during employment.
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The Fair Work Ombudsman states that an employer cannot force an employee to take annual leave as part of the notice period.

first-party
1 quote from 1 source
An employer can't force an employee to take leave as part of the notice period.
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The Fair Work Ombudsman states that…

  • full-time and part-time employees get 4 weeks of annual leave.
  • the 4 weeks of annual leave is based on ordinary hours of work.
first-party
1 quote from 1 source
Full-time and part-time employees get 4 weeks of annual leave, based on their ordinary hours of work.
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The Fair Work Ombudsman states that…

  • all employees except casual employees get paid annual leave.
  • the entitlement to paid annual leave comes from the National Employment Standards.
first-party
1 quote from 1 source
All employees (except for casual employees) get paid annual leave. This entitlement comes from the National Employment Standards (NES)
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The Fair Work Ombudsman states that annual leave accumulates from the first day of employment, even if an employee is in a probation period.

first-party
1 quote from 1 source
Annual leave accumulates from the first day of employment, even if an employee is in a probation period.
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The Fair Work Ombudsman cites Fair Work Act 2009 sections 86 to 87 as the source reference for its annual leave page.

first-party
1 quote from 1 source
Source reference for page: Fair Work Act 2009 sections 86–87
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  • Annual leave can be cashed out by employees if their award allows it.
  • Annual leave can only be cashed out when an enterprise agreement allows it.
medium confidencefirst-party
2 quotes from 1 source
Employees can cash out their annual leave if it’s allowed under their award
Annual leave can only be cashed out when an enterprise agreement allows it.
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The Fair Work Ombudsman states that an employer cannot force or pressure an employee to cash out annual leave.

first-party
1 quote from 1 source
An employer can't force or pressure an employee to cash out annual leave.
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The Fair Work Ombudsman cites Fair Work Act 2009 sections 92 to 93 and 94(1) as the source reference for its page on cashing out annual leave.

first-party
1 quote from 1 source
Source reference for page: Fair Work Act 2009 sections 92–93, 94(1)
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Fair Work Act 2009 section 87(2) provides that paid annual leave accrues progressively during a year of service according to the employee's ordinary hours of work.

first-party
3 quotes from 1 source
An employee’s entitlement to paid annual leave accrues progressively during a year of service (other than periods of employment as a casual employee of the employer) according to the employee’s ordinary hours of work, and accumulates from year to year.
87 Entitlement to annual leave Amount of leave (1) For each year of service with an employer (other than periods of employment as a casual employee of the employer), an employee is entitled to: (a) 4 weeks of paid annual leave; or (b) 5 weeks of paid annual leave, if: (i) a modern award applies to
Accrual of leave (2) An employee’s entitlement to paid annual leave accrues progressively during a year of service (other than periods of employment as a casual employee of the employer) according to the employee’s ordinary hours of work, and accumulates from year to year.
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Fair Work Act 2009 section 87(1) excludes periods of employment as a casual employee from the accrual of annual leave.

first-party
2 quotes from 1 source
This Division applies to employees, other than casual employees.
For each year of service with an employer (other than periods of employment as a casual employee of the employer), an employee is entitled to:
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Fair Work Act 2009 section 88(1) provides that paid annual leave may be taken for a period agreed between the employee and the employer.

first-party
3 quotes from 1 source
Paid annual leave may be taken for a period agreed between an employee and his or her employer.
The employer must not unreasonably refuse to agree to a request by the employee to take paid annual leave.
88 Taking paid annual leave (1) Paid annual leave may be taken for a period agreed between an employee and his or her employer.
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Fair Work Act 2009 section 90(1) requires payment for a period of paid annual leave at the employee's base rate of pay for the employee's ordinary hours of work in the period.

first-party
2 quotes from 1 source
If, in accordance with this Division, an employee takes a period of paid annual leave, the employer must pay the employee at the employee’s base rate of pay for the employee’s ordinary hours of work in the period.
90 Payment for annual leave (1) If, in accordance with this Division, an employee takes a period of paid annual leave, the employer must pay the employee at the employee’s base rate of pay for the employee’s ordinary hours of work in the period.
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Fair Work Act 2009 section 89(1) provides that an employee is taken not to be on paid annual leave on a day or part-day that is a public holiday falling within a period of annual leave.

first-party
3 quotes from 1 source
If the period during which an employee takes paid annual leave includes a day or part‑day that is a public holiday in the place where the employee is based for work purposes, the employee is taken not to be on paid annual leave on that public holiday.
89 Employee not taken to be on paid annual leave at certain times Public holidays (1) If the period during which an employee takes paid annual leave includes a day or part‑day that is a public holiday in the place where the employee is based for work purposes, the employee is taken not to be on
g which an employee takes paid annual leave includes a day or part‑day that is a public holiday in the place where the employee is based for work purposes, the employee is taken not to be on paid annual leave on that public holiday.
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Fair Work Act 2009 section 92 does not prohibit cashing out paid annual leave under…

  • cashing out terms in a modern award made under section 93.
  • cashing out terms in an enterprise agreement made under section 93.
  • an agreement with an award/agreement free employee under section 94(1).
first-party
3 quotes from 1 source
Paid annual leave must not be cashed out, except in accordance with:
(a) cashing out terms included in a modern award or enterprise agreement under section 93, or
(b) an agreement between an employer and an award/agreement free employee under subsection 94(1).
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Fair Work Act 2009 section 93(2) requires any award or agreement cashing out terms to require payment of at least the full amount that would have been payable for the annual leave forgone.

first-party
6 quotes from 1 source
The terms must require that:
(a) paid annual leave must not be cashed out if the cashing out would result in the employee’s remaining accrued entitlement to paid annual leave being less than 4 weeks; and
(b) each cashing out of a particular amount of paid annual leave must be by a separate agreement in writing between the employer and the employee; and
(c) the employee must be paid at least the full amount that would have been payable to the employee had the employee taken the leave that the employee has forgone.
93 Modern awards and enterprise agreements may include terms relating to cashing out and taking paid annual leave Terms about cashing out paid annual leave (1) A modern award or enterprise agreement may include terms providing for the cashing out of paid annual leave by an employee. (2) The terms
of a particular amount of paid annual leave must be by a separate agreement in writing between the employer and the employee; and (c) the employee must be paid at least the full amount that would have been payable to the employee had the employee taken the leave that the employee has forgone.

Measured finding1

Something someone actually measured, with the method attached.

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The Fair Work Ombudsman states that its most viewed online library articles related to annual and personal leave entitlements, retail casual penalty rates and resignation notice periods.

low confidencefirst-party
1 quote from 1 source
The most viewed articles in our library related to annual and personal leave entitlements, retail casual penalty rates and resignation notice periods.

Disputed between sources1

Sources that do not agree, presented without picking a winner.

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The Fair Work Ombudsman states an employment contract cannot provide less than the legal minimum entitlements set out in the National Employment Standards, award or agreement.

medium confidencefirst-partyvendor
2 quotes from 2 sources
An employment contract can’t provide less than the legal minimum entitlements set out in the NES or their award or agreement.
In some circumstances, an employer can demand that an employee takes unpaid leave. This is called a lay-off, and only applies when:

Often said, but we could not find it in the rules4

Lots of people say this. We went looking for an official source that backs it up and could not find one, so treat it as something people repeat rather than something settled.

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  • Employsure asserts that an employer can demand that an employee takes unpaid leave when a lay-off is included in the employee's employment contract.
  • Employsure calls unpaid leave a lay-off.
vendor
2 quotes from 1 source
In some circumstances, an employer can demand that an employee takes unpaid leave. This is called a lay-off, and only applies when:
It is included in their employment contract.
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Employsure asserts that if a public holiday takes place during an agreed period of unpaid leave, the employee is not entitled to receive pay for the public holiday.

vendor
1 quote from 1 source
If a public holiday takes place during an agreed period of unpaid leave, the employee is not entitled to receive pay for the public holiday.
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Employsure asserts that the process for requesting unpaid leave is normally set out in an award, registered agreement, company policy or employment contract.

vendor
1 quote from 1 source
The process for requesting unpaid leave is normally set out in an award, registered agreement, company policy or employment contract