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Know Your Rights in Holiday Period
CTU Media Release
23 December 2011
Know Your
Rights in Holiday Period
The CTU is reminding workers of their rights during the holiday season.
Peter Conway, CTU Secretary, said that it is a busy period for some businesses, especially in the hospitality and tourism sectors.
“Many people will be working and others will be trying to sort out what their holiday entitlements are.”
“First of all people should know what is in their employment agreement as it may spell out whether you have to work and what you should be paid. You cannot me be made to work a public holiday, unless your agreement says so. And irrespective of what your agreement says, you must be paid at least one and half times what you would be paid normally for working on that day and get another paid day off at a later date.”
As Christmas Day and New Year’s Day fall on a Sunday, the holiday is transferred to the following Tuesday (27 December and 3 January). Boxing Day and the day after New Year’s Day will be observed on the days they fall (Monday 26 December and Monday 2 January).
If someone normally works on the Sunday that Christmas Day and New Year’s Day fall on this year, the public holiday is observed on the day it falls (Sunday 25 December and Sunday 1 January). This means the worker is entitled to that day off on pay.
Peter Conway said that one common area of difficulty is sorting out whether a holiday is on a day that you would usually work. For most workers this is obvious, but in some cases with changing shift patterns and days of work it is less clear.
Employers can and often do close down over the Christmas- New Year period. They can only do this once every 12 months, but they can require employees to take annual leave to cover the time. The employer must have given workers at least 14 days’ notice of their intention to close down.
Unions will be able to assist with queries as will the Labour Department.
Peter Conway said that with the huge increase in insecure work – casual, temporary, fixed term, variable hours – and the emerging use of texts and other informal means of communication between employers and workers, people can lose sight of their rights.
“We want to see decent work practices observed during the holiday season.”
ENDS
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