AN120187 – Dry Cleaning (State) Award
21.1 Period of Leave
21.1.1 A full-time or part-time employee is entitled to a period of twenty-eight consecutive days leave (i.e. 4 weeks) after 12 months continuous service (less the period of annual leave) with an employer. Casual employees are not entitled to annual leave.
21.1.2 The annual leave will accrue at the rate of 2.923 hours for each 38 ordinary hours worked.
21.2 Payment for Period of Leave
Subject to (annual close down), employees before going on leave are to be paid the wages they would have received in respect of the ordinary time they would have worked had they not been on leave during the relevant period. This amount will be calculated as follows:
21.2.1 Time Workers
(a) The wages paid must be worked out on the basis of what the employee would have been paid under the award for working ordinary hours during the period of leave during the relevant period including any overaward payment.
(b) The employee is not entitled to payments in respect of overtime, shift work or penalty rates.
21.2.2 Payment By Results
(a) In the case of employees employed under any system of payment by results, the rate will be at the time workers rate. Provided that they will be entitled to receive an additional payment based on the average weekly incentive payment earned in excess of the appropriate award wage for the classification concerned. The average will be calculated on the previous twelve months' service for employees who have completed twelve months' continuous service and in cases where employees have completed less than twelve months' continuous service the average for the time so worked.
(b) The employee is not entitled to payments in respect of overtime, shift work or penalty rates
21.2.3 Overaward Payments On Annual Leave
(a) An employee who is not working under an incentive scheme based on production, and who is receiving a weekly over-award payment will be entitled to receive the whole of such weekly over-award payment for each week of annual leave to which he/she is entitled.
(b) All amounts paid in respect of overtime, shift work or penalty rates will be excluded.
(c) The overaward payment will not apply where the employee receives pro-rata payment in lieu of annual leave of termination of employment with less than twelve month’s service, except where
(i) the employee has more than six months service with an employer and is terminated for reasons other than for misconduct
(ii) an employee terminates during the year on account of personal illness, substantiated by a medical certificate
(iii) an employee terminates on the day that the factory closes down for annual leave.
(d) Where an employee has accrued a full entitlement to annual leave after qualifying twelve month period and his/her employment ceases for any reason before the whole or any part of such leave entitlement has been taken, the weekly over-award payment referred to in 21.2.3(a) and 21.2.3(b) will apply in respect to that full entitlement.
21.3 Loading on Annual Leave
21.3.1 During a period of annual leave an employee will receive a loading calculated on the rate of wage prescribed by clause 14.
21.3.2 An employee employed on day work or shift work will receive the loading will be 17½%.
21.3.3 The loading prescribed by this subclause does not apply to proportionate leave on termination.
21.4 Calculation of Continuous Service
21.4.1 Except for the following, any absences from work are not to be taken into account and will not count as time worked in calculating the leave entitlement:
(a) any interruption or termination of the employment by the employer which has been made with the intention of avoiding obligations under this clause;
(b) any absence from work on account of personal sickness or accident or on account of leave granted by the employer or absence due to long service leave; or
(c) any absence with reasonable cause, proof of which will be upon the employee.
21.4.2 Any absence with reasonable cause (proof of which will be upon the employee) which does not count as time worked in calculating the leave entitlement does not break continuity of service for the purpose of this award.
21.5 Public Holidays falling during Annual Leave
21.5.1 If any public holiday prescribed by clause 26 - Public Holidays falls within an employee's period of annual leave and is observed on a day which in the case of that employee would have been an ordinary working day, there must be added to the period of annual leave time equivalent to the ordinary time which the employee would have worked if such day had not been a holiday.
21.5.2 Where a holiday or holidays fall in a period of annual leave and the employee without reasonable excuse is absent from his/her employment on the working day prior to the commencement of his/her annual leave, or fails to resume work at the ordinary starting time on the working day immediately following the last day of the period of the employee's annual leave, the employee will not be entitled to payment for the public holidays.
21.6 Annual Leave To Be Taken In One Or More Continuous Periods
21.6.1 Annual leave will be given and taken in one or two continuous periods.
21.6.2 If the employer and an employee so agree, the annual leave entitlement may be taken in more than two period.
21.7 Leave To Be Taken
The annual leave provided for by this clause must be taken and except as provided by subclauses 21.10 (proportionate leave on termination) and 21.11 (annual close down), payment will not be made or accepted in lieu of annual leave.
21.8 Time of Taking Leave
Annual leave will be given at a time fixed by the employer within a period not exceeding three months from the date when the right to annual leave accrued and after not less than one months’ notice to the employee.
21.9 Leave Allowed before Due Date
21.9.1 An employer may allow an employee to take annual leave either wholly or partly in advance before the leave becomes due. In such case a further period of annual leave will not commence to accrue until after the expiration of the twelve months in respect of which the annual leave or part of it had been taken before it accrued.
21.9.2 Where annual leave or part of it has been granted before the leave is due, and the employee subsequently leaves or is discharged from the service of the employer before completing the twelve months' continuous service in respect of which the leave was granted, and the amount paid by the employer to the employee for the annual leave or part so taken in advance exceeds the amount which the employer is required to pay to the employee under subclause 21.11, the employer will not be liable to make any payment to the employee under subclause 21.11 and is entitled to deduct the amount of excess from any remuneration payable to the employee upon the termination of employment.
21.10 Proportionate Leave on Termination
An employee other than a casual who after one month's continuous service in any qualifying twelve monthly period with an employer lawfully leaves the employment of the employer or is terminated by the employer will be paid 2.923 hours for each 38 ordinary hours worked at the appropriate rate of wage calculated in accordance with 21.2.
21.11 Annual Close Down
Where an employer closes down the enterprise, or part of it, for the purpose of allowing annual leave to all or the majority of the employees in the enterprise or part of it, the following will apply:
21.11.1 The employer may, by giving not less than one month's notice of the intention to do so, stand off for the duration of the close-down all employees in the enterprise or part of it concerned and allow to those who are not then qualified for a full entitlement to annual leave for twelve months' continuous service paid leave on a proportionate basis at the appropriate rate of wage as prescribed by 20.2 and 20.3 for 2.923 hours for each 38 ordinary hours worked.
21.11.2 An employee who has then qualified for a full entitlement to annual leave for twelve months' continuous service and has also completed a further week or more of continuous service will be allowed leave, and will subject to 20.6, also be paid for 2.923 hours in respect of each 38 ordinary hours worked service since the close of the employee’s last twelve month qualifying period.
21.11.3 The next twelve monthly qualifying period for each employee affected by such close down will commence from the day on which the enterprise or part of it concerned is re-opened for work. All time during which an employee is stood off without pay for the purposes of this subclause is deemed to be time of service in the next twelve monthly qualifying period.
21.11.4 An employer may close down the enterprise or part of it for one or two separate periods for the purpose of granting annual leave.
21.11.5 An employer may close down the enterprise or part of it in three separate periods. Provided that:
(a) at least a 75% majority of the employees in the enterprise or part of it concerned agree with the employer to do so and the date upon which the third closure will be made;
(b) that the employees concerned be given at least one month's notice of the proposed closure; and
(c) that the longest of the three periods of leave will be at least twelve working days exclusive of public holidays prescribed by this award.
