How do you manage staff leave?
If you have shift workers, how do you calculate their leave – by hours or days?
Recently, it was reported that rules around sick leave for more than a million shift workers has been challenged, and employers are worried about the ramifications of backpay. The federal government intervened and The Fair Work Commission has stated that the average of 76 hours paid leave, and minimum of 10 days sick leave based on an average of 7.6 hour work day, may not be legally correct.
Instead, the commission ruled that a worker’s typical shift should be used to calculate the total number of hours – so if a 12 hour shift was standard, then they should receive 120 hours of paid leave per year.
Typically, if an employee works 38 hours per week, they would get 76 hours of paid leave per year – if they work 7.6 or 12 hour shifts. So those that work 12 hour shifts would use their sick leave quicker than someone that works 8 hours – resulting in them getting fewer days sick leave.
Often we talk to companies that are managing their staff leave with paper leave forms, or excel spreadsheets, which is pretty time consuming. It’s easy to see how this happens, you may start with few employees and as time goes on, you carry on the systems that you started with. However, this approach can be a headache for the people having to process leave. Keeping on top of how many hours or days leave people have taken is a big job. For business owners relying on processes being taken, so that the information actually gets in the right place can be risky. As record keeping is becoming more regulated, it is something that needs consideration.
Read the full article below:
Aug-2018 Sydney Morning Herald
