Planning to close your business over Christmas / New Year? Have you notified your staff?
It's crept up so quickly again this year! Just a reminder that If you plan to close your business over the Christmas/New Year period, as an employer, you must remember to observe the following to ensure the 'reasonableness' of your request for staff to take annual leave.
- Provide your employees with one month's notice prior to the close down commencing
- Provide leave without pay to those employees with insufficient leave entitlements to cover the close down period
- Make pro-rata payments to employees who have worked less than 12 months
As each state differs slightly in their designated public holidays over this period, be sure to check the relevant ones for your state.
Subscribers to Your HRdocs can download a Christmas Shutdown Template Letter advising their employees of the shutdown period.