Members recently contacted the FSU after receiving an email directing them to take annual leave.
Members were directed to reduce their leave to 20 days by the end of December 2020. The email said it was a HR requirement for all colleagues to take their 20 days entitlement each year and remain under a 20 day balance.
This is not in accordance with your Enterprise Agreement.
There are provisions in the EA where the bank can direct you to take annual leave which are covered in Clause 17.3
17. 3 Direction to take Annual Leave
(a) Direction when more than 6 weeks accrued
A Colleague must take an amount of annual leave during a particular period if directed by the Company where:
i. at the time that the direction is given, the Colleague has an annual leave accrual of more than 6 weeks;
ii. the Colleague and their manager are unable to agree on a suitable period to take the leave;
iii. the Company gives the Colleague at least three months’ notice in writing of the requirement to take the annual leave; and
iv. the direction does not cause the Colleague’s annual leave accrual to be less than 4 weeks at the time the leave is completed.
(b) Direction to take a two week period of leave
Regardless of any direction given under subclause (a) above, the Company may direct a Colleague to take annual leave of at least 2 consecutive working weeks for each calendar year, unless a Colleague has a compelling personal circumstance, in which case a lesser period, of no less than one working week, may be agreed. The Company shall not give a direction under this clause unless:
i. the Colleague and their manager are unable to agree on a suitable period to take the leave;
ii. the Company gives the Colleague at least three months’ notice in writing of the requirement to take the annual leave; and
iii. the Colleague has sufficient annual leave accrued to cover the period of leave.
(c) Direction to take leave for a shut-down period
The Company may direct a Colleague to take leave in the event of a full or partial shutdown of a part of the business provided the Company gives the Colleague 6 weeks’ notice of the commencement of the leave. An example of a shutdown would be a Retail Branch shutting on a day or days between Christmas and New Year. The Company shall not give a direction under this clause if the Colleague does not have sufficient annual leave credit to cover the period of shutdown.
FSU contacted the bank to dispute the ability to enforce the direction to take annual leave except under the provisions of EA Clause 17.3. The bank acknowledged the email was not reflective of their intent to discuss annual leave with the colleague and sent out an email the following day to address this issue.
If you have been directed to take annual outside of the above provisions members can contact us on wa@fsunion.org.au. Not a member – join now.
In Unity,
Di Marshall
WA Local Executive Secretary
