If you’re in the hospitality or retail industry, the Christmas period is one of the busiest times of the year. While some businesses slow right down and even close over this period, other businesses are busy working out how to best manage staffing to cover the demand.
Rostering is hard enough when it’s this busy, and business owners and managers also have to consider overtime and penalty rates, public holidays, while also being aware of the mental health of their employees at Christmas time. Here we share a few key points that will help navigate this with more confidence and ease.
Can I require staff to work on Public Holidays over the Christmas Period?
With many public holidays over the Christmas period it can be confusing determining the employee’s entitlements. As an employer you can request an employee to work on a public holiday, if the request is deemed reasonable, but you cannot demand it. The employee can also refuse the request to work a Public holiday if the refusal of the request is considered reasonable.
What is considered reasonable?
What’s considered reasonable of course depends on each individual case. Fair Work take into account a range of factors such as the employee’s personal circumstances, including family responsibilities, how much notice is given to the employee, how requests are communicated and the nature of the workplace and its operational requirements.
Considering this, it’s beneficial to roster for the Christmas period early and communicate to your employees with as much notice as possible.
What are the pay requirements for public holidays?
Commonly, employees covered by a modern award and/or enterprise agreement will receive penalty rates for hours worked on a Public Holiday. For example, the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 requires you to pay a casual employee 250% (double time and a half) of the ordinary hourly rate (inclusive of casual loading) for the hours worked on a Public Holiday.
Remember a full-time employee must still receive their usual salary for the public holiday even if they have reasonable grounds to refuse to work a public holiday. If the same employee does work on a public holiday, they may be entitled to different rates or time off in lieu, and this will depend on the award, and other agreement in place.
Working long hours
We find at this time of year many employers often require their employees to work longer hours. Where this is required, it is important to ensure employees are being paid correctly. In some cases, this means beyond overtime rates there may be other penalty rates employers will be required to pay. The modern award will outline these rates, and the recent updates to the awards have been designed to make this easier to decipher.
Refusing Leave Requests at Christmas
At this time of year many employers are being approached by their team with annual leave requests. If you have a planned shutdown period over this time, it’s probably not an issue, but if you’re in an industry where this IS your busy period then you likely can’t have people taking time off.
Many employers feel that they have to agree to all leave requests, however leave must be taken at a time mutually agree between the employer and employee. If you’re not sure how to manage leave requests and when you can decline a request, head to our article that covers refusing Leave Requests at Christmas for more information.
Managing Workplace Mental Health at Christmas
With all the pressure that this time of year can bring to both businesses and the employees that wrk in them, it’s worth remembering to look out for the mental health and wellbeing of your staff at this time. When your people are feeling supported and well looked after, they can look after your customers well!
While for most people, Christmas conjures images of joyful celebrations and indulging in delicious food and festivities, for many, Christmas can be a source of stress and sorrow. As Christmas approaches it can remind us of loss, feelings of loneliness, isolation, or being separated from important people, this may also be more prevalent with the border restrictions in place in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Head over to our article on workplace mental health at Christmas for some signs to look out for.
If you’re looking for assistance in managing your employer obligations and keeping up with increased demand over Christmas, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team, via the chat box here or calling us on 08 6150 0043.
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