A domestic worker is entitled to paid annual leave (at the rate of pay applicable immediately before the period of leave) calculated on the following basis:[i]
- at least three weeks annual leave for each
twelve months of employment (for full time employees this will amount to 15
days of wages per annum);
- by agreement, at least one day of annual leave for every seventeen days on which the domestic worker worked or was entitled to be paid (this will be applicable for part-time domestic workers – excluding domestic workers who work for less than 24 hours who are not entitled to any annual leave); or
- by agreement, one hour of annual leave for
every seventeen hours on which the domestic worker worked or was entitled to be
paid (this will be applicable for domestic workers who work a limited amount of
hours, for example 30 hours per month).
In respect of the timing of annual leave, the following requirements must be borne in mind:
- the sectoral determination permits the employer
and the domestic worker to agree to the timing of annual leave or, if there is
no agreement, for the employer to determine when annual leave is taken;
- employers must ensure that annual leave is
granted no later than six months after the year it accrued (i.e. six months
after the end of each twelve month cycle);
- annual leave must be granted over a continuous
period if requested by the domestic worker (i.e. all annual leave may be taken
at once). Obviously, the amount of annual leave granted will be reduced by annual
leave already taken;
- an employer cannot require or permit a domestic
worker to take annual leave during any other period of leave (i.e. sick leave,
family responsibility leave, maternity leave, parental leave, etc);
- an employer cannot require or permit a domestic
worker to take annual leave during his / her notice period; and
- an employer cannot pay a domestic worker in
lieu of granting him/her annual leave (save upon the termination of
employment).
Employers are also required to grant domestic workers an extra day of
annual leave if his/her annual leave includes a public holiday that the
domestic worker would have otherwise worked and are prohibited from calling a
domestic worker in to work when he/she is on annual leave.
In respect of payment for annual leave, that payment must be made before the beginning of the leave period.
[i] See section 19 of Sectoral Determination 7
