HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
SFA EXECUTIVE AISLING IGOE CLARIFIES THE WHOLE AREA OF LEAVE ENTITLEMENTS, SOMETHING WHICH A LOT OF SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT AT THIS TIME OF YEAR
EMPLOYEES, REGARDLESS OF STATUS OR
ON THE HOURS THEY WORK’
PAID ANNUAL LEAVE BASED
SERVICE, QUALIFY FOR
‘ALL
Annual leave and public holiday entitlements are a core element of the employment relationship. When an employee starts emp- loyment they gain entitlements for leave. Te Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 outlines the rights and obligations of both the employee and employer in relation to the area of leave. Te Act provides for a minimum annual leave entitlement of
four weeks. Te periods of leave provided for by legislation are the minimum entitlements only and an employer may agree to additional leave.
ANNUAL LEAVE
All employees, regardless of status (permanent or temporary) or service, qualify for paid annual leave based on the hours they work. Tere is no qualifying period of service with an employer before an employee qualifies for paid annual leave. A new employee has no legal entitlement to annual leave until
he or she has actually accrued the time off, however. Te granting of leave to new employees is a matter of company policy, as some employers may only grant the annual leave days accrued at the time of the employee’s request. Annual leave is calculated on a 12-month basis. Te Act pro-
vides that the leave year should run from 1 April to 31 March each year. However, for most companies the leave year runs from 1 January to the 31 December, but different 12-month periods are acceptable, provided that the leave year is applied consistently. Minimum statutory entitlements are calculated by one of the
following methods: n Four working weeks in a leave year in which the employee
n Eight percent of the hours worked by an employee in a leave year, subject to a maximum of four working weeks (this method is normally used for calculating part-time employees leave entitlements).
will be entitled to use whichever reference period is the greater amount of annual leave. Periods that do not count as annual leave include sick leave and
special periods of leave granted by the company, ie bereavement leave, study leave, exam leave. Annual leave must be taken in agreement with the employ-
er provided that one month’s notice is given. As well as having regard to the business requirements, it is important to take into account the employee’s need to reconcile work and family respon- sibilities and the opportunity for rest and recreation.
34 OWNER MANAGER VOL 4 ISSUE 1 2011
n 1/3 of a working week per calendar month in which the employee works at least 117 hours
works at least 1,365 hours, unless it is a leave year in which they change employment
Employees covered by two or more of the above calculations
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