The time of the year is fast approaching where management will have to finalise their annual shutdown arrangements. The key provisions of the Main Agreement and the respective leave pay and leave enhancement pay (leave bonus) calculations are set out in this article to assist management in completing this task as simply as possible.

  1. The actual dates of the annual shutdown are determined by management. However, the shutdown must occur as near as possible within the same period as in the previous year.
  2. The three consecutive weeks’ paid leave must be taken over an unbroken period and must include four weekends. In addition, the three weeks’ leave must be extended with full pay for each public holiday which falls during the shutdown period and which would otherwise have been an ordinary working day. This year, depending on the date of commencement of the annual shutdown, the following public holidays fall into this category
  • Monday, 16 December: Day of Reconciliation;
  • Wednesday, 25 December: Christmas Day;
  • Thursday, 26 December: Day of Goodwill; and
  • Wednesday, 1 January: New Year’s Day.
  1. All employees are entitled to their full leave pay and leave enhancement pay (bonus) on completion of 234 shifts worked on a five-day week basis or 283 shifts on a six-day week basis (excluding overtime).
  2. However, because the dates of the annual shutdown change from year to year, an employee who works all available shifts during the year is entitled to full leave pay and leave enhancement pay (leave bonus). This means that an employee who actually worked all available shifts during the period from the first day after the last year’s annual shutdown up to and including the last shift preceding the current shutdown is entitled to the full leave pay and leave enhancement pay.
  3. New employees and others who have not worked all available shifts during the year are entitled to pro rata leave pay and pro rata leave enhancement pay.
  4. Employee absences on account of sickness of not more than 43 shifts (five-day week) or 52 shifts (six-day week) during the year will qualify as shifts worked. Management is, however, entitled to call upon an employee to produce a medical certificate in proof of cause of each absence before recognising the shift for leave and leave enhancement pay qualification purposes.
  5. An employee qualifies for an additional week’s paid leave from his fourth and subsequent consecutive periods of annual leave and, by mutual arrangement between the employer and employee, the annual shutdown may be extended by an extra week or the employee may be paid out the monetary value of this extra week’s leave. Alternatively, and again by mutual agreement, the extra week’s leave may be accumulated until the employee qualifies for such extra three weeks’ paid leave.
  6. In cases where employees doing essential work continue working during the shutdown, the bargaining council must be informed of the names of these employees at least one month in advance. These employees must be given their paid leave within four months of the date of the shutdown.

The formulae to calculate full (or pro rata) leave pay and leave enhancement pay are as follows (assuming 234 shifts):  

For any queries, please contact the staff of the Industrial Relations Division on (011) 298-9400

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