VACATIONS

Australians have 209 million days of annual leave due

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 19-Nov-25

New data from Roy Morgan shows that more than 9.7 million Australians in paid employment now have a combined 209 million days of annual leave acrued. This is up from 200 million days in September 2023; however, it is down slightly from the record high reached in March 2025 of 216 million days. A further 5.2 million Australians (34.7% of paid workers) have no annual leave due, up slightly from the 5.1 million (36.7%) without any annual leave two years ago. The average number of days of annual leave due per worker has remained virtually unchanged at 14 days over the last four years, but the overall total has increased as the workforce swelled. However, this steady ascent in the post-pandemic period has stalled this year as full-time employment has declined and been replaced by rising part-time employment.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Agreement nears on doubling leave

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 16-Apr-24

The Fair Work Commission is considering a proposal that would insert the right into industry awards for greater flexibility in terms of paid time off, with the possibility that staff could double their leave by taking half of it at half pay. Unions and employer groups are understood to be in agreeance that the right to request leave at half pay should lie with the employee rather than the employer, but Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox says it is essential that such arrangements are by agreement, given that employers may find it hard to accommodate longer staff absences.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

Australians have 200 million days of annual leave due

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 20-Dec-23

New data from Roy Morgan shows that over 8.8 million Australians in paid employment now have 200 million days of annual leave due. A further 5.1 million workers in paid employment have no leave. The accrued annual leave of 200 million days is a record high and represents an increase of 15 million (+7.9%) on the 185 million days of accrued annual leave Australians had available in September 2021. Australians had around 150 million days of annual leave due when the pandemic began in March 2020. This figure increased rapidly during the pandemic years of 2020-2022 and is now over 30% higher than in early 2020. The average days of annual leave due increased from just over two weeks (12.3 days in March 2020) to nearly three weeks (14.1 days in September 2021). Over the last two years the average days of annual leave due per worker has remained virtually unchanged at 14.1 days, but the overall total has increased as the workforce has swelled significantly.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

IR reforms could save billions in back pay

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 2-Dec-20

The federal government’s industrial relations omnibus bill will be put before parliament before it rises for the year. The bill is expected to be discussed at a cabinet meeting on 2 December, along with a proposed legislative response to the Workpac v Rossato case. The Federal Court ruled that casual staff who work "regular and predictable" hours are entitled to benefits such as paid annual leave in addition to a casual loading. The government is believed to be considering reforms that would allow employers to use a casual worker’s 25 per cent loading to help offset any retrospective leave liability.

CORPORATES
FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Australian workers had 151 million days of annual leave when the country entered COVID-19 shutdown

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 17-Jun-20

The latest figures from Roy Morgan show that Australians in paid employment had over 151 million days’ worth of annual leave, up 8.7 million days (+6.1%) on a year ago, as Australia entered shut-down in March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was the highest total of accrued annual leave since March 2012 and equates to an average of over 16 days for each paid worker in Australia. Only 10% of Australia’s paid workers had no annual leave owed to them, while a further 14% had up to 2 weeks accrued. Nearly a quarter of paid workers (23%) had between two and four weeks of annual leave accrued and another one-in-ten had around a month owed to them. More than one-in-five paid workers (21%) had at least five weeks’ worth as yet unused. These results are from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, derived from in-depth interviews with over 1,000 Australians each week and around 50,000 Australians per year in their homes.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Australian workers have 146 million days of annual leave just waiting to be used

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Dec-19

New figures from Roy Morgan show that Australians in paid employment have over 146 million day’ worth of annual leave accrued in total; this is up 11 million days (+8.3%) on a year ago. The accrued annual leave equates to an average of just over 16 days for each paid worker in Australia. Only 10% of paid workers have no annual leave owed to them, while a further 13% have up to 2 weeks accrued. Nearly a quarter of paid workers (23%) have between two and four weeks of annual leave accrued, and another tenth have around a month owed to them. More than a fifth of paid workers (21%), have at least five weeks’ worth as yet unused. These results are from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, derived from in-depth face-to-face interviews with around 50,000 Australians each year in their homes.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Potential boost to Australian Economy from 140 million days accrued leave

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 26-Jun-19

Roy Morgan’s State of the Nation – Tourism presentation shows that 25.2% of Australia’s 10.9 million paid workers have four or more weeks’ worth of annual leave accrued, with 13.2% having more than five weeks. In total, Australian workers have accrued 140 million days’ worth of annual leave. This data is based on in-depth interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 consumers per annum in their homes. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says that with the Australian economy showing signs of slowing, the potential boost that would come from people taking their accrued leave would be considerable. This would particularly be the case if Australians were encouraged to holiday in Australia.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Business seeks new deal on casuals

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 8 : 25-Sep-18

The NSW Business Chamber has proposed changes to six industry awards in response to a landmark Federal Court ruling on the annual leave rights of casual workers. The Chamber proposes allowing casual workers who are regularly rostered to become "perma-flexi" employees with paid leave entitlements, while their casual loading would be reduced from 25 per cent to just 10 per cent. The Chamber has put its proposal to Fair Work Commission president Iain Ross, while the federal government is believed to be looking at options such as amendments to the Fair Work Act in response to the court ruling.

CORPORATES
NSW BUSINESS CHAMBER LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS

Employers face $8b back pay bill for casuals

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 13-Sep-18

The Australian Industry Group estimates employers may have to fork out as much as $8 billion in back pay to "regular" casuals following a recent court decision. The decision involved Workpac and a casual mine driver, with the Federal Court finding he was entitled to be paid accrued annual leave because the hours he worked were regular and predictable, even though he received additional pay in lieu of leave entitlements. The AIG estimates around 1.6 million workers could be deemed "regular casuals", with its calculation of how much they might be owed based on granting them paid leave for the past five years. Employer groups were hoping Workpac would challenge the decision in the High Court, but it has elected not to do so.

CORPORATES
THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, WORKPAC PTY LTD, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE

Casuals’ court triumph will let them ‘double-dip’: bosses

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 17-Aug-18

Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox is among the business leaders who have criticised the Federal Court’s ruling that casual employees who work regular hours are entitled to annual leave. The court found that a Queensland truck driver who worked on a fly-in, fly-out basis could not be considered to be a casual worker under the Fair Work Act due to his "regular and continuous" employment. The court’s decision has been welcomed by the ACTU and the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union.

CORPORATES
FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, ACTU, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED), RECRUITMENT, CONSULTING AND STAFFING ASSOCIATION LIMITED, WORKPAC PTY LTD