31 OctTerm Breaks for 2022/2023
During the holiday period encompassing Christmas and New Year at the close of 2023, teachers and educators following either the 10-week or 4-week leave model stipulated in the VECTEA 2020 are eligible for a four-week annual leave entitlement (adjusted proportionally for part-time staff), complete with a 17.5% leave loading. This accrual is based on the employee’s regular working hours.
Compensation for Extra Annual Leave Days
The allocated four weeks of annual leave exclude public holidays occurring during the Christmas and New Year period, as defined in clause 29.2. To illustrate, when calculating the period between the last day of Term 4 in 2023 (December 20, 2023) and the commencement of Term 1 in 2024 (January 28, 2024), there will be approximately 53 days of leave. Given that term dates slightly vary each year as per the Department of Education (DE) official gazette, employees may receive additional days one year but not be as fortunate the next. Consequently, even though the VECTEA does not explicitly address this term date shift, employees should not be adversely impacted by it. For reference, consult the School term dates and holidays in Victoria on education.vic.gov.au. In light of these considerations, out of the 53 days for the 2023/2024 holiday period, any extra leave days (in addition to the four weeks for full-time employees) should be granted to employees with payment and recorded as annual leave.
Compensation for Public Holidays
In accordance with section 89 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), employees are not allowed to take annual leave on a public holiday. As outlined in the VECTEA 2020 (clause 29.5), employees are entitled to receive payment at their regular rate of pay for their standard working hours on a public holiday or part thereof. If the employee does not have standard working hours on the public holiday, they are not eligible for compensation under this clause.
