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Is annual leave loading payable on termination in Australia?

This blog aims to help answer if annual leave loading is payable upon an employees resignation, as part of their annual leave payout. Let's see...
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Published 30 Sep 2020
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Updated 8 Nov 2023
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3min read
Is annual leave loading payable on termination?

While every year there are new and well-documented HR compliance requirements, there has historically been uncertainty about this since the introduction of the Fair Work Act in 2009. Nowadays, thanks to updates made by the Federal Court of Australia, the uncertainty is mostly resolved.

This blog aims to help answer if annual leave loading is payable upon an employee’s resignation as part of their annual leave payout.

But first, what is annual leave loading? And why does it exist?

Essentially, Annual Leave Loading is an extra amount of money given to employees who take annual leave to compensate for lost overtime.

The 17.5% loading is an entitlement featured in many awards and enterprise agreements and is payable in addition to an employee’s base rate of pay whenever they are paid annual leave.

Originally, it was introduced in industries where paid overtime was a regular occurrence. As workers only receive their base rates of pay while on annual leave, those who regularly worked overtime would be disadvantaged in their take-home pay by going on annual leave – as they would not have the opportunity to work overtime while on holiday.

As compensation for this shortfall, the 17.5% annual leave loading began to appear in awards to offset the loss of opportunity to work overtime.

Then, eventually, the loading became a feature of most awards – even in industries and jobs in which regularly paid overtime was uncommon.

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Who is eligible for annual leave loading?

When an employee resigns or their employment is terminated, it is compulsory for their employer to pay out the balance of any untaken annual leave they have accrued. This is a given.

However, historically it was a feature of many awards that the 17.5% annual leave loading was not payable on top of this annual leave payout. In fact, even amongst the current modern awards, almost a quarter explicitly or implicitly provide that the loading is not payable on termination.

Uncertainty has arisen, however, due to the wording used in section 90(2) of the Act. The section states very broadly that an employee must be paid the same annual leave entitlements on termination as they would if they had taken the leave during their employment.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has for some time publicly supported an interpretation of section 90(2). This interpretation holds that annual leave loading is payable on termination as long as it would have been paid during employment.

This has conflicted with the views of employer organisations, as well as the authors of the Labor Government’s review of the Act in 2012 and current Coalition policy – which call for the legislation to be tweaked to remove any suggestion that annual leave loading is payable on termination.

Do employers have to pay annual leave loading to employees on termination?

In a nutshell, yes. In 2015, the Federal Court settled how the courts would interpret the issue. It held that the 17.5% annual leave loading is payable as part of annual leave payouts on termination.

And this is the case even if an award or enterprise agreement expressly states that the loading is not payable on termination.

This is because awards and enterprise agreements must always comply with the National Employment Standards, and section 90(2) of the Act is part of the National Employment Standards.

Find out how to calculate annual leave payout here.

What does this mean moving forward?

The most immediate issue is that of past underpayments. If, as an employer:

  • you have workers who are covered by an award or enterprise agreement, AND
  • that award/agreement includes an entitlement to 17.5% annual leave loading, AND
  • you have not been adding the 17.5% loading to the annual leave balance payout on termination

Then you have underpaid those workers. Employees are able to seek to recover past underpayments for a period of six years.

If you have concerns about the exposure you are facing as a consequence and what to do about it, we strongly recommend you obtain legal advice from someone such as our workplace legal team at Employment Innovations.

Alternatively, you can access more information on Fair Work’s Final Pay page.

For more information about how you can stay on top of your ever-changing payroll and HR compliance requirements, you can also download the Essential Guide to HR Compliance.

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