New rules have come into play on shutdowns in many awards.

Under the new rules:

• employees can be required to take paid annual leave during a shutdown if it’s reasonable
• employers must provide written notice of the requirement prior to a shutdown
• employees who don’t have enough paid annual leave can choose to take leave without pay but they can’t be required to do so.

These rules take effect from 1 May 2023.

Get more information including the list of affected awards from the Fairwork website here.