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Working on Public Holidays – Right to Refuse

25/05/23
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A decision of the Federal Court has significantly changed the way employers must go about organising employees to work on a public holiday.

 

Background

There are 11 National Employment Standards (NES). One of these Standards entitles all permanent employees to be absent and be paid for a public holiday if they would otherwise have worked on that day (or part-day).

An employer may “request” an employee to work on a public holiday if that is reasonable. An employee has the right to refuse the request if the request is not reasonable or they have a “reasonable” reason for refusing. Section 114 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) goes on to set out what is a “reasonable request” by an employer, and what is a “reasonable” refusal by an employee.

Some employees, such as boarding staff, may be expected to work on public holidays as a condition of their employment. Others may be expected to work the occasional public holiday when the situation arises.

 

The Change

A recent Federal Court decision (CFMMEU vs OSMCAP Pty Ltd [2023] FCAGFC 51) has put a spanner in the works by interpreting the relevant NES more strictly. Under this new interpretation:

  • having a clause in an award, enterprise agreement or contract of employment does not change the basic entitlement for all permanent employees not to work on a public holiday
  • a roster or direction for an employee to work on a public holiday can only be a “request” rather than a direction
  • employees must be given an opportunity to exercise their right to refuse to work if their refusal is reasonable
  • a firm roster or direction can only be made once the employer has:
    • considered the reasons given by an employee for refusing to work on the public holiday; and
    • accepted their reasons and excluded the employee from the roster; or
    • rejected their reasons as unreasonable and directed the employee to work on the public holiday.

Also, it seems that a “standing agreement” by an employee to work all public holidays as directed will probably not be acceptable to the Court, especially as it is predictable that an employee’s circumstances, and family responsibilities in particular, may change.

 

What Is a Reasonable Request by an Employer?

The Fair Work Act sets out the matters that must be taken into account when deciding if a request by an employer to an employee to work on a public holiday is reasonable. The following must be considered:

  • the nature of the employer's workplace or enterprise (including its operational requirements), and the nature of the work performed by the employee
  • the employee's personal circumstances, including family responsibilities
  • whether the employee could reasonably expect that the employer might request them to work on the public holiday
  • whether the employee is entitled to receive overtime payments, penalty rates or other compensation for, or a level of remuneration that reflects an expectation of, work on the public holiday
  • the type of employment of the employee (for example, whether full-time, part-time, casual or shift work)
  • the amount of notice in advance of the public holiday given by the employer when making the request
  • in relation to the refusal of a request – the amount of notice in advance of the public holiday given by the employee when refusing the request
  • any other relevant matter.

 

What Is a Reasonable Refusal by an Employee?

An employee has the right to refuse a request to work on a public holiday if:

  • the request by the employer is unreasonable
  • the employee’s reason or reasons for refusing are reasonable.

To decide if an employee’s refusal is reasonable, an employer must take into account the same criteria that they needed to use in making their request:

  • the nature of the employer's workplace or enterprise (including its operational requirements), and the nature of the work performed by the employee
  • the employee's personal circumstances, including family responsibilities
  • whether the employee could reasonably expect that the employer might request them to work on the public holiday
  • whether the employee is entitled to receive overtime payments, penalty rates or other compensation for, or a level of remuneration that reflects an expectation of, work on the public holiday
  • the type of employment of the employee (for example, whether full-time, part-time, casual or shift work)
  • the amount of notice in advance of the public holiday given by the employer when making the request
  • in relation to the refusal of a request – the amount of notice in advance of the public holiday given by the employee when refusing the request
  • any other relevant matter.

 

The School Context

In the case of boarding employees, several factors will often be assumed and accepted by both parties when running through the considerations outlined in the dot points above. For example, it is usually a given that the nature of the work requires 24/7 operations, and that public holiday rates will be paid as mandated in the awards or enterprise agreements.

For non-boarding staff, working on a public holiday may be expected and predictable if they work in departments that have annually occurring camps, sporting tournaments or performing arts competitions during, for example, the Easter long weekend. Other staff may be directed to assist in co-curricular activities or extra-curricular activities on public holidays, where this is less predictable.

However, as pointed out in the Federal Court decision, the nature of the work and whether employees should have expected to work on the public holiday are not the only factors that must be considered; the key factor is that employees must be given a choice, although within certain limits, to refuse to work on a public holiday.

 

What Should an Employer Do?

Even if an award, enterprise agreement or letter of offer/contract of employment provides for an employee to work on a public holiday, an employer should take the following steps:

  • publish a draft roster for the relevant period or communicate a request to work on a public holiday and indicate that anyone who has reasons for not working the public holiday shift must give notice of that fact before working arrangements are finalised
  • give employees an opportunity to provide their reasons for not working on the public holiday
  • use the criteria in the Fair Work Act (the dot points above) to consider the reason/s provided by an employee
  • make a final decision on who will be working on the public holiday and then publish the final roster or otherwise indicate who will be working on that day.

In practical terms, the draft roster or the direction should be given sufficiently in advance to enable the employer time to consider the reasons why an employee is refusing to work and then find alternative staff (and give them the opportunity to refuse).

What happens if:

  • an employer believes that an employee’s refusal to work on the public holiday is not reasonable; or
  • the employee’s refusal is reasonable but it happens more than once and may result in other employees feeling hard done by because they have to cover for that employee?

This is a complex issue: directing an employee to work in such circumstances could entangle an employer in questions of an employer’s right to issue lawful and reasonable directions, the risk of adverse action claims as the employee is enforcing a workplace right, or discrimination, for example, on the basis of carer responsibilities. In these circumstances, it may be time to call a lawyer.

 

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About the Author

Svetlana Pozydajew

Svetlana is Principal Consultant Workplace Relations at Ideagen CompliSpace. She has over 25 years of experience in strategic and operational human resource management, workplace health and safety, and design and implementation of policies and change management programs. She has held national people management responsibility positions in the public and private sectors. Svetlana holds a LLB, Masters in Management (MBA), Master of Arts in Journalism, and a Certificate in Governance for not-for-profits.

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