Cancelling annual leave

Find out more about cancelling or adjusting approved annual leave.

On this page:

Wanting to cancel approved annual leave

Employers or employees may want to cancel or adjust approved annual leave in some situations.

For example:

  • an employer may want to cancel or adjust an employee’s leave because the business is busier than usual and they need more staff working
  • an employee may want to cancel or adjust their leave because of changes in travel arrangements for a holiday.

Award and agreement rules

Some awards and enterprise agreements have rules that apply in these circumstances and need to be followed.

Find your award from our List of awards page. If you’re still not sure which award applies, search by occupation or industry in our Pay and Conditions Tool. You can also use this tool to calculate minimum wages and some entitlements.

Get help finding an enterprise agreement from our Finding an agreement page.

No award or agreement rules

If there aren’t any applicable rules in an award or enterprise agreement, the employer and the employee should discuss and try to come to an agreement on cancelling or adjusting the period of leave, taking into account the possible impact on the employee and the needs of the business.

For example:

  • whether the employee can readily reschedule any commitments during the leave period
  • whether the employee has incurred costs (for example, booked flights or deposits for activities)
  • how close it is to the leave period
  • whether the business can make alternative arrangements to accommodate the leave period (for example, adjusting rosters).

Employment contracts and workplace policies may have extra rules about cancelling or adjusting approved annual leave. Make sure you check what applies to you.

Tools and resources

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