Payment for annual leave
Changes to the Real Estate Award
If you’re covered by the Real Estate Award there have been some recent changes that may affect you.
The Fair Work Commission has recently introduced a number of changes to wages and employment classifications, commission only employment eligibility, minimum commission rates and more.
The changes apply from the first full pay period on or after 2 April 2018. Read more about the changes.
Annual leave is paid at the employee's current base pay rate for all hours of leave taken, not including extra payments such as:
- overtime rates
- penalties
- allowances
- bonuses.
Awards, enterprise agreements and other registered agreements can set out:
- a different method of payment for annual leave
- that annual leave loading is paid for annual leave.
Find information about payments for annual leave and annual leave loading in your award by selecting from the list below.
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- Building, construction and on-site trades
- Clerical
- Contract cleaning services
- Don't know
- Hair and beauty
- Health support services
- Horticulture
- Hospitality
- Manufacturing
- Other
- Real estate
- Retail
- Road Transport
- Security
- Social, community, disability and home care services
- Storage services and wholesale
Annual leave when employment ends
When employment ends, an employee has to be paid out all unused annual leave as part of their final pay.
If an employee gets annual leave loading during employment then it also has to be paid out when employment ends. Annual leave loading is paid out even when an award, registered agreement or employment contract says that it’s not.
Find out more about what’s included in an employee’s Final pay.
Annual leave when sick or injured
If an employee is sick or injured while on annual leave, the employee can use their paid sick or carer's leave entitlement instead of using their annual leave.
The employer can still request the employee provide notice and evidence when taking sick or carer's leave while on annual leave.
An employer can’t direct an employee to take annual leave while they’re taking sick or carer’s leave.
Source reference: Fair Work Act 2009 s.90 
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