Getting ready for the holiday rush: Pay, entitlements and safety

During this time of year, employers and workers may have questions about employee entitlements when working through the holiday period, businesses reopening and businesses shutting down between Christmas and New Year.

To help you understand your legal obligations, you can use the following resources:

• public holidays
• asking employees to work public holidays and public holiday pay
• when overtime applies
• managing annual leave requests
• directing staff to take annual leave during a shut down
• hiring Christmas casuals
• reviewing annualised salaries to ensure you’re paying staff correctly
• free tools and support for businesses reopening.

Don’t let the holiday rush lead to unsafe workplaces

When workers are rushed to finish jobs the chances of mistakes are higher. So now, more than ever, it’s important to keep safety top of mind and not to get carried away by rushing work.

To help you understand your obligations and stay safe this holiday season - especially if you’re hiring new and inexperienced workers - use these WorkSafe Victoria workplace holiday safety resources.

Are you hiring new staff? Extra super step when hiring new employees

From 1 November 2021, where new employees do not choose a super fund, employers will have to check with the ATO if their employee has an existing super account, known as a 'stapled super fund', to pay the employee's super guarantee into. A stapled super fund is an existing account which is linked, or 'stapled', to an individual employee, so it follows them as they change jobs. Find more about the change and how to request stapled super fund details on the ATO website.