The PSA encourages all members to regularly take recreation leave for their own health and well-being. For non-frontline staff, the Christmas closedown will take place between Monday 27 December 2021 and Friday 7 January 2022 inclusive.

If you are a frontline staff member you are exempted:

Frontline services do not shut down over the Christmas closedown and services such as child protection must remain open.

CS managers need to discuss and consult with their teams to ensure adequate staffing levels. If they haven’t already done so, managers should be holding discussions with staff now. With a common sense approach and sufficient notice of leave plans this time period should be able to be managed so that those who wish to take leave can and those who plan to keep working can do so.

Where frontline staff are denied leave for operational reasons but it is clear that the office will be adequately staffed over Christmas/New Year, members should contact their delegates or the Member Support Centre for advice.

Can I be directed to take recreation leave?

You can be directed to take recreation leave only if you have an ‘excess’ leave balance:

• If you have accrued eight weeks’ (40 days) recreation leave, you can be directed to take two weeks’ leave sometime within six weeks of being notified of the excess leave balance.
• If you have accrued 6-8 weeks’ (30-40 days) recreation leave, you can be directed to take two weeks’ leave sometime within the following three months after the original notification.

This accords with the Crown Employees (Public Service Conditions of Employment) Award 2009 – clauses 77.2.3 & 77.2.4. Other than these particular circumstances, you cannot be directed to take recreation leave.

Concessional Leave

For employees required to work during the closedown period and subject to agency operational and staffing requirements, concessional leave will be available for the afternoon of the Christmas Eve (24 December).

To be eligible for the leave, employees must be required to be on duty that morning and must work half the standard full time daily hours.

Eligible employees who are directed to remain on duty for the full day on Christmas Eve are entitled to a half-day’s concessional leave on the afternoon of the following New Year’s Eve.

Deferment of concession:

If an employee is directed by the agency to work full days on both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, concessional leave may be granted by the agency within one month of the Christmas-to-New Year period. Similarly, if an employee is absent on approved leave on one of the abovementioned days and is directed by the agency to work a full day on the other, then concessional leave may be granted also within one month of the Christmas-to-New Year period.

Public Service Holiday

In addition to the public holidays observed in NSW, DCJ employees are entitled to a public service holiday. This holiday is to be taken during the period between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

The Head of a Public Service agency is to determine the day to be observed as the public service holiday in their agency.

Employees directed to work on the day determined by the Head of a Public Service agency as the public service holiday are entitled to be absent from duty on one of the other working days between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day without loss of pay.

• Employees directed to work on all of the working days between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day are entitled to be paid overtime at the “public holiday” rate for work performed on the day determined as the public service holiday for their agency.
• Part time employees are entitled to be absent on the public service holiday and receive ordinary pay if they would normally have worked on that day. Those who do not normally work on that day are not entitled to compensation.