Assistant Secretary Sam Casey
Your annual leave entitlements are spelled out in your enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA).
Many members are entitled to six weeks of annual leave if they work weekends. The information discussed below relates to the entitlement as it applies in the public sector.
Members who work under private acute, private residential aged care, local government and other EBAs may have different entitlements to what’s discussed below. Many private acute and local government EBAs have achieved the sixth week of annual leave, but its application may be slightly different. Members can download a copy of their EBA from the Member Portal.
If you have questions about your specific EBA, please contact our ANMF Member Assistance team.
How much annual leave am I entitled to?
Under the Nurses and Midwives (Victorian Public Sector) Single Interest Employer Agreement 2024–2028 (the EBA), a full time, permanent employee is entitled to 190 hours (five weeks) of paid annual leave for each year of service.
I work weekends; how much annual leave am I entitled to?
A weekend worker is entitled to an additional 38 hours (or sixth week) of annual leave.
Full time employees who work ‘ordinary hours’ on at least ten weekends in a year are entitled to the sixth week of annual leave.
I work part time. Am I eligible for a sixth week of leave?
Yes, annual leave (including the sixth week for weekend workers) will accrue progressively to a part-time employee on a pro rata basis.
For example, if a part-time employee who works 24 hours in a week that includes a weekend, they would accrue a proportion of 3.8 hours as follows: 24/38 X 3.8 = 2.4 hours.
What was the change to annual leave loading?
Your current EBA now provides 17.5 per cent annual leave loading to five weeks of annual leave a year, not capped at four weeks as previously provided. It is relevant to note that leave loading is still only applicable if it generates higher pay than one’s ‘projected roster’.
Case Study
After advocacy by ANMF (Vic Branch), Goulburn Valley Health has implemented a payroll process that enables nurses and midwives who work weekends to appropriately accrue the sixth week of annual leave in accordance with clause 57.1 of the public sector EBA.
