The Federal Court of Australia has recently handed down a decision that could impact many not-for-profit organisations and businesses (Centennial Northern Mining Services Pty Ltd v Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union [2015] FCAFC 100).
Under previous legislation employers were not legally required to pay annual leave loading on accrued annual leave at termination of employment. Some Modern Awards and many Enterprise Agreements have provisions that reflect this position.
This latest decision makes it clear that the current wording of the National Employment Standards (NES) requires employers to pay annual leave loading on accrued annual leave on termination of employment. This applies regardless of contrary provisions in a Modern Award or Enterprise Agreement as the NES overrides these industrial instruments to the extent it provides more favourable conditions to an employee.
