Ekka Public Holiday - what does its cancellation mean to you
Many regions throughout Queensland recognise a Public Holiday for the Royal Queensland Show (Ekka). Due to the current South East Queensland lockdown and worsening local COVID-19 outbreak, the 2021 Ekka has been cancelled in the best interests of public health. Today, it was announced that:
the Show Holiday for the Brisbane City Region planned for 11 August 2021 has been postponed to a later date not yet determined
the Show Holiday for the Scenic Rim region, planned for 9 August 2021, has also been postponed.
So far there have been no published declarations about the other regions due to recognise the Show Holiday on 9 August 2021. We will notify members should other regions postpone the public holiday.
What if I don’t have work for employees?
PAID LEAVE - If you don’t have work for employees, you can always ask them to take the day off voluntarily. You can offer that they use their Annual Leave or Long Service Leave, or alternatively take the day as unpaid. Employees cannot be forced to use a paid leave entitlement in a situation such as this. Agreement is made individually and, if they agree, you are not required to do anything further.
STAND DOWN - If you don’t have agreement, then alternatively you may be able to stand down employees. Stand down would apply when either the whole workforce can’t be utilised or a specific section of the workforce (e.g. workshop employee) due to a decision beyond the business’ control. Importantly, stand down may not apply when it is reasonably within your control to find work now, with one (1) week’s notice of the change public holiday conditions . Further to this, stand down cannot apply to individual employees within a workforce who could be usefully deployed in duties while others are working.
When on stand down, employees are unpaid unless they choose to use another paid leave entitlement (e.g. Annual Leave or Long Service)
PUBLIC HOLIDAY SUBSTITUTION - Alternatively, you can offer to substitute the public holiday with another day. Through substitution you could:
substitute the existing Ekka Public Holiday with the undetermined postponed date
treat the existing Ekka Public Holiday as a public holiday as if there had been no postponement
treat the postponed Ekka Public Holiday as a normal working day.
Substitution requires individual agreement, although it is recommended that everyone be given the same choice, if you are offering. Employees can choose to not take up the offer, in which case you may want to explore the previous options. Ideally, any agreement reached should be recorded in writing. Normal public holiday pay rates will apply to the substituted day.
NO AGREEMENT OR STANDDOWN – if you can’t deploy the person, stand them down and no other agreement is reached, then you would pay them as normal for the unworked day. In the case of Long Distance Drivers, the normal conditions surrounding the guaranteed minimum payment applies.
What if I have work for some employees, but not others?
The same options as above apply, however you would need to carefully consider whether a stand down direction is suitable – e.g. how the workforce on stand down compares to the working part of the workforce. You do not need to make the same consideration when you can either reach agreement to substitute the day, or to take the time off as either paid or unpaid leave.
What if some other situation applies to my workforce? What if I have other questions?
Please contact Ezra Pyers, IR Manager for the QTA to discuss – 0411 123 185 | ezra@qta.com.au
