Prepare for the 2025/26 Festive Season

Whether the summer months are busy for your business or, you are lucky enough to enjoy some down time, now is the time to start planning for the Festive Season.

If you are gearing up for your peak period, it is appropriate to have early discussions with your staff about their availability for work, especially if shifts will be offered across the public holidays. Employers can reasonably request an employee to work on a public holiday, but staff members should not be rostered to perform a public holiday shift without some consultation first.

The public holiday calendar nationwide for the 2025/26 Festive Season is as follows:

DateDayHoliday
24 December 2025 (QLD only)6pm – midnight, WednesdayChristmas Eve (part-day)
24 December 2025 (NT/SA only)7pm – midnight, WednesdayChristmas Eve (part-day)
25 December 2025ThursdayChristmas Day
26 December 2025FridayBoxing Day
31 December 2025 (NT/SA only)7pm – midnight, WednesdayNew Year’s Eve (part-day)
1 January 2026ThursdayNew Year’s Day
26 January 2026MondayAustralia Day

With all the above days (and part-days) designated as public holidays, the typical benefits of public holidays attach to all these dates, meaning any work performed will attract the designated public holiday penalty determined by the relevant Modern Award or enterprise agreement.

Permanent employees (being full-time or part-time employees) who would ordinarily have rostered hours on the above days, or part-days, will be entitled to be absent without loss of pay, unless they agree to work if reasonably requested by their employer. Employees may also reasonably refuse to perform work on any, or all, of the above dates.

If your business temporarily closes during the holiday period and you would like your permanent employees to utilise their annual leave entitlements, the requirement will need to be permitted by the relevant employment instrument and be precipitated by the stipulated period of written notice (often at least 28 days).

Even where the relevant instrument (e.g. modern award) permits an employer to direct employees to utilise annual leave during a temporary shutdown, sufficient annual leave must be accrued to cover the designated period. It is therefore appropriate to manage annual leave requests in the lead up to Christmas, to ensure affected employees will have sufficient leave available for the duration of an annual shutdown. Importantly, annual leave is granted at the discretion of the employer subject to the needs of the business, but an employer must not unreasonably refuse a request for annual leave.

Unsure of your obligations to your staff for the upcoming Festive Season? Subscribers are invited to contact our advice line on (07) 3220 3500 as a priority for clarification.