Explainer: Can my employer force me to take annual leave over Christmas?

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Explainer - Christmas is just over the horizon. Can your employer force you to take leave over the holiday period?

Explainer - Christmas is just over the horizon. Can your employer force you to take leave over the holiday period?

Many companies shut down entirely for the Christmas break from late December to early January as families head off to campgrounds, baches and beaches around Aotearoa.

But what if you don't want to take leave, or don't have enough time saved up?

"Employees can raise their concerns, but they cannot simply opt out of a lawful annual closedown because they would rather take leave at another time," said Aishleen Sluiters, partner at the employment law firm Edwards Sluiters.

If your employer has notified you they are having an annual closedown, they can require you to take your leave at a particular time each year.

"The law allows an employer to require employees to take annual leave during that closedown, even if the employee disagrees," Sluiters said.

Under the Holidays Act 2003, an employer is only allowed to have one annual closedown in any 12-month period - it doesn't have to be over Christmas.

It can also be a partial closedown of just part of a workplace, or for different parts of a workplace at different times, perhaps over seasonal work demands.

You can also have a closedown where the workplace stays open, but the employer temporarily stops work for some employees, leaving a skeleton crew to staff it.

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