People aren’t taking their holidays

Back in March Australian Catholic U told staff it “expects” everybody to take their 20 days annual leave every year. And that there would be “regular monitoring” of leave balances, to ensure they are managed in-line with the enterprise agreement.

Problem was management can expect all it likes but the enterprise agreement specifies the people it can direct to take leave are those with 40 days or more owing – which the campus branch of the National Tertiary Education Union reminded management.

So, what’s the university’s problem? “Leave management is an ongoing strategy for all universities including ACU. The context of COVID-19 and lockdowns and closed domestic and international borders has made this strategy more challenging in 2020 and 2021,” Chief Operating Office Stephen Weller says.

CMM thinks this means people would rather keep working when there is nowhere to go on holidays.