Annual leave for performers working in theatre

Performers accrue four weeks of annual leave each year, starting from day one of their employment. Performers may apply for annual leave at any time, and an employer can only refuse a request if the refusal is reasonable.

What is reasonable will depend on various factors including the needs of the business and the employee’s circumstances. Below is the Performers Collective Agreement clause relating to reasonable refusal of annual leave.

34.8.2 A sufficient number of employees must be available for the production to be presented as scheduled and to cover contingencies where employees are unavailable due to illness or injury. It will be reasonable for an employer to refuse such a request in circumstances including, but not limited to, the following:
a) The employee's cover has been granted annual leave during the relevant period.
b) The performer who the Employee covers has been granted annual leave during the relevant period.
c) A number of other employees have been granted annual leave during the relevant period.

Producers may send performers on annual leave in very limited circumstance after six months of employment. After a year of employment, producers may direct employees to take annual leave at any time with reasonable notice.

If your leave request is refused and you believe the decision is unreasonable according to the above descriptions please speak with your Deputies or your Equity Organiser.