There is no minimum notice period for asking for annual leave in Australia. The Fair Work Act sets none, so any lead time you have to give is set by your award, enterprise agreement, contract or workplace policy. Whatever it is, your employer can only say no on reasonable grounds.
Notice matters far more when the push comes from the other side. Under the awards we checked, an employer must give 28 days written notice before directing staff onto leave for a shutdown, and at least 8 weeks before the start of excess leave it directs you to take. This guide lines up each rule by who starts the process, then turns them into calendar dates for 2026 and 2027.
Key takeaways
- Section 88 has two subsections and neither mentions notice. Leave is taken when you and your employer agree, and a refusal must not be unreasonable.
- None of the five awards we read (Clerks, Retail, Hospitality, Children's Services and Professional Employees) sets a notice period for an ordinary leave request. Your contract or workplace policy might.
- Shutdowns need at least 28 days written notice, or less if most affected staff agree. For a closure starting Thursday 24 December 2026, notice must go out by Thursday 26 November 2026.
- Excess leave directed by your employer must start between 8 weeks and 12 months after the written direction. The same window applies when you give notice for your own excess leave.
- Using annual leave during a resignation notice period needs your employer's agreement. Public holidays that land in the middle of your leave stay in your balance.
Asking for leave: no NES notice period
Section 88 is the whole of the NES rule on when annual leave is taken. Leave runs for "a period agreed" between you and your employer, and the employer "must not unreasonably refuse" a request. It is silent on how far ahead you have to ask. The Fair Work Ombudsman frames it practically: you need to request leave before going on it, and the steps for doing so are "often set out in an award or registered agreement, company policy or contract of employment".
So a notice rule, if you have one, comes from one of four places:
- Your award. Section 93(4) lets an award include terms "otherwise dealing with the taking of paid annual leave". The annual leave clauses of the Clerks (cl 32), Retail (cl 28) and Hospitality (cl 30) awards contain no notice period for an ordinary request. The Children's Services (cl 24) and Professional Employees (cl 19) awards mention notice only for shutdowns and excess leave. Other awards were not checked.
- Your enterprise agreement, which can deal with taking leave under the same s 93(4) power.
- An agreement with your employer, if no award or enterprise agreement covers you. The Note to s 94(6) lists "that a specified period of notice must be given before taking paid annual leave" among the things the two of you can agree.
- A workplace policy or your contract, which the Fair Work Ombudsman names as common homes for the request process.
Whatever the notice rule says, a refusal still has to be reasonable. Nor is there a floor or a ceiling on how much leave one request can cover, according to the Ombudsman, so the same rule applies whether you ask for a single day or several weeks.
Fair Work Act 2009 s 88: "(1) Paid annual leave may be taken for a period agreed between an employee and his or her employer. (2) The employer must not unreasonably refuse to agree to a request by the employee to take paid annual leave." (s 88.) s 93(4): an award or agreement "may include terms otherwise dealing with the taking of paid annual leave." Note to s 94(6) lists "(c) the form of application for paid annual leave; (d) that a specified period of notice must be given before taking paid annual leave." (s 93, s 94.) AustLII consolidated text, retrieved 7 October 2026.
Fair Work Ombudsman, Taking annual leave (content last updated 10 August 2026): "An employee needs to request to take annual leave before going on leave. The process for requesting annual leave is often set out in an award or registered agreement, company policy or contract of employment." "An employer can only refuse an employee's request for annual leave if the refusal is reasonable." "There's no minimum or maximum amount of annual leave that can be taken at a time." Retrieved 7 October 2026. Award clauses read in the FWC consolidated awards (each incorporating amendments up to 1 July 2026): Clerks MA000002, Retail MA000004, Hospitality MA000009, Children's Services MA000120, Professional Employees MA000065, retrieved 7 October 2026.
The notice rules side by side
"How much notice" has a different answer depending on who starts the process. Five rules cover the usual situations:
| Who starts it | Notice | Other conditions | Where the rule is |
|---|---|---|---|
| You ask for leave | None set by the NES | Leave is taken for an agreed period and a refusal must be reasonable. Your award, agreement, contract or policy may add a notice rule. | FW Act s 88, s 93(4), s 94(6) |
| Employer closes for a shutdown | At least 28 days in writing, or shorter if the employer and a majority of affected staff agree | Can only use leave already accrued. The direction must be in writing and reasonable. | Clerks cl 32.5; Retail cl 28.4; Hospitality cl 30.4; Professional Employees cl 19.4; Children's Services cl 24.4 (Christmas only) |
| Employer directs excess leave | The leave must start at least 8 weeks and no more than 12 months after the written direction | Balance of more than 8 weeks (10 for a shiftworker). At least 1 week of leave. At least 6 weeks must remain. | Clerks cl 32.6(a), 32.7(b); Retail cl 28.6; Hospitality cl 30.7 |
| Employer of award and agreement free staff | No fixed period | The requirement must be reasonable. | FW Act s 94(5) |
| You, with an excess balance | The leave must start at least 8 weeks and no more than 12 months after your written notice | Excessive for more than 6 months. Up to 4 weeks (5 for a shiftworker) in 12 months. The employer must grant it. | Clerks cl 32.8; Retail cl 28.7; Hospitality cl 30.8 |
The award rows are model terms, quoted below from the Clerks Award. All five awards we checked use the same 28-day shutdown figure, and Retail and Hospitality repeat the excess leave terms, but the award that covers you is the one that counts.
Clerks (Private Sector) Award 2020 [MA000002] cl 32.5(b): "The employer must give the affected employees 28 days' written notice of a temporary shutdown period, or any shorter period agreed between the employer and the majority of relevant employees." cl 32.5(d): the direction covers leave "to which the employee has accrued an entitlement"; cl 32.5(e): it "must be in writing; and must be reasonable." cl 32.6(a): excessive means "more than 8 weeks' paid annual leave (or 10 weeks' paid annual leave for a shiftworker ...)". cl 32.7(b): a direction "must not require the employee to take any period of paid annual leave of less than one week", "must not require the employee to take a period of paid annual leave beginning less than 8 weeks, or more than 12 months, after the direction is given", and is "of no effect" if it would leave "less than 6 weeks". (MA000002.)
The same 28 days' written notice of a shutdown appears in General Retail Industry Award 2020 cl 28.4(b) (MA000004), Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 cl 30.4(b) (MA000009), Professional Employees Award 2020 cl 19.4(b) (MA000065) and Children's Services Award 2010 cl 24.4(c) (MA000120). Retail cl 28.6(b)(iii) and Hospitality cl 30.7(b)(iii) repeat the 8 weeks to 12 months direction window. All consolidated to 1 July 2026, retrieved 7 October 2026.
Shutdown notice dates for Christmas 2026 and 2027
For a shutdown, the count runs backwards from the first day the business is closed. Taking 28 calendar days off that date gives the last day the written notice can go out:
| Shutdown starts | Written notice by |
|---|---|
| Monday 21 December 2026 | Monday 23 November 2026 |
| Thursday 24 December 2026 | Thursday 26 November 2026 |
| Friday 25 December 2026 | Friday 27 November 2026 |
| Monday 20 December 2027 | Monday 22 November 2027 |
| Friday 24 December 2027 | Friday 26 November 2027 |
The clause does not spell out whether the day the notice is handed over counts toward the 28, so an employer that sends it a day or two before the date shown leaves no room for argument. A shorter period works only if the employer and a majority of the affected employees agree to it. Anyone hired after the notice has gone out must get written notice as soon as reasonably practicable after they start.
The Children's Services Award is narrower than the rest. Its shutdown term covers only a closure during the Christmas vacation, and for a shutdown at any other time employees are paid their ordinary rate. What happens when your balance will not stretch across the closure is explained in Christmas shutdown.
Clerks Award cl 32.5(c): employees engaged after the notice is given get written notice "as soon as reasonably practicable after the employee is engaged" (MA000002). Children's Services Award cl 24.4(a)(i): applies if the employer "intends to shut down all or part of its operation for a particular period during the Christmas vacation"; cl 24.4(b): it "does not apply to a shutdown period during any vacation period other than the Christmas vacation. During any shutdown period to which clause 24.4 does not apply, employees will be paid the ordinary rate of pay." (MA000120.) Both consolidated to 1 July 2026, retrieved 7 October 2026. Dates are 28 calendar days before each start date.
Excess leave directions: the 8 weeks to 12 months window
A direction to take excess leave is only open once your balance is more than 8 weeks (10 for a shiftworker) and you and your employer have not been able to agree on when to use it. It has to be written, and the leave it names cannot begin sooner than 8 weeks after it is given or later than 12 months after. It must cover at least a week and cannot drop your balance below 6 weeks.
| Direction given | Leave can start from | Leave must start by |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday 7 October 2026 | Wednesday 2 December 2026 | Thursday 7 October 2027 |
| Monday 2 November 2026 | Monday 28 December 2026 | Tuesday 2 November 2027 |
| Monday 1 February 2027 | Monday 29 March 2027 | Tuesday 1 February 2028 |
The "from" column is the 56th day after the direction. Whether a tribunal would count the boundary day the same way is not settled by the wording, so an employer is safer setting a start date a few days later. The steps before a direction can be given, and how to push back on one, are in excessive annual leave. To work out when your own balance will cross the 8-week line, see does annual leave roll over.
Fair Work Ombudsman, Direction to take excess annual leave (content last updated 7 August 2026): the employer has to "tell the employee in writing that they need to take annual leave, and give the employee at least 8 weeks' notice (and not more than 12 months) of when the leave will start." "The leave has to be at least one week long and generally can't result in the employee having less than 6 weeks accrued leave." Retrieved 7 October 2026. The more-than-8-weeks trigger is Clerks Award cl 32.6(a), quoted above.
Your own notice for excess leave
The model term also gives you a lever. Once your balance has been excessive for more than 6 months, you can give your employer written notice that you want to take some of it, and the employer must grant the leave. The timing mirrors a direction: the leave cannot begin less than 8 weeks or more than 12 months after your notice. You can claim no more than 4 weeks this way in any 12 months (5 for a shiftworker). The clause has further conditions, so read it in your own award before sending anything.
Jordan, under the Retail Award, has held more than 8 weeks of leave since early March 2026. By Wednesday 7 October 2026 the balance has been excessive for more than 6 months, and that day Jordan gives written notice asking for 3 weeks. The leave can start any time from Wednesday 2 December 2026 and must start by Thursday 7 October 2027. Three weeks is inside the 4-week limit, so the employer has to grant it.
Clerks Award cl 32.8: available only if "the employee has had an excessive leave accrual for more than 6 months at the time of giving the notice"; the leave must not begin "less than 8 weeks, or more than 12 months, after the notice is given"; no more than "4 weeks' paid annual leave (or 5 weeks' ... for a shiftworker ...) in any period of 12 months"; cl 32.8(e): "The employer must grant paid annual leave requested by a notice under clause 32.8(a)." (MA000002.) The same term is Retail cl 28.7 (MA000004) and Hospitality cl 30.8 (MA000009). Consolidated to 1 July 2026, retrieved 7 October 2026.
Award and agreement free employees
An employer of award and agreement free staff has no fixed notice period to meet. Section 94(5) lets it require you to take paid annual leave if that is reasonable, and the Note offers two illustrations: a large accrued balance and a close-down such as the Christmas to New Year break. In weighing reasonableness, the Fair Work Ombudsman lists the needs of both sides, any agreed arrangement, the custom and practice of the business, the timing of the requirement and the length of notice given, so how much warning you got is part of the test. For your own requests, you and your employer can agree a notice period under s 94(6).
Fair Work Act 2009 s 94(5): "An employer may require an award/agreement free employee to take a period of paid annual leave, but only if the requirement is reasonable." Note: reasonable "if, for example: (a) the employee has accrued an excessive amount of paid annual leave; or (b) the employer's enterprise is being shut down for a period (for example, between Christmas and New Year)." (AustLII, retrieved 7 October 2026.) Fair Work Ombudsman, Annual leave fact sheet (content last updated 16 January 2026): "In assessing reasonableness, the following factors are relevant: the needs of the employee and the business; any agreed arrangement with the employee; custom and practice of the business; timing of the direction or requirement to take leave; the length of the period of notice given." Retrieved 7 October 2026.
Annual leave during your notice period
Plenty of people asking about annual leave notice really mean resignation: can leave cover some of the weeks you have to work out? It can, but only if your employer agrees. A public holiday that falls inside a notice period still counts toward it and does not extend it. Whatever leave is left is paid out when the job ends, failed probation included, valued at what you would have earned by taking it.
How much notice you owe when you quit is a different rule with its own guides: 2 weeks notice and resignation notice period.
Fair Work Ombudsman, Resignation: "An employee can take paid annual leave during a notice period if their employer agrees to the leave." "Notice can include public holidays. However, public holidays don't extend the notice period." Probation (content last updated 14 August 2026): unsuccessful probationers are still entitled to "have their unused accumulated annual leave hours paid out." Both retrieved 5 October 2026. Fair Work Act 2009 s 90(2): the employer "must pay the employee the amount that would have been payable to the employee had the employee taken that period of leave." (AustLII, retrieved 7 October 2026.)
How many leave days your dates cost
Before you put dates on a form, or an employer puts them in a notice, count what they actually cost. Under s 89(1), a public holiday inside a period of annual leave is a day you are "taken not to be on paid annual leave", so it stays in your balance.
A business closes from Thursday 24 December 2026 to Friday 1 January 2027 and reopens on Monday 4 January 2027. Seven weekdays fall inside the closure. Three of them are full-day public holidays in every state and territory: Christmas Day (Friday 25 December), the substitute holiday on Monday 28 December and New Year's Day (Friday 1 January 2027). The shutdown therefore costs 4 days of annual leave: 24, 29, 30 and 31 December.
One wrinkle: Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory have a part-day public holiday on the evening of 24 December, and South Australia and the Northern Territory have another on the evening of 31 December. The count above treats those as full leave days, although s 89(1) covers a part-day holiday too. Holiday dates are from our Australian public holidays 2026 data.
Fair Work Act 2009 s 89(1): "If the period during which an employee takes paid annual leave includes a day or part-day that is a public holiday in the place where the employee is based for work purposes, the employee is taken not to be on paid annual leave on that public holiday." (AustLII, retrieved 7 October 2026.)
The annual leave planner knows the public holidays in your state for 2026 and 2027 and finds the weeks where a few days of leave buy the longest break, with the exact dates to request.
Annual leave notice: questions
How much notice do I need to give for annual leave in Australia?
The NES sets no minimum. Any notice rule will sit in your award, an enterprise agreement, your employment contract or a workplace policy, so check each of them.
Can my employer refuse my annual leave request?
Yes, but only on reasonable grounds. Section 88(2) rules out an unreasonable refusal, whatever notice you gave.
How much notice does my employer have to give for a Christmas shutdown?
At least 28 days in writing under the model award term, unless the employer and a majority of the affected staff agree to less. With no award or agreement, the requirement must simply be reasonable.
How much notice is needed for a direction to take excess leave?
The leave must start at least 8 weeks and no more than 12 months after the written direction, and the direction is only available once your balance is more than 8 weeks (10 for a shiftworker).
Can 4 weeks notice include annual leave?
Only if your employer agrees. Without that agreement, the leave you have not used is paid out when the job ends.
Can an employer refuse to pay out annual leave?
No. Section 90(2) requires untaken annual leave to be paid when employment ends, whether you resign, are dismissed or fail probation.
Is 2 weeks notice a legal requirement in Australia?
That is resignation notice rather than leave notice, and it depends on your award, agreement or contract. See 2 weeks notice.
Do public holidays use up my annual leave?
No. Section 89(1) treats a public holiday during your leave as a day off in its own right, so for a Monday to Friday worker a week away that includes one public holiday costs four days.
How far in advance should I book annual leave?
No law or Fair Work Ombudsman guidance we read sets a usual lead time. Your workplace policy is the place to look. If it says nothing, the legal test is only whether a refusal would be reasonable.
Author & reviewer
Sarah has spent over a decade advising Australian SMBs on Fair Work, NES compliance, and payroll. Based in Sydney, she has worked across hospitality, retail and professional services.