Unpaid Pandemic Leave & Annual Leave at Half Pay

4 July 2020 - Updated: 19 January 2022

The Fair Work Commission has extended the entitlement to unpaid pandemic leave and annual leave at half pay for many awards to 30 June 2022.

On 8 April 2020, the Fair Work Commission added the temporary Schedule X to a number of awards including the Architects Award, Clerks Private Sector Award, Graphic Arts Printing and Publishing Award, Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award, and the Miscellaneous Award.

Schedule X gives employees two weeks of unpaid pandemic leave and the ability to take twice as much annual leave at half their normal pay if their employer agrees.

Schedule X no long applies to the Clerks Award or the Miscellaneous Award, but the inclusion of Schedule X has been extended to 30 June 2022 for the following awards: Architects Award, Graphic Arts Award and Manufacturing Award, among many others.

For up-to-date advice about the entitlement to unpaid pandemic leave and annual leave at half pay, including when and how these provisions apply, go to Unpaid pandemic leave in awards on the Fair Work Ombudsman’s website.

For more detail about the extension of Schedule X, you can also read the Fair Work Commission’s decision and determination.