Christmas shutdown notice under the hospitality awards: 28 days in writing, due 26 November for a Christmas Eve close

If your venue is shutting from Christmas Eve and you want staff to take annual leave for it, the notice has to be in writing and with them by Thursday 26 November 2026. That's 28 days before the first closed day, and it has been the rule under the Hospitality Award (clause 30.4) and the Restaurant Award (clause 25.4) since 1 May 2023.

Most of the advice online was written for the old close-down clauses, which in many awards let an employer send anyone short on leave home unpaid. The Commission removed that from 78 awards in 2023, and the Fair Work Ombudsman's explainer of 7 October 2026 walks through the new one with Joe at a steel factory. Here it is for a venue.

The short version: written notice to every affected employee at least 28 days before the first closed day, then a written, reasonable direction to take leave they've already accrued. You can't direct unpaid leave: anything beyond their balance needs a written agreement for leave in advance or leave without pay. Casuals aren't covered, because they don't have annual leave. This is general information, not legal advice; check the award clause and any enterprise agreement that applies to you.

What the shutdown clause actually requires

Both awards got the same model clause on 1 May 2023, and the Registered and Licensed Clubs Award has it too at clause 25.4, so the rules are identical for a pub, a café or a restaurant. (The Fast Food Industry Award has no shutdown clause at all, so a fast food outlet can only agree leave with staff, never direct it.) Six moving parts:

• 28 days' written notice of the temporary shutdown period to every affected employee, or a shorter period if a majority of the relevant employees agree.
• A written direction to take paid annual leave, and it has to be reasonable. Once given, the employee must take the leave.
• Accrued leave only. You can direct the leave they already have, not leave they'll earn later.
• Unpaid leave by agreement only. For any part of the closure not covered by a direction, you and the employee can agree in writing to leave without pay. You can't impose it.
• Leave in advance by agreement, under the award's annual leave in advance clause: a signed agreement stating the amount and start date, kept as an employee record.
• New hires get the notice too, in writing, as soon as reasonably practicable after they start.

The unpaid leave point is the one older articles get wrong. The Full Bench ruled in August 2022 that it has no power to let an award require leave without pay, and Fair Work says employers can't stand an employee down just because the business is quiet. A planned Christmas closure is your decision, so it isn't a stand down.

"This would amount, in substance, to the stand down of the employee without pay." Fair Work Commission Full Bench, 25 August 2022, on why an award can't require unpaid leave over a shutdown

Pick your first closed day, then count back 28 days

Don't cut it to the day. Send it in the week of 16 November, which leaves time for the conversations about short balances. Put in the first and last closed days, which parts of the venue are closing, that you're directing accrued annual leave for the rostered days inside the closure, the options for anyone who's short, and who to reply to. Fair Work publishes a notice of requirement to take annual leave template you can adapt. The direction itself is a separate written step, so hand it over with the notice.

Who on your roster the clause reaches

Three public holidays sit inside the closure, and they don't come out of leave

NSW has public holidays on Friday 25 December, Saturday 26 December and Monday 28 December 2026, then Friday 1 January 2027. Under the National Employment Standards a full-time or part-time employee who'd normally work on one of those days is paid their base rate for the ordinary hours they'd have worked, and the day isn't counted as annual leave. Fair Work's October explainer says this applies even when the employee is on leave during a shutdown. Two catches: a public holiday on a day they don't normally work pays nothing, and you can't change the roster to avoid the payment.

Worked example: an 11-day closure costs a full-timer four days of leave

Take a café in the Sydney CBD closed from Thursday 24 December 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, back trading on the Monday, with two Level 2 employees on the Hospitality Award's $27.08 minimum hourly rate (from 1 July 2026). The award adds a 17.5% loading to annual leave pay.

Treat all seven of the full-timer's days as leave and you'd pay loading on three days that don't carry it, and take 22.8 hours off a balance the NES says they keep. The part-timer's Boxing Day is the one people miss: Saturday 26 December is a public holiday in its own right in NSW, so a part-timer who works Saturdays is paid for it at base rate without working, and it doesn't touch their leave.

Kitchen closed, bar trading: a partial shutdown is still a shutdown

The clause covers shutting down "all or part" of the operation, so closing the kitchen for a fortnight while the bar trades is a temporary shutdown for the kitchen team. The notice goes to the affected employees only, the direction can only cover their rostered hours inside the closure, and anyone who keeps working is paid as normal, with public holiday rates if they work one. Moving a part-time kitchen hand onto the floor instead is a roster change, which needs mutual agreement or seven days' notice under clause 15.5; we've covered what the roster notice rule actually requires separately.

Casuals: no notice required, but tell them anyway

There's nothing in the clause for casuals because there's no leave to direct, and a fortnight with no shifts is allowed. It's also the fortnight they can earn the most anywhere else: a casual Level 2 is on $67.70 an hour for a public holiday under the award, and the venues that stay open are short. Tell them the dates early, tell them when shifts start again, and if you'll want them for Boxing Day at a sister venue, say so now. We've priced what a casual earns across Sydney's Christmas to New Year stretch from their side of the bar.

Where Shiftly fits

A shutdown is the easy fortnight. The hard weeks are either side of it, when the functions stack up and the casuals you didn't roster over the closure have found shifts elsewhere. Shiftly is free workforce management for Australian venues: build the roster, record the shutdown leave against each employee so those days show as unavailable, and approve award-aware timesheets that help you check what a public holiday shift should cost before you approve it rather than after. It's a calculation tool, not a payroll provider, and the business stays responsible for verifying it.

Behind it is the roster that fills itself. Shiftly On-Demand will let you post the shifts your own team can't cover to local hospitality workers, engaged directly by your venue as independent contractors, with Shiftly facilitating the match rather than acting as the employer or an agency. It's coming soon, starting in Sydney, so set up your team and the shutdown leave now and be ready for the January rush. Get started with Shiftly.

Frequently asked questions

How much notice do I have to give for a Christmas shutdown under the Hospitality Award?

28 days' written notice to each affected employee under clause 30.4 of the Hospitality Award, or a shorter period if a majority of the relevant employees agree. The Restaurant Industry Award and the Registered and Licensed Clubs Award say the same at clause 25.4. For a venue closed from Thursday 24 December 2026, the last day is Thursday 26 November 2026.

Can I make staff take unpaid leave if they don't have enough annual leave for the shutdown?

No. Since 1 May 2023 the award only lets you direct leave the employee has already accrued. For the rest of the closure you can agree in writing to leave without pay or annual leave in advance, and if they don't agree you can't impose either. A planned closure isn't a stand down, so roster them onto whatever stays open or pay their ordinary hours.

Do public holidays during a shutdown come out of annual leave?

Not under the National Employment Standards. A full-time or part-time employee who'd normally work on the day is paid their base rate for their ordinary hours and the day isn't deducted from their leave. In NSW that's 25, 26 and 28 December 2026 and 1 January 2027. Casuals aren't paid for public holidays they don't work.

What if I've already missed the 26 November deadline?

You can still ask, you just can't direct. A majority of the relevant employees can agree to a shorter notice period, and any employee can agree to take annual leave, leave in advance or leave without pay over the closure. Without agreement, full-time and part-time staff who'd normally work are paid their ordinary hours for a closure you chose.