Last week we asked our readers to send us info relating to the office leave arrangements over the Christmas period. The Christmas and New Year period is a traditional utilisation down-time and partners, calculating that a regime of forcing staff to take annual leave will “kill two birds with one stone” (ie annual leave will fall in a low-billing period), have naturally resorted to the unmerriest of recent traditions; involuntary annual leave.
Thanks to everyone who wrote in.
As you’re no doubt aware, this year Christmas and Boxing Day fall on a Saturday and Sunday, meaning that the following Monday (27/12) and Tuesday (28/12) are public holidays. But for a forced office closure, workers would be expected to attend the office on 29/12, 30/12 and 31/12. New Year’s Day falls on a Saturday, meaning the following Monday (3/01) is a public holiday.
Our anonymous sources suggest that the arrangements this year for major Australian law firms are as follows [UPDATE: we have rearranged this in numerical order from the best deal (No.1) to the worst deal (No.9). Some new entries have been included too]:
1) Baker & McKenzie: Office closed from 24/12/2010 – 04/01/2011. Unless exceptional circumstances exist and are communicated to supervising partners, legal fee-earner staff must take 2 days of annual leave. NB: Bakers staff receive a “Picnic Day” over the break, meaning that only two days are deducted from leave balances.
1) Norton Rose: Office closed from 24/12/2010 – 04/01/2011. Unless exceptional circumstances exist and are communicated to supervising partners, legal fee-earner staff must take 2 days of annual leave. Norton Rose receive one day of ex gratia leave.
1) Freehills: Office closed from 24/12/2010 – 04/01/2011. Unless exceptional circumstances exist and are communicated to supervising partners, legal fee-earner staff must take 2 days of annual leave. NB: Freehills staff receive a “Freehills Day” over the break, meaning that only two days are deducted from leave balances.
4) Mallesons: Office closed from 23/12/2010 – 05/01/2011. Unless exceptional circumstances exist and are communicated to supervising partners, legal fee-earner staff must take 3 days of annual leave.Mallesons staff receive 2 days of ex gratia leave.
5) Clayton Utz: Office closed from 24/12/2010 – 04/01/2011. Unless exceptional circumstances exist and are communicated to supervising partners, legal fee-earner staff must take 3 days of annual leave. NB: Clayton Utz staff receive a “Picnic Day” each year (an additional day of annual leave), partially offsetting the encumberance of having to take annual leave as per the whims of the partnership.
6) Blake Dawson: Office closed from 24/12/2010 – 04/01/2011. Unless exceptional circumstances exist and are communicated to supervising partners, legal fee-earner staff must take 3 days of annual leave.
7) Corrs Chambers Wesgarth: Office closed from 24/12/2010 – 10/01/2011. Unless exceptional circumstances exist and are communicated to supervising partners, legal fee-earner staff must take 5 days of annual leave. Staff receive 2 day of ex gratia annual leave.
8] Allens Arthur Robinson: Office closed from 23/12/2010 – 10/01/2011. Christmas Eve is a free day off. Unless exceptional circumstances exist and are communicated to supervising partners, legal fee-earner staff must take 7 days of annual leave.
9) Minter Ellison: Office closed from 24/12/2010 – 10/01/2011. Unless exceptional circumstances exist and are communicated to supervising partners, legal fee-earner staff must take 7 days of annual leave.
9) DLA Phillips Fox: Office closed from 24/12/2010 – 10/01/2011. Unless exceptional circumstances exist and are communicated to supervising partners, legal fee-earner staff must take 7 days of annual leave.
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Im forced to take 7 days as well in a new position. Fortunately we have been taken over and the new company pays 5 days additional “shutdown leave”. Forcing people to take 7 out of 20 days of annual leave is unfair.
Mallesons will be shut all day Christmas Eve. Which means only 2 days of forced annual leave.
Kudos to Freehills.
There are so many squealers in this industry. Harden up and enjoy your holiday! The crazy thing is that offices were still empty when annual leave wasn’t compulsory…
I think there should be more acknowledgment of the accounting firms too. PwC has a compulsory shutdown that makes the law firm shutdowns look generous – 18 Dec to 10 Jan. And I’m not in audit, but I have plenty of mates who are being forced to do stocktakes on new years’ day. So – “you have to take 3 weeks off for “family reasons” but we’re going to force you to work on one of the major family days, right in the middle so you can’t go on a holiday!”
Corrs has two free days, not one as reported.
Forcing staff to take annual leave should be made illegal – simple as that.
Norton Rose have the same deal as Freehills. Only two days of leave are charged for the holiday season.
Glad I’m not at Allens… that is harsh!
Well, if you can demonstrate that the request to take annual leave during annual shutdown is not reasonable, then you could write to your HR team and tell them you believe they are breaching the Fair Work Act and make a claim for adverse action? Off you go…
Agree with Dudester. What about the accounting firms? They have traditionally closed over xmas/new year for years. I worked at kpmg for 7 years and EVERY christmas we had forced leave. Last year it was 3 weeks!! This year they are closed 24 Dec to 10 Jan as well
PricewaterhouseCoopers made the firm take 3 weeks forced leave commencing 18 December. So we lose most of our annual leave over this time… Ive had enough…Im using the forced leave to tidy my resume up to move on. The firm is a shambles… there have been so many quality people leave in the last couple of months across all groups. Good luck next Christmas PwC!!!
I don’t mind taking the days between 24 Dec and 1 Jan off, that is in my contract and I knew what I was signing up for before I joined.
But can companies force annual leave on workers up until 10 Jan just because it’s in the down period?
Can any of our legal friends advise?
what about the accounting firms? PwC forces everyone off from last Friday until the 10th of January. The law firms have it easy.
Jeez…. two days forced leave and you are all whining. Try working in-house where everyone is forced to take between 5 and 7 days off. Private Practice lawyers have no idea….. and yes it is legal to enforce mandatory annual leave for office shutdowns.
Ernst & Young is on forced leave from 24 December to 10 Jan.
Some sub-service lines finished on the 18th.
wow allens are terrible! but then we all knew that anyway…
Life is certainly tough for young Australian lawyers, those contemporary serfs, who are bound to their workplaces as their predecessors were once bound to the lands of their lord. Wake up! You’re not in chains — if you’re unhappy in your job, stop complaining incessantly about it and do something else. But there’s nothing wrong or unlawful in law firms requiring lawyers to take some leave over the holiday period.
Noleavenolife, I don’t think it’s fair to believe that firms are being unreasonable only when they’re breaching the law. There is also the concept of good faith to your employees, and forcing three weeks of leave during the most expensive time of the year is not fair. It’s just another example of these companies essentially negating any pay rises through indirect means, in this case forcing people to take holidays when it is ridiculously expensive.
Back in my day it was more about everyone vying to be the ones allowed to take this time off.
In my mind the real issue is the conditionality attached to this “leave”. In my office (and from anecdotal evidence in many others), the expectation is that you will take leave but can then be ordered back to work if for whatever reason it suits the business interest that you do so. So you have the ludicrous situation where your firm actually expects you to take an enforced two week break but all of it is contingent on your current matters. So you can’t plan anything, or actually relax, unless you know that ALL of your clients aren’t planning anything. That is, it’s the leave you take when you can’t actually take leave.
But it’s all for the greater good, right…
@Sunny which industry are you in!? I’m in house and there is not a single day of forced leave. That said there will probably be no one at all on the legal floor for the few days between Xmas and New Year’s.
Although it is painful to admit, you are right. I am one of those who have found myself, as the year wore on and the depression became prolonged, incessantly complaining -just because I couldn’t hold it in any longer. This affected my relationships with colleagues and the partners as my true (negative) feelings showed more and more as time went by. I was also letting those complainers around me get to me and justify my own complaining.
It has made work even more painful and morale is very low. I think it’s time to stop complaining as we all have choices and plenty of opportunities out there if we don’t want to stay where we are.
If you don’t like it, leave. I left MSJ for a lot more money and now i also get the three days off in between xmas and new year in addition to my annual leave. I don’t even work the crazy hours anymore. Woohoo…..
Clayton Utz picnic day only applies to Sydney staff. other states are required to and annual leave day
Inks, who cares?