Christmas Leave Checklist

It’s been a strange year. If you were in Melbourne, all the normal cues that Christmas was around the corner were missed. What happened to Spring racing carnival? The AFL Grand Final? The Myer Christmas windows – we’d normally be in and around the CBD regularly leading up to Christmas and see the transformation, but this year, not so much. It’s certainly been unusual.

Christmas is here though, and even if you haven’t yet returned to your workplace, you still need to plan if your business is closing during this period.

To save you the time we’ve compiled a list of things to think about to help with this planning:

  1. Firstly, when are you closing and reopening and have you notified all your employees, customers and suppliers of these dates?
  2. Have you organised Christmas Cards (ecards) for your work associates? This is a good way to let people know your closing dates.
  3. Do you have any payrolls that fall during your closure period? If yes, have you planned to process them early or future date payments?
  4. Do staff have sufficient leave entitlements? If not, have discussions been had?
  5. Have your staff completed leave forms for the period they will be on leave? Are they taking annual leave, long service leave, unpaid leave?
  6. Public holidays – make sure you know when they fall and which staff are entitled to them.
  7. Utilities – if utility payments fall due during your closure period either organise to pay them early, future date the payments or organise direct debits so you can move into Christmas knowing there is no chance of any telephone / electricity disconnections.
  8. Insurances – make sure all your insurance premiums are up to date, such as business insurance, professional indemnity, workcover, life insurance, motor vehicle and of course your house insurance.

We know it can be an overwhelming time of year and we’re here to help. Contact us for more information.

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