Your attention is drawn to the following provisions which are to apply over the Christmas and New Year period 1997/98.

Public holidays

Pursuant to the Banks and Bank Holidays Act 1912, the Christmas and New Year public holidays for New South Wales will be observed on the following dates:

Thursday 25 December 1997 Christmas Day

Friday 26 December 1997 Boxing Day

Thursday 1 January 1998 New Year's Day

Public service holiday

Subject to provisions in enterprise agreements, public servants who are not entitled to a union picnic day or some other special day, such as the Tuesday after Easter, are entitled to a public service holiday during the period Monday 29 December 1997 to Wednesday 31 December 1997.

The day to be observed as the public service holiday in your agency is to be determined in accordance with the Crown Employees (Public Service Conditions of Employment) Award 1997.

As in previous years, the Government requires full services to the public to be maintained on the day determined as the public service holiday and on the remaining working days during this period. Please ensure that sufficient employees remain on duty on Monday 29 December, Tuesday 30 December and Wednesday 31 December to provide full service to the public and that no offices are closed for business during this period without your personal endorsement.

Employees directed to work on the day determined as the public service holiday in your agency are entitled to be absent from duty on one of the two remaining days in the period.

Unless otherwise provided for in enterprise agreements:

• Employees directed to work on all three days are entitled to be paid overtime at the 'public holiday' rate for work performed on the day determined as the public service holiday.
• If rostered to work on all three days, employees entitled to six or more weeks annual leave because they work under a seven day shift arrangement or are required to work on public holidays are entitled to have one day added to their annual leave credit and to an addiitional payment at the rate of half time in respect of the ordinary hours worked on the day determined as the public service holiday.
• Employees whose salary includes payment for work performed on public holidays and who are required to work on the public service holiday, are entitled to have one day added to their annual leave credit. In respect of ordinary hours worked on the day, such employees are entitled to receive additional payment at the rate of half time.
• Unless more generous provisions prescribing overtime and/or work performed on public holidays apply under an award, agreement, determination or enterprise agreement, employees directed to work additional time outside normal working hours on the day determined as the public service holiday are entitled to be compensated at the rate of double time and one half.

Part time employees are entitled to be absent on the public service holiday if normally they would have worked on that day. Those who do normally work on that day are not entitled to compensation.

Concessional leave

The Premier has recently approved concessional leave being granted to employees on either Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve.

For the 1997 festive season, the concessional leave may be granted to employees either on the afternoon of Wednesday 24 December or Wednesday 31 December 1997 subject to departmental convenience. The approval is subject to offices being kept open on each occasion until normal closing times, with adequate staffing to meet all public requirements.

As in the past, the leave will commence at 12 noon for employees working on standard hours. However, in those cases where employees work flexible hours, if full time they must complete 3 ½ hours duty before they are eligible for the concession, if part time they should work half their normal working hours. In the case of part time employees the concession is only available to those part time employees who normally work on the day in question.

For an employee to be entitled to the concession in the afternoon they must have been on duty on the morning of one of the days in question i.e. Wednesday 24 December or Wednesday 31 December 1997.

It would be appreciated if appropriate arrangements could be made so far as your agency is concerned.

Any enquiries from personnel employees of your agency concerning the above may be directed to the Client Contact Officer responsible for providing services to your agency.

These provisions are to apply from December 1997 and each successive year unless advised otherwise.

C Gellatly
Director-General