What's an otherwise working day?

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Accepted Answer

An otherwise working day is a day you would have been working if the day wasn’t a public holiday, sick leave, bereavement leave, annual holiday or alternative holiday for you.
You’re entitled to a paid day off work on a public holiday or alternative holiday, and may take sick leave or bereavement leave, only on days that are otherwise working days for you. If you work on a public holiday and the day is an otherwise working day for you, you’re entitled to an alternative holiday (unless you’re employed to work only on public holidays).
Annual holidays can only be taken on days that would be otherwise working days.
It’s easy to work out and agree with your employer whether or not you would otherwise have worked on the day in question because your working pattern or roster is constant.
If it’s unclear whether a day is an otherwise working day, the things you and your employer need to consider in trying to reach agreement include:
• what your employment agreement says
• your usual work patterns
• any other relevant factors such as: if you work for your employer only when work is available, your employer's rosters or other similar systems, you and your employer’s reasonable expectations as to whether you would have worked that day, if you would normally have worked if it wasn’t a holiday (public or alternative) or if you weren’t on leave (sick or bereavement).
Your employer can’t just rely on one of these and then conclude that the day is not an otherwise working day. If the day falls during a closedown period, the above factors need to be taken into account as if the closedown period weren’t in effect.
Your employer can’t take you off the roster on a public holiday when it’s a day you would otherwise have worked on, to avoid giving you public holiday entitlements. Not recognising your holiday entitlements is against the law.
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