Most small and medium businesses in Australia take a break over the Christmas period. Here is a guide to help you make this a painless process. The key points are – plan early, communicate clearly, and comply with Fair Work obligations. But not forgetting the most important part – enjoy your time off work!
1. Plan Early and Communicate Clearly
- Notify staff well in advance: Ideally by early November, outline your shutdown dates and expectations.
- Let your customers know: Notify your customers well in advance.
- Use multiple channels: Email, website, staff meetings, social media, customer announcements and internal platforms to ensure everyone is informed. Make sure no one is surprised by this.
- Clarify leave requirements: Let employees know if they’ll need to use annual leave and how to apply.
- For your suppliers and partners: Let key suppliers know your closure dates to prevent unnecessary deliveries or maintenance during your break.
2. Understand Legal Obligations
- Fair Work Act compliance: Under the National Employment Standards (NES), employers can direct employees to take annual leave during a shutdown if their award or agreement allows it. You can read more about this HERE.
- Check awards and agreements: Some modern awards have specific rules about shutdowns; others may not. If no clause exists, mutual agreement is required.
- Notice period: Most awards require at least 4 weeks’ notice before directing annual leave.
3. Manage Finances, Leave and Payroll
- Annual leave balances: Ensure employees have enough leave accrued. If not, consider unpaid leave options (with consent).
- Public holidays: Employees are entitled to be paid for public holidays that fall during the shutdown if they would normally work those days.
- Payroll scheduling: Adjust pay runs to accommodate bank closures and holiday processing delays.
- Chase outstanding invoices: Give clients a friendly reminder to pay before you close. The end-of-year rush is a notorious time for delayed payments, so start this process early.
- Pay your suppliers: Clear your own accounts so you’re not dealing with overdue bills when you return.
4. Operational and Security Preparation
- Set up out-of-office messages: Update email and phone systems with holiday closure info.
- Secure your premises and data: Lock up physical assets and ensure cybersecurity protocols are in place. The best time to rob someone (physically or virtually) is when you know they won’t be there.
- Backup your data: You should be doing this at ALL times. Protect yourself from any potential IT issues by making sure that all critical business data is backed up remotely.
- Check the fridge: And the bins. Most of us have had an experience of opening the door on the first day back to a bad smell. A very bad smell.
5. Consider Flexible Staffing
- Skeleton crew: If partial operations are going to continue, roster essential staff and offer incentives if needed.
- Remote monitoring: Use automation or remote access tools to oversee systems if applicable. But keep in mind that you need a break too.
6. The Christmas Rush
- Opportunity checklist: For many businesses the Christmas period (or the lead up to it) is their peak period. If this is the case for you then you should plan out early on how best maximise your takings. Ponder what sort of marketing is best. What areas to concentrate on and how best to prepare.
- Plan, review, revise: Review what has worked in the past (and what didn’t) to improve your profit margin for this year. After it’s all over, look at what worked this time around as a guide for next year.
MOST IMPORTANT: Relax. This is the time you and most other people are having a well deserved holiday. Do everything beforehand so you don’t have to do anything on your break. This is when you get to rest and recharge. Resist the temptation to do “just one little thing”. You and your business will be all the better for it when you come back next year.
