Thousands of Australian workers will get an extra week of annual leave – these are the jobs that will benefit

Hundreds of thousands of Australian workers will get an annual holiday extension from four to five weeks.

Bunnings and IKEA have already agreed to the change, with the proposal put forward by the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA).

The exciting news for many retail and warehouse workers is that other major companies are considering the increase, including Woolworths, Kmart and Coles.

Employee Matters founder Natasha Hawker shared sunrise On Monday, she liked the proposal because it could help attract and retain staff.

Ms Hawker said it's a great way to think about what a company can offer an employee because that's what potential employees focus on.

“It's the tightest job market I've seen in about 30 years and you have to hire the best people, but you also want to keep the best. [so] this is a great attraction strategy,” she said.

Ms Hawker said she would see the right to extra leave extended to the corporate world, although staff already have the option to buy extra leave.

In 2023, IKEA increased paid leave from 20 to 25 days for 4,000 employees.

Shift workers receive six weeks of annual leave.

Greg Day, fellow IKEA Australia experience manager, told Daily Mail Australia the extra week of annual leave would help them attract the best employees.

“We believe this will create a more engaged workforce who can more easily balance work and life and want to build meaningful careers in retail with us,” he said.

In May 2023, the SDA successfully advocated for Bunnings staff to also receive an annual holiday extension to five weeks, which was implemented in November 2023.

Bunnings will gradually introduce the extra week over a period of three years for full-time staff in their stores and distribution centres.

Bunnings Chief People Officer Damian Zahra told Daily Mail Australia the increase in annual leave came after “extensive consultation” with team members.

“We appreciate their contributions to the success of our company and we want to reward them for their great work every day serving our customers and communities,” he said.

'The new package offers higher wages, more flexibility and choice in the way they organize their working week, and a phased increase in annual leave.

“We want to attract and retain a high-performing team by offering industry-leading benefits and a great culture.”

SDA NSW secretary Bernie Smith told Daily Mail Australia the move is positive.

“There has been no wage swap to achieve five weeks' holiday per year,” he said.

'A fifth week of annual leave could help narrow the gap between productivity gains and wages that has emerged over the past twenty years.

'Low long-term wage growth has created a seven percent gap between productivity gains and wages for retail workers over the past two decades.

'The time for retail workers to gain greater annual leave entitlement has come.'

The union secretary said the SDA is pursuing the additional week of annual leave for employees after consultation with workplace representatives.

'We also know the importance of a healthy work-life balance for employees and the benefits this brings to customers and businesses.

'In modern retail, where work is often done 24 hours a day, on weekends and on some public holidays, the extra week of annual leave is well-deserved time that goes back into the pockets of employees.'

Mr Smith said the increase in holidays can only be good for the Australian economy as people having extra free time will lead to extra spending, especially in the 'retail, hospitality and tourism sectors'.

He said the SDA will continue to work to push the fifth week to other companies.

'Employers such as Big W, Apple and The Reject Shop have either taken a fifth week of paid leave or are moving towards five weeks of annual leave.

'[We] will continue to work with other employers as future agreements emerge.”

While the increase in annual leave will keep employees happy, Ms Hawker said there were some downsides, such as additional costs for employers and scheduling conflicts.

“I think these are really offset by the increase in productivity and the increase in morale (because of the extra week),” she said.