How Annual Leave Works for FIFO Workers in Australia

FIFO workers do not have one special annual-leave formula. For employees in Australia's national workplace relations system, the answer depends on four things: whether you are casual or permanent, whether you qualify for the extra shiftworker entitlement, which hours are ordinary hours rather than overtime, and what your award or enterprise agreement says about the roster.

That is why “four weeks equals 20 days” can be misleading on an 8/6, 2/1 or 3/1 roster. FIFO annual leave is usually recorded and deducted in hours, based on the ordinary hours you would otherwise have worked.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. It focuses on the national system. If you are outside that system, use your state workplace-relations authority, applicable industrial instrument or professional advice.

The short answer: separate accrual, deduction and pay

These are three different calculations:

Do not try to solve all three by counting calendar days. Start with the document that defines your ordinary hours and roster.

Do FIFO workers get four or five weeks of annual leave?

The Fair Work Ombudsman's annual leave fact sheet, updated 16 January 2026, says employees other than casuals accumulate four weeks of paid annual leave for each year of service. Some shiftworkers receive five weeks.

Being called a FIFO worker, working 12-hour shifts or working nights does not automatically prove that you qualify for five weeks. If an award or registered agreement covers you, check whether it defines you as a shiftworker for the purpose of the NES. An award- and agreement-free employee must meet the separate NES shiftworker criteria described by Fair Work.

An award or enterprise agreement can also provide an entitlement above the NES minimum. Check the actual coverage and leave clauses rather than assuming that everyone at the same mine receives the same amount. Employees of the mine operator, contractors and labour-hire firms can be covered by different instruments.

How annual leave accrues on a FIFO roster

Annual leave accumulates continuously according to an employee's ordinary hours of work. It does not accrue on overtime merely because the overtime is regular or appears on every swing.

This distinction matters when a roster compresses ordinary hours into the on-swing and adds overtime. Fair Work's FIFO averaging and annual leave example describes a 3/1 worker who completes 189 hours across four weeks: 152 ordinary hours and 37 overtime hours. Leave accrues on the 152 ordinary hours, not the overtime.

Your figures may be different. Find the ordinary-hours, averaging and overtime clauses in the award or agreement that covers your job. A payslip showing 12 paid hours for a shift does not necessarily mean all 12 are ordinary hours for leave accrual.

A practical accrual check

Collect one complete roster cycle and mark:

1. the ordinary hours specified by the award or agreement
2. overtime hours
3. paid leave
4. unpaid leave or another excluded period
5. the annual-leave accrual added during that cycle.

Then ask payroll which hours the system used to calculate the accrual and which clause supports that treatment. This produces a much clearer question than asking how many “days” FIFO workers receive.

How much leave is used when you take a swing off?

Annual leave is generally deducted for the ordinary hours you would have worked during the approved absence. Fair Work says an employee who is rostered for different hours on different days uses leave according to the ordinary hours they would have worked on the particular day.

Consider a hypothetical 8/6 roster. If you take the eight rostered workdays off, payroll should identify the ordinary hours attached to those eight days. The six rostered days off are not automatically another six days of annual leave simply because they fall within the same 14-day cycle.

However, do not multiply eight days by the full shift length without checking the instrument. A 12-hour shift may contain a different split of ordinary and overtime hours. The approved leave period, roster, averaging arrangement and relevant clauses all need to match.

The FIFO rosters explained guide can help you map the cycle before you check the leave deduction.

Does annual leave accrue during the off-swing?

There is no safe one-word answer for every FIFO arrangement. Ordinary rostered time off and unpaid authorised leave are not necessarily the same thing.

In CEPU v SIMPEC Pty Ltd (Liability) [2025] FCA 470, the Federal Court considered one enterprise agreement covering employees on a 21-days-on, 7-days-off system. The agreement allowed the R&R period to be treated as unpaid authorised leave. On the wording of that agreement and the Fair Work Act provisions considered, annual and personal leave accrued on ordinary hours during the on-swing but not during that off-swing period.

The decision does not establish that every FIFO off-swing stops leave accrual. The outcome turned on the particular enterprise agreement and its treatment of R&R. The opened Mallesons analysis of the decision also stresses the importance of the instrument's ordinary-hours and leave wording.

If your balance looks lower than expected, search your agreement for:

• ordinary hours and averaging
• overtime
• roster or system of work
• rest and recreation or R&R
• unpaid authorised leave
• service and leave accrual.

Do not apply another worker's result to your employment without checking that you share the same employer, instrument, classification and roster terms.

What should you be paid while on annual leave?

Under the NES, annual leave is paid at the employee's base rate for the ordinary hours in the leave period. The base rate does not include overtime rates, penalties, allowances or bonuses.

An award or registered agreement may provide a more beneficial calculation, including annual leave loading, shift loading or another payment method. Leave loading is not one universal extra percentage for every FIFO worker. Check the leave clause and the rate that applies to your classification.

This is also separate from the total value of an offer. The FIFO salary guide explains why base pay, overtime, allowances and roster assumptions need to be compared separately.

Public holidays, sickness and shutdowns

Several rules can change a leave deduction:

• A public holiday that falls during a period of annual leave is not treated as annual leave, so the balance is not reduced for that day.
• If you become sick or injured while on annual leave, Fair Work says you can use paid sick leave instead for the relevant time. Normal notice and evidence requirements can still matter.
• An employer must not unreasonably refuse a request for annual leave, but awards and agreements can set rules about notice, approval and taking leave.
• A direction to take leave during a shutdown or because a balance is excessive must comply with the applicable award, agreement and NES rules.

Do not assume that a site shutdown, a public holiday during an on-swing or a company leave calendar produces the same result for every employee. Check the rostered ordinary hours and the instrument first.

Seven steps to check your leave balance

Use a representative period—preferably a complete roster cycle:

1. Confirm your employment type. Casual employees generally do not receive paid annual leave; permanent full-time and part-time employees do.
2. Identify the instrument. Check the legal employer on the payslip, then find the applicable enterprise agreement or award and confirm its coverage clause.
3. Find the annual entitlement. Record whether the instrument gives four weeks, the shiftworker five-week entitlement or something more beneficial.
4. Map ordinary hours. Separate ordinary hours, overtime, paid leave and unpaid periods for the cycle.
5. Recalculate leave taken. For each approved leave day, record the ordinary hours you would have worked.
6. Check leave pay. Compare base pay, any applicable loading and the payslip lines with the instrument.
7. Reconcile the balance. Start with the opening balance, add accrual, subtract approved leave and compare the result with payroll.

Keep the roster, agreement or award, leave approval, payslips and any roster changes. Avoid relying only on an app balance if you cannot see how it was calculated.

What to ask payroll when the numbers do not match

Send a focused written query. Include:

• the roster cycle and dates
• your opening and closing annual-leave balance
• the ordinary hours and overtime you identified
• the hours deducted for each leave day
• the award or agreement clause you believe applies
• the exact difference you want explained.

Ask payroll to confirm the instrument, ordinary-hours calculation, shiftworker status, treatment of off-swing time and any leave loading. If the response does not resolve the issue, contact your union if you are a member, the Fair Work Ombudsman, or an employment adviser. Do not post unredacted payslips or agreements containing personal information in public groups.

Questions to ask before accepting a FIFO role

Get these answers in writing:

1. Am I employed as a casual, part-time or full-time employee?
2. Which award or enterprise agreement covers the role?
3. How many ordinary hours and overtime hours are in each roster cycle?
4. Do I meet the instrument's NES shiftworker definition for five weeks of leave?
5. How is a full on-swing absence deducted from my leave balance?
6. How is the off-swing classified for service and leave accrual?
7. What leave loading or other payment applies while I am on leave?
8. Are there shutdown periods, notice requirements or rules for excessive balances?

The practical takeaway is to compare hours and documents, not calendar-day shortcuts. Map the roster, identify ordinary hours, check the leave clause and reconcile one complete cycle. Then compare the whole arrangement—including pay, travel and time off—when you browse current FIFO jobs. If travel days are also unclear, use the separate FIFO travel-day pay guide.