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Some awards and registered agreements allow annual leave to be cashed out. Award and agreement-free employees may agree with their employer to cash out annual leave at any time. However, whether or not an employee is award and agreement-free, the following applies:

•  the employee must retain at least 4 weeks annual leave
•  there must be a written agreement between the employee and employer on each occasion
•  the payment for the cashed out leave has to be at least the amount that the employee would have been paid if they took the leave. Annual leave does not accumulate for a period of annual leave that has been cashed out. An award or registered agreement may also limit the amount of annual leave an employee can cash out or the timeframe in which it can be cashed out. For example, in most awards, the maximum amount of accrued annual leave that may be cashed out in any 12 month period is 2 weeks. It is unlawful for an employer to force (or try to force) an employee to make (or not make) an agreement to cash out annual leave. For more information, please see our Protections at work fact sheet at fairwork.gov.au/factsheets Hearing & speech assistance