Australia’s biggest unions are ramping up pressure on the Albanese government to rewrite the national employment standards, including a pathway to a four-day workweek and a boost to annual leave for millions of workers.
What The ASU Is Asking For
The Australian Services Union, which represents more than 135,000 workers across sectors such as transport, social services, local government and airlines, has told a federal review it wants a standardised four-day week of 30.4 hours with no loss of pay.
Its submission calls for:
- A legislated four-day week/30.4-hour standard with full pay.
- At least five weeks’ annual leave as the new minimum, with six weeks for regular shift workers, again without any pay cut.
- “Roster justice” rules, giving shift workers predictable patterns and at least two weeks’ notice of roster changes.
- Six months’ paid notice for workers whose jobs are made redundant due to AI.
- Scrapping medical certificates for single-day absences, with certificates only required after two days.
ASU secretary Emeline Gaske says members struggle to get longer blocks of leave approved and are often left with “unreasonable work demands” when colleagues take time off.
She argues that modern standards need to reflect constant connectivity, caring responsibilities and rising living costs, and that roster certainty is essential for arranging childcare and healthcare.
What The ACTU Wants Changed
The ACTU, which represents about 2 million workers, has lodged a separate submission calling for:
- Maximum weekly hours cut from 38 to 35.
- An 8.5 per cent increase to hourly rates as a first step towards a four-day week.
- Annual leave lifted from four to five weeks for most workers and from five to six weeks for regular shift workers.
- 10 days’ paid reproductive health leave as a new national standard.
The ACTU notes that Australian workers perform an average of 4.5 extra weeks of unpaid overtime each year, rising to about 6.4 weeks for younger workers. It argues that adding one extra week of annual leave would increase employment costs by roughly 2 per cent, but lower turnover and reduce time lost to injury and stress, which would offset those costs.
Reproductive leave would cover needs such as IVF, miscarriage, menstrual pain, menopause, endometriosis and prostate cancer screening, which most workers currently manage using sick leave or unpaid time.
Business Resistance & What’s Next
Business groups have pushed back, with Business Council of Australia chief executive Bran Black urging the government not to adopt blanket changes to leave and hours and to focus instead on poor productivity growth, inflation and living standards.
The competing submissions will feed into the first major review of the national employment standards in 13 years, putting the question of a four-day week, more leave and new AI protections squarely on the federal government’s agenda.
