Fair Work issues official warning to Australian employees about taking GTA sick leave

Fair Work has warned Australian workers ‘not to chuck a sickie’ when the new Grand Theft Auto video game launches globally on November 19.

A surge in annual leave requests around the launch date has left many employees unable to take time off, with some considering calling in sick just to get their ‘nostalgic’ gaming fix.

It’s been a long 13-year wait for GTA fans around the world, including those in Australia, with the last major instalment released in September 2013. 

So it comes as no surprise that many are vying for time off around the same period so they can play their favourite childhood video game. 

However, Fair Work has advised gamers that playing Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6) when it launches isn’t a valid excuse for paid or unpaid leave.

Under the National Employment Standards, personal leave is reserved for situations such as illness or injury, or caring for an immediate family or household member who is ill, injured or affected by an unexpected emergency.

‘Unpaid leave is not one specific catch-all entitlement. In some situations, you have a specific right to unpaid leave. The question to ask yourself when it comes to unpaid leave is: Why do I need the time off?’ Fair Work officials said. 

‘Permanent employees can access unpaid carer’s leave if they’ve run out of paid sick/carer’s leave to care for a sick/injured family/household member. We don’t think this one will apply.

‘Expecting a new family member? You can take up to 12 months unpaid parental leave to care for your child. Though it’s been in the oven for a while, a video game isn’t a child.’

Those who got their annual leave request approved in time revealed they were able to take between two days to two weeks off to play GTA. 

‘I took two weeks off, one is paid the other is not but I’ve been working six days a week for the past three months. When GTA comes out, I’ll be gaming like when I was 15 years old,’ one said.

‘Man I’m a proper nerd gamer and I only booked two days. This game is going to be around for a long time. The last thing I want to do is blow through massive sections of it quickly,’ another shared. 

‘I put in two days, the 19th and 20th. I had a conversation with my line manager and he pushed me to use more annual leave because I still have a lot left, so guess I’m taking another three days off for it,’ one revealed.

‘I took two weeks off work – one week paid, the other unpaid. I’ve waited too long for this game, it’s going to be worth it,’ another added. 

In early September, Australians were warned to avoid planning holidays around November 19 after an increasing number of employees requested time off for the same period.

For one employee working in admin at a commercial real estate company, it was already too late to request time off after his boss realised why so many workers wanted the same date off.

‘My team has a few gamers and we’ve been super hyped about GTA 6. Some of us grew up playing GTA in our childhood,’ he said in a Reddit thread.

‘In our last team meeting the team leader warned, ‘Just so you know any leave around November 19th may require further explanation for approval. We’ve seen a large number of leave applied for this date and we’re understaffed. HR knows why this is happening. It’s that GTA game”.

The employee said he was planning on taking November 19 to 27 off work.

‘But a lot of people from other teams have applied for annual leave on these days and it’s flagged as unusual,’ he explained.

‘Do I take the risk? I can’t fake being sick. But I don’t want to miss out on something I waited for so long.’

His dilemma was met with 680 comments – with many weighing in.

‘It’s annual leave. You don’t need to justify it. It’s literally your own time to do with what you will,’ one suggested.

‘You should have just been prepared and been the first to apply and get it approved. If you are short-staffed then maybe take the following week and try to avoid spoilers. I wouldn’t risk sick leave because it’ll be pretty obvious,’ another shared.

‘If you do take a sick day for it you know you’ll be crucified right? Personally, I’m also very hyped for GTA 6 but taking time off right on launch might not be the play, there will be so many people trying to play at launch that servers will probably go down and there’ll be delays,’ one explained.

‘My previous manager was a gamer so she knew when big games were coming out and braced for an influx of leave requests. She’d ask for more info if you applied for leave around those times so she could prioritise requests with plans that couldn’t be changed (e.g. weddings, travelling, etc),’ another added.

Meanwhile, many GTA fans shared their excitement after their annual leave got approved so they could stay home and play the new video game.

‘I’m taking Thursday and Friday off because nobody in my team plays games. I felt a little embarrassed as a 40-year-old asking my similarly aged boss for time off to play a video game, and she didn’t care one bit and was happy to approve,’ the man said.

‘I guess if I worked in an industry with more people interested in gaming I might see how it would be a problem if half the company wanted to take the same day off though.’

And it’s not just corporate workers getting warnings about taking annual leave around the release of GTA 6.

‘My husband’s work actually sent an email out about it. He works at a hospital,’ one woman said. 

Many fans pointed out the game won’t be released until 4pm AEDT on November 19 so it would be better to request November 20 instead.

‘Just take Friday off, because the game won’t be available until 4pm on Thursday anyway. Play it when you get home Thursday and into the long weekend,’ one said.

‘All those taking Thursday off in Australia are wasting their time because that game won’t be ready until the afternoon.’

While another said: ‘The second week is the play. Everyone off during launch week will encounter bugs, even if the game releases flawlessly, by the time they are all back on deck and gushing over this or that feature, you’ll be home experiencing it yourself. Take a week from the 27th.’

One agreed, saying: ‘As a gamer you know damn well the launch will be buggy as hell and full of flaws. Wait a month.’