Newly-arrived British bloke is left surprised by Aussie Christmas custom: ‘I want solutions’

A British expat who moved to Australia a month ago was shocked to learn it’s common for workers to take up to two weeks off over Christmas.

Cam, a tradie working in South East Queensland, shared a video questioning the extended break after his boss prepared to close their construction site on Thursday.

‘I get told, “What’re you doing over Christmas? We’re shut for two weeks. We come back on the sixth of January”,’ he said.

‘What? I thought I was coming to work next week.’

Cam claimed his hours over the festive period in England were completely different from those in Australia and he was often required to work on major holidays.  

‘Yeah I’ll have Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day off but I’ll work the rest,’ he said.

‘In the UK you’d be lucky to get Christmas Eve off and New Year’s Eve off.

‘Apparently it’s very common knowledge and I should’ve known.’

British expat Cam (pictured) was shocked to learn he’d have two weeks off work for the Christmas holidays

Cam ended captioned his video on Instagram: ‘I need answers’. 

Several Aussies were amused to hear his confusion, but reassured him the break is standard practice.

‘Unless you work in retail or hospitality, the rest of the country shuts down! Enjoy!’ one said.

‘Work to live not live to work, welcome to Australia,’ another wrote.

‘Dude, it’s summer and there’s two cricket tests on. How are we supposed to work through that?’ another said.

‘December and January are go slow months, mate,’ another wrote.

Often called a ‘shutdown’ period, many Australians are given an extended leave over the holidays that is not taken from their annual leave.

Depending on the industry, the holiday usually lasts from December 25 until early January.

Not all workers are entitled to days off during the holidays and may be required to request annual leave, depending on their contract.

Public holidays also differ between states and territories with only Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory recognising Christmas Eve as a holiday.

Similarly, in the UK it is up to the employer whether to give staff public holidays.

Workers also have the option to use their entitled leave to request time off on a holiday.

Cam claimed he typically only had the days surrounding Christmas off.

‘I remember my office closed for four working days, max,’ he wrote.