Thales' Bendigo staff will be forced to take an extra week's holiday in April after the defence contractor confirmed a delay with engine supplies had impacted their schedule.
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Thales on Tuesday confirmed a two-week break was scheduled around Easter and Anzac Day, but delays have extended the break by a week.
The company said that affected staff would be paid during the shutdown, after speculation earlier in the year that they would be forced to take leave without pay.
It is unclear what the exact leave arrangements will be.
The delay is due to the Hawkei engine supplier - Steyr Motors in Austria - undergoing restructuring.
"Thales has been working closely with staff, suppliers, unions and Defence to minimise the disruption to the production schedule," a Thales spokesperson said.
"Thales is fully committed to ensuring we maintain long-term, ongoing employment for our people.
"There will be no requirement for staff to take leave without pay. Some delays to the production schedule are unavoidable and outside our control."
In February, Senator Alex Gallacher asked the head of the Defence Force's land systems division whether 150 staff were told they could be stood down without pay for the month of April due to supply delays.
Major General Andrew Bottrell responded by saying that Thales had not provided such information to him. He said the engine supplier had gone into voluntary receivership and Thales had entered a consortium intending to bailout the company.
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