Long service leave

Australian long service legislation is currently in a transitional state, pending development of a uniform national standard.

Most employee's entitlements arise from state or territory legislation.

For employees in industries or occupations covered by industrial awards, long service leave entitlements are determined by the award if the award includes long service leave terms. If the award does not consider long service leave entitlements, employees under this award should instead refer to state or territory legislation. Note that only pre-modern awards (industrial awards which existed prior to 1 January 2010) contain terms regarding entitlements. Modern awards do not include long service leave content. As such, these are being slowly phased out to allow for a new, centralised system.

For all other employees, minimum entitlements are derived from the relevant state or territory long service leave laws.

See below for a high level summary of long service leave legislation in each state or territory:

• Commonwealth (applies to federal public servants): 3 months on full pay after 10 years' continuous service.{{Cite Legislation AU|Cth|act|lslea1976415|Long Service Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Act 1976}} However should a person join the Commonwealth from a State government that provides LSL at a rate greater than the Commonwealth and the person utilised that LSL before joining the Commonwealth, the Commonwealth will permanently withhold some of the person's Commonwealth LSL due to the way they interpret section 18(1) of the LSL Act. This is because an allowance for the different accrual rates is no longer made. In effect, a person can work for the Commonwealth for 10 years and accrue 90 days of LSL but will only have 63 days available; the other 27 days is permanently withheld.{{cn|date=April 2024}}
• Australian Capital Territory: 6.066 weeks after 7 years' continuous service. For each year thereafter, employees are entitled to a further LSL accrual, at a rate of 1/5 of a month LSL per year.
• New South Wales: 2 months' leave after 10 years' continuous service. One month's leave for each subsequent 5 years of continuous service. Pro-rata payment on termination if they have completed at least five years of service with their employer, and were was dismissed for a reason other than misconduct, or resigned due to illness, injury, other pressing necessity, or the death of a coworker.
• Northern Territory: 13 weeks after 10 years' continuous service.{{Cite web |last=Northern Territory Government |title=Long service leave |url=https://nt.gov.au/employ/for-employees-in-nt/holidays-and-leave/long-service-leave |access-date=23 April 2022}}
• Queensland: 8.6667 weeks after 10 years' continuous service. 5 years after that, a further 4.3333 weeks. Employees who complete at least 7 years of continuous service may receive a pro-rata payment on termination if they were dismissed for a reason other than their conduct, capacity or performance; they resigned due to illness, injury, other pressing necessity, or they were terminated by their death.
• South Australia: 13 weeks after 10 years' continuous service. 1.3 weeks for each subsequent year of service. A pro-rata payment is available for employees who terminate after 7 years continuous service.{{Cite web |last=Safe Work SA |title=Long service leave entitlement |url=https://www.safework.sa.gov.au/workers/wages-and-conditions/long-service-leave/accruing-leave |access-date=23 April 2022}}
• Tasmania: 8+2/3 weeks in respect of the first 10 years of continuous service and 4+1/3 weeks in respect of every subsequent 5 years of continuous service. (For mining workers, the entitlement is 13 weeks in respect of every 10 years of continuous service.){{cite web|title=WorkSafe Tasmania: Long service leave|url=https://www.worksafe.tas.gov.au/laws/long_service_leave|access-date=18 October 2019}}
• Victoria: Accrues at a rate of one week for each 60 weeks of continuous employment (approximately 0.866 weeks per year), and can be taken any time after 7 years' continuous service.{{cite web|title=Long Service Leave Act 2018|url=http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/num_act/lsla201812o2018225/s6.html|access-date=12 January 2019}}
• Western Australia: 8.6667 weeks after each period of 10 years' continuous service.

Within a limited number of industries, such as construction, coal mining, contract cleaning industries and the public sector, it is possible to transfer long-service leave entitlements from one employer to another, as long as the employee remains in the same state. Known as portable long service leave this is done mostly through specific legislated schemes which employers in those industries pay into, and which administer the funds for employees.{{cite web |title=Home – Long Service Corporation | url=http://www.longservice.nsw.gov.au/ |publisher=Long Service Corporation |access-date=24 October 2012}}{{cite web |title=How portable long service leave works. What is QLeave? |url=https://www.qleave.qld.gov.au/community-services/workers/how-portable-long-service-leave-works |website=QLeave |publisher=State of Queensland (QLeave) |access-date=12 January 2023}}

The Australian Senate in November 2015 requested a committee to inquire into portable long service leave schemes, to consider how portable schemes might be structured, what role the Australian Federal Government might play in helping to establish a scheme, and to evaluate the effect that the differing State long service entitlements will have on a national scheme (given the state-based long service leave provisions were all practically different).{{cite web |title=The feasibility of, and options for, creating a national long service standard, and the portability of long service and other entitlements |url=https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Education_and_Employment/LSL_Portability/Report |website=Australian Parliament House |publisher=Commonwealth of Australia |access-date=12 January 2023 |date=25 February 2016}} Three recommendations were made: that the states and territories consider developing a nationally consistent scheme, the Australian Bureau of Statistics examine the development of an insecure work indicator, and detailed modelling be undertaken about the potential cost to employees for extending portable LSL to all workers.

By January 2023, there was no national scheme.{{cite web |title=Long service leave |url=https://www.fairwork.gov.au/leave/long-service-leave |website=Fair Work Ombudsman |publisher=Commonwealth of Australia |access-date=12 January 2023}}

Long service leave is a benefit peculiar to Australia (and possibly some civil servants in India), and arises from the colonial heritage of each country. There is also a similar system of sabbatical leave in Finland.{{cite web|title=European Labour Law Network |url=http://www.labourlawnetwork.eu/national_labour_law_latest_country_reports/national_legislation/legislative_developments/prm/109/v__detail/id__322/category__11/index.html|access-date=15 September 2014}} Long service leave developed from the concept of furlough,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article201885876 |title=South Australian lawsuits |newspaper=Evening Journal |volume=XL |issue=11124 |location=South Australia |date=10 October 1906 |access-date=12 January 2023 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}} which stems from the Dutch word verlof (meaning leave), where in the colonies was leave granted from military service.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2190008 |title=The Army |newspaper=The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser |volume=XXVI |issue=1472 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=3 March 1828 |access-date=12 January 2023 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}

In Australia, the benefit was first granted to Victorian and South Australian public servants in the 1860s. The nature of the leave allowed public servants, after 10 years' service, to sail "home" to England or elsewhere, safe in the knowledge that they would be able to resume their positions upon their return to Australia.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}}

Section 37 of the Victorian Public Service Act of 1862 read: "Where any officer desires to visit Europe or some other distant country if he have continued in the civil service of the colony at least ten years and have not been reduced for misconduct or deprived of leave of absence under this Act the Governor in council may grant to him leave of absence upon half-salary for a period not exceeding twelve months but for such period of absence such officer shall not be entitled to receive any annual increment."{{cite news |title=The Civil Service Act of Victoria |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13232023 |access-date=2019-11-28 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |date=1862-07-30 |page=8}}

Over the period from 1950 to 1975, the benefit spread beyond the public service, mainly as a result of pressure from non-government employees seeking comparability with public servants.

In the 19th century, furlough as a benefit as it is now known, was a privilege granted by legislation to the Colonial and Indian Services.

• Employee benefits
• Labour law
• Parental leave
• Sick leave

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• {{cite web |url = http://www.deewr.gov.au/WorkplaceRelations/WRMC/Documents/Long_service.pdf |date = May 1999 |work = Labour Ministers Council Research Papers |title = Flexibility in Long Service Leave |via = www.deewr.gov.au |access-date = 2010-07-27 }}

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060719094538/http://www.industrialrelations.nsw.gov.au/rights/entitlements/longserv.html NSW Office of Industrial Relations website]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060819214219/http://wageline.qld.gov.au/conditionsemployment/leave_entitlements_longservice.html Wageline information for Queensland employees]
• [http://www.qleave.qld.gov.au/ Portable long service leave website for the Building & Construction Industry and Contract Cleaning Industry]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20061005162532/http://www.workplace.gov.au/workplace/Category/SchemesInitiatives/EmployeeEntitlements/ Federal Government Employee Entitlements page]

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Category:Australian labour law

Category:Commonwealth of Australia laws

Category:Leave of absence