Long Service Leave Calculator Australia

How long service leave works in Australia

Long service leave (LSL) is paid leave for staying with one employer for a long time. Unlike annual leave, it is not part of the National Employment Standards: for most employees it comes from the long service leave Act of the state or territory where they work. The Fair Work Act preserves long service leave terms in pre-modern federal awards and some enterprise agreements, which then apply instead of the state Act, and portable schemes cover building and construction workers in every state, plus contract cleaning, community services and security in some.

All eight laws follow the same pattern (an entitlement after 7 or 10 years of continuous service, paid at your ordinary rate, with pro rata payment if you leave after a minimum period), but the details differ enough that the same career can be worth very different amounts. The table below runs the same employee, 38 hours a week, through each Act.

Pro rata long service leave: when you get paid if you leave

Pro rata long service leave is the leave paid for service short of the full entitlement. Victoria, WA and SA pay it after 7 years for almost any reason, including resignation (WA and SA not after a serious misconduct dismissal). NSW, Queensland, Tasmania, the ACT and the NT pay it only on listed grounds: usually redundancy or another employer-initiated termination, illness, a domestic or other pressing necessity, retirement or death. NSW and the ACT start those grounds at 5 years rather than 7.

After the full qualifying period, every Act pays the accrued leave when employment ends. The calculator asks why your job is ending so it can apply the right test, and shows when you reach the next threshold if nothing is payable yet.

Worked example: 8 years of service, $1,500 a week

Sam has worked 8 years full-time and earns $1,500 a week. If Sam resigns for a new job, VIC pays $10,400, WA pays $10,400, SA pays $15,600 and ACT pays $10,400, while NSW, QLD, TAS and NT pay nothing. If Sam is made redundant instead, NSW pays $10,400, QLD pays $10,400, TAS pays $10,400 and NT pays $15,600.

That gap is why the reason for leaving matters as much as the years of service. If you are close to a threshold, check the exact date you reach it in the calculator: service usually counts to the last day of employment, including paid leave and notice worked out.

What counts as continuous service and ordinary pay

• Service continues through paid leave, and through short gaps where you are re-employed by the same employer (2 months in NSW, WA, SA, the ACT and NT; 3 months in Queensland and Tasmania; 12 weeks in Victoria).
• If the business is sold or transferred, your service with the old owner usually carries over to the new one.
• Casuals are covered in every state if their work is regular and systematic or meets the state test (Tasmania: at least 32 hours in each 4 weeks).
• Ordinary pay excludes overtime and most penalty rates. Where hours vary, each Act averages them: 12 months in NSW and the ACT, the greatest of 52 weeks, 5 years or the whole employment in Victoria, 3 years in SA, the whole service for Queensland part-timers and casuals, year by year in the NT.
• Unpaid leave generally preserves continuity but does not add to your length of service.

Cashing out and tax on long service leave

WA, SA and Tasmania allow long service leave to be cashed out by written agreement once it has accrued. Queensland allows it only under an industrial instrument or a QIRC order for hardship. NSW, Victoria, the ACT and the NT do not allow it while you remain employed. Unused leave paid on termination is taxed under ATO Schedule 7: post-17 August 1993 leave at your marginal rate after a resignation or dismissal, or withheld at 32% after a genuine redundancy.