Prepared for the information of the members of the Lottery Agents' Association of Vctoria - January 2006
Long Service Leave in Victoria
Long Service Leave was introduced in Victoria in 1953 as recognition of an employee's long and continuous service. An employee is entitled to 13 weeks leave after 15 years continuous service and an additional 4 1/3 weeks leave for each additional five years service.
Long Service Leave accrues at the rate of 1 week for every 60 weeks of employment or 0.8667 weeks per year.
With effect from 1 January 2006, pro-rata Long Service Leave can be taken after ten years of continuous employment and is payable on termination of employment after seven years service.
The taking of Long Service Leave after 10 years service will be phased in. Employees who commenced employment before 1 January 2006 will have their employment period prior to that date reduced by one third when working out when the employee is entitled to the 10 years Long Service Leave provision. The following table indicates the 10 years Long Service Leave entitlement.
|
Years in current Job
(at 1 January 06) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
|
Years recognised for the purpose of long service leave accrual (at 1 January 06). |
0.67 |
1.33 |
2.00 |
2.67 |
3.33 |
4.00 |
4.67 |
5.33 |
|
Extra years to be worked before taking long service leave. |
9.33 |
8.67 |
8.00 |
7.33 |
6.67 |
6.00 |
5.33 |
4.67 |
|
Years of service to be completed before taking leave. |
10.33 |
10.67 |
11.00 |
11.33 |
11.67 |
12.00 |
12.33 |
12.67 |
|
Weeks leave available. |
8.96 |
9.24 |
9.53 |
9.82 |
10.11 |
10.40 |
10.69 |
10.98 |
Years in current Job
(at 1 January 06) |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
|
Years recognised for the purpose of long service leave accrual (at 1 January 06). |
6.00 |
6.67 |
7.33 |
8.00 |
8.67 |
9.33 |
10.00 |
|
Extra years to be worked before taking long service leave. |
4.00 |
3.33 |
2.67 |
2.00 |
1.33 |
0.67 |
0.00 |
|
Years of service to be completed before taking leave. |
13.00 |
13.33 |
13.67 |
14.00 |
14.33 |
14.67 |
15.00 |
|
Weeks leave available. |
11.27 |
11.56 |
11.84 |
12.13 |
12.42 |
12.71 |
13.00 |
Taking Long Service Leave
Long Service Leave should be taken as soon as practicable after if becomes due. It may be taken in advance by mutual agreement and if employment is terminated before the leave is actually earned the employer may recover any advance payment.
Similarly the taking of Long Service Leave can be deferred by mutual agreement but this needs to be in writing and the rate of pay received by the employee when the deferral was agreed must be in writing and that will be the minimum rate payable when the Leave is actually taken.
Calculating Pay
The total weeks of service – adjusted by the phasing in reduction – is expressed in weeks and divided by 60. The result is the Leave entitlement which is then multiplied by the employee's ordinary pay.
Ordinary pay is what an employee receives for working their normal weekly hours when Long Service Leave is taken (or when the Long Service Leave entitlement is paid out on cessation of employment). Ordinary pay does not include penalty or overtime rates.
An employee's Long Service Leave entitlement is based on the normal weekly hours worked at the time the Leave becomes due however an employee's hours may vary particularly in the case of non-full time staff. In this case the employee's hours are averaged over the preceding 12 months in order to arrive at the weekly pay rate.
Note that non-full time employees have an entitlement to Long Service Leave if they have had continuous employment and there has been no more than a 3 months absence between two periods of employment.
Continuous Service
Where a business is sold or transferred an employee who remains with the business continues to be eligible to accrue Long Service Leave which is the responsibility of the incoming employer. The former business owner may not cash out Long Service Leave.
Continuous Employment
Employment is continuous unless the employee resigns; even if the employee is subsequently re-employed. If an employee is dismissed and subsequently re-employed after a break of 3 months then continuous employment has also been broken.
Public Holidays
From 1 January 2006 all public holidays falling within the period of Long Service Leave will be added to the period of Leave.
Employment During Long Service Leave
It is an offence for an employee to work while on Long Service Leave and it is an offence to employ a person who is on Long Service Leave.
Termination of Employment
On the day employment ends for any reason an employee is entitled to receive payment for untaken Long Service Leave.
After 1 January 2006 an employee with 7 years or more of continuous employment with the one employer is entitled to be paid pro rata Long Service Leave regardless of the reason for the termination.
Cashing Out
It is an offence under the Long Service Leave Act to give or receive payment in lieu of taking Long Service Leave except where employment terminates.
Records
An employer must keep Long Service Leave records for an employee for 7 years after employment ends and this is a requirement of the Act.
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