Comprehensive Guide to the Victorian Long Service Leave Act 2018
Please see Comprehensive Guide to the Victorian Long Service Leave Act 2018.
Employee entitlements
On the day that employment ends, an employee with at least 7 years’ of continuous service with one employer is entitled to receive – in full – payment for any long service leave (LSL) not taken.
This will apply whether the employee has:
- resigned – see our example below
- had their employment terminated by the employer
- been made redundant
- died.
If LSL has already been taken
Where an employee has already taken LSL, the employer must pay any remaining accrued LSL at termination.
If an employee dies before taking LSL
If an employee has accrued LSL – but dies before it is taken – a payment will be due to the employee's personal representative.
Example – Jacqui resigns
Jacqui resigns from her employment, and, following completion of her notice period, her employment ends after seven years and six months’ continuous employment. Jacqui’s long service leave entitlement is calculated as follows:
- Seven years multiplied by 52 weeks = 364 weeks.
- Six months = 26 weeks.
- 364 weeks plus 26 weeks = 390 weeks in total.
- We then divide the total weeks by 60, as Jacqui will receive one week of LSL for each 60 weeks’ continuous employment. 390 weeks divided by 60 equals 6.5 weeks.
Jacqui is therefore entitled to payment for 6.5 weeks of LSL on the day her employment ends.
If a company is liquidated
If a business is liquidated, it's essential to contact the liquidator urgently to make an application to the liquidator to be paid from the available assets as a creditor of the business.
If these are insufficient to meet an employee's LSL entitlement, the Fair Entitlements Guarantee may be available.
Employees who are owed certain employee entitlements after losing their job – because their employer went bankrupt or into liquidation – may be able to get financial help from the Australian Government through:
- Fair Entitlements Guarantee (FEG)– if their employer went bankrupt or entered liquidation on, or after 5 December 2012
- General Employee Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme (GEERS) – if their employer went bankrupt or entered liquidation before 5 December 2012.
Get help with long service leave
Wage Inspectorate Victoria is responsible for regulating long service leave in Victoria.
For further assistance and advice about long service leave, contact the Wage Inspectorate online or call 1800 287 287.
We welcome any feedback, comments and suggestions you might like to share.
You also have the option to make an anonymous report if you suspect someone is breaking the rules relating to long service leave but you don’t want to provide personal information.