Long service leave

Last updated

In Australia, long service leave (LSL) is a period of additional paid leave granted to employees who have completed an extended period of service with an employer. Under Australian law, most employees are entitled to long service leave if they work for the same employer for a prolonged length of time, the threshold usually being between seven and ten years. Long service leave is separate from annual leave; employees receiving long service leave continue to accrue annual leave as normal and, at a minimum, as prescribed by the National Employment Standards.

Contents

Currently there is no uniform national long service leave standard in Australia; the rules governing long service leave entitlements vary depending on the relevant jurisdiction or industrial instrument (e.g., award or enterprise agreement). [1] The qualifying period of service ranges from seven to fifteen years, although, as noted, in most instances it is no higher than ten. [1] The initial period of leave granted to eligible employees varies between around six and thirteen weeks. [2] [3] Long service leave legislation in many of the states and territories goes on to provide further long service leave entitlements should the employee continue to work with the employer. [4] [5] [6]

Long service leave taken or cashed out is generally paid at the employee's ordinary pay rate, being the base hourly rate or salary stripped of any allowances, penalties, shift loading or overtime that they may otherwise be entitled to. [7] Unused long service leave is paid out to employees when terminated. [7] Normally employees who terminate before reaching the length of service required to access long service leave do not receive any payment related to long service leave notionally accrued during their employment. However, some state legislation contains limited exceptions to this rule.

The Institute of Actuaries of Australia estimated that the total value of long service leave benefits in Australia was around $16.5 billion in 2001. [8]

There has been a debate in Australia about the protection of employee entitlements (including long service leave) in the event of employer insolvency, with some high-profile cases involving employees losing benefits that had been accrued.[ citation needed ]

Long service leave entitlements

Australian long service legislation is currently in a transitional state, pending development of a uniform national standard. [1]

Most employee's entitlements arise from state or territory legislation. [1]

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. [1]

For all other employees, minimum entitlements are derived from the relevant state or territory long service leave laws. [1]

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

Portable LSL

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. [14] [15]

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). [16] 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. [17]

History

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. [18] Long service leave developed from the concept of furlough, [19] which stems from the Dutch word verlof (meaning leave), where in the colonies was leave granted from military service. [20]

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 ]

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." [21]

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.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pension</span> Retirement fund

A pension is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be:

Public holidays in Australia refer to the holidays recognised in law in Australia. Although they are declared on a state and territory basis, they comprise a mixture of nationally celebrated days and holidays exclusive to the individual jurisdictions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Workers' compensation</span> Form of insurance

Workers' compensation or workers' comp is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her employer for the tort of negligence. The trade-off between assured, limited coverage and lack of recourse outside the worker compensation system is known as "the compensation bargain.” One of the problems that the compensation bargain solved is the problem of employers becoming insolvent as a result of high damage awards. The system of collective liability was created to prevent that and thus to ensure security of compensation to the workers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Insurance</span> Tax and social benefit system in the UK, introduced in 1911

National Insurance (NI) is a fundamental component of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It acts as a form of social security, since payment of NI contributions establishes entitlement to certain state benefits for workers and their families.

Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by governmental bodies to unemployed people. Depending on the country and the status of the person, those sums may be small, covering only basic needs, or may compensate the lost time proportionally to the previous earned salary.

In United Kingdom law, the concept of wrongful dismissal refers exclusively to dismissal contrary to the contract of employment, which effectively means premature termination, either due to insufficient notice or lack of grounds. Although wrongful dismissal is usually associated with lack of notice sometimes it can also be caused by arbitrary dismissal where no notice was required but certain grounds were specified in the contract as being the only ones available but none existed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Employee benefits</span> Non-wage compensation provided to employees in addition to normal wages or salaries

Employee benefits and benefits in kind, also called fringe benefits, perquisites, or perks, include various types of non-wage compensation provided to employees in addition to their normal wages or salaries. Instances where an employee exchanges (cash) wages for some other form of benefit is generally referred to as a "salary packaging" or "salary exchange" arrangement. In most countries, most kinds of employee benefits are taxable to at least some degree. Examples of these benefits include: housing furnished or not, with or without free utilities; group insurance ; disability income protection; retirement benefits; daycare; tuition reimbursement; sick leave; vacation ; social security; profit sharing; employer student loan contributions; conveyancing; long service leave; domestic help (servants); and other specialized benefits.

Pensions in the United Kingdom, whereby United Kingdom tax payers have some of their wages deducted to save for retirement, can be categorised into three major divisions - state, occupational and personal pensions.

Superannuation in Australia or "super" is a savings system for workplace pensions in retirement. It involves money earned by an employee being placed into an investment fund to be made legally available to fund members upon retirement. Employers make compulsory payments to these funds at a proportion of their employee's wages. From July 2023, the mandatory minimum "guarantee" contribution is 11%, rising to 12% from 2025. The superannuation guarantee was introduced by the Hawke government to promote self-funded retirement savings, reducing reliance on a publicly funded pension system. Legislation to support the introduction of the superannuation guarantee was passed by the Keating Government in 1992.

The Mandatory Provident Fund, often abbreviated as MPF (強積金), is a compulsory saving scheme for the retirement of residents in Hong Kong. Most employees and their employers are required to contribute monthly to mandatory provident fund schemes provided by approved private organisations, according to their salaries and the period of employment.

A severance package is pay and benefits that employees may be entitled to receive when they leave employment at a company unwillfully. In addition to their remaining regular pay, it may include some of the following:

The Australian Fair Pay and Conditions Standard was a set of five minimum statutory entitlements for wages and conditions introduced as part of the Howard government's WorkChoices amendments to Australian labour law in 2006 and then abolished by the Fair Work Act 2009 in 2010.

Sick leave is paid time off from work that workers can use to stay home to address their health needs without losing pay. It differs from paid vacation time or time off work to deal with personal matters, because sick leave is intended for health-related purposes. Sick leave can include a mental health day and taking time away from work to go to a scheduled doctor's appointment. Some policies also allow paid sick time to be used to care for sick family members, or to address health and safety needs related to domestic violence or sexual assault. Menstrual leave is another type of time off work for a health-related reason, but it is not always paid.

Social security, in Australia, refers to a system of social welfare payments provided by Australian Government to eligible Australian citizens, permanent residents, and limited international visitors. These payments are almost always administered by Centrelink, a program of Services Australia. In Australia, most payments are means tested.

Long service leave is type of leave unique to Australia and New Zealand, typically awarded to a staff member after completing a considerable tenure with a single company. However, within a limited number of industries, or within the public sector it is possible to transfer long service leave entitlements from one employer to another.

Iranian labor law describes the rules of employment in Iran. As a still developing country, Iran is considerably behind by international standards. It has failed to ratify the two basic Conventions of the International Labour Organization on freedom of association and collective bargaining, and one on abolition of child labor. Countries such as the US and India have also failed to ratify many of these Conventions and a mere 14 other Conventions, only 2 since the Islamic Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Defined benefit pension plan</span> Type of pension plan

Defined benefit (DB) pension plan is a type of pension plan in which an employer/sponsor promises a specified pension payment, lump-sum, or combination thereof on retirement that depends on an employee's earnings history, tenure of service and age, rather than depending directly on individual investment returns. Traditionally, many governmental and public entities, as well as a large number of corporations, provide defined benefit plans, sometimes as a means of compensating workers in lieu of increased pay.

In labour law, unfair dismissal is an act of employment termination made without good reason or contrary to the country's specific legislation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fair Work Act 2009</span> Australian industrial relations law

The Fair Work Act 2009(Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia, passed by the Rudd government to reform the industrial relations system of Australia. It replaced the Howard government's WorkChoices legislation, it established Fair Work Australia, later renamed the Fair Work Commission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigerian labour law</span> Statutory laws covering Labour in the African state

Nigerian labour law looks into the rights, working conditions, minimum wage, termination clauses, and many other rules set by the government of Nigeria. The current version of the act was put into place in 2004, five years after their current constitution was established.

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Fair Work Ombudsman. "Long service leave and National Employment Standards" . Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  2. Employsure AU. "Long Service Leave | Entitlements & Payout" . Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  3. Business Australia. "Long service leave entitlements in each state and territory" . Retrieved 23 April 2022.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  4. 1 2 3 Business Queensland, Queensland Government. "Long service leave entitlements and continuous service". Business Queensland. Retrieved 23 April 2022.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  5. 1 2 Industrial Relations NSW. "Long service leave: A guide to long service leave entitlements" (PDF). Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  6. 1 2 Worksafe ACT. "Guidance Note 067" . Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  7. 1 2 Fair Work Ombudsman (n.d.). "Payment of long service leave".
  8. Protection if a Employee Entitlements
  9. Long Service Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Act 1976 (Cth)
  10. Northern Territory Government. "Long service leave" . Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  11. Safe Work SA. "Long service leave entitlement" . Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  12. "WorkSafe Tasmania: Long service leave" . Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  13. "Long Service Leave Act 2018" . Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  14. "Home – Long Service Corporation". Long Service Corporation. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  15. "How portable long service leave works. What is QLeave?". QLeave. State of Queensland (QLeave). Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  16. "The feasibility of, and options for, creating a national long service standard, and the portability of long service and other entitlements". Australian Parliament House. Commonwealth of Australia. 25 February 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  17. "Long service leave". Fair Work Ombudsman. Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  18. "European Labour Law Network" . Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  19. "South Australian lawsuits". Evening Journal. Vol. XL, no. 11124. South Australia. 10 October 1906. p. 3. Retrieved 12 January 2023 via National Library of Australia.
  20. "The Army". The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser . Vol. XXVI, no. 1472. New South Wales, Australia. 3 March 1828. p. 3. Retrieved 12 January 2023 via National Library of Australia.
  21. "The Civil Service Act of Victoria". Sydney Morning Herald. 30 July 1862. p. 8. Retrieved 28 November 2019.

Sources