Long service leave

In Australia and New Zealand, long service leave (LSL) is an employee entitlement to an additional vacation on full pay after an extended period of service with an employer. In Australia, employees are generally entitled to long service leave over and above their annual leave if they work for a particular employer for a certain length of time. A common entitlement in Australia is that employees who remain with the one employer for ten years are entitled to two calendar months (eight and two-thirds weeks) paid LSL, less on a pro rata basis, the longer they stay with that employer. When a worker ceases work with an employer, he or she is usually entitled to be paid the amount of LSL entitlement not taken on termination on a pro rata basis, though usually after a minimum period of service.

It remains one of the great entitlements for working Australians and one that is peculiar to the Australian labour market. The rules governing long service leave entitlements vary for different employees depending on their circumstances and the relevant jurisdiction. Currently, annual leave entitlements are covered by the state or territory law in which the employee is employed.

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

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.

Nowadays, long service leave is ingrained in Australian culture and is specified by state based and some federal legislation. It is often not taken when it falls due, leading to calls to reduce long-service entitlement in the public sector.

Workers in Australia are entitled to long service leave based on legislation of the relevant state or territory, as follows:

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.

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