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FACT SHEET
Long Service Leave Amendment Bill 2011
The Long Service Leave (Amendment) Bill 2011 (the Bill) proposes
amendments to the Long Service Leave Act 1976 (the Act).
The Act provides long service leave entitlements for most
Tasmanian private sector workers. Under the current
provisions of the Act, workers must complete 15 years of
continuous employment to qualify for long service leave
entitlements.
In general terms, continuous employment means uninterrupted
employment with a single employer, although the Act does
allow for some interruptions in employment, including the
taking of annual or long service leave, maternity leave, standing
down for a period not exceeding 6 months on account of
slackness of trade, jury duty etc. The Act also deems
continuous employment where there has been a transmission
of business and the worker has been employed by the new
employer within 2 months.
Current long service leave entitlements under the Act are as
follows:
� 13 weeks' long service leave in respect of the first 15 years
of continuous employment; and
� 8 weeks' long service leave in respect of each additional
10 years of continuous employment.
The current qualification period of 15 years is much longer than
that applied in other States and Territories and to workers in
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other sectors and industries in Tasmania (i.e. State Service
employees, Local Government employees, Commonwealth
Government employees, mining employees and employees in
relevant employment in the construction industry).
The common requirement for access to long service leave,
both in other Australian jurisdictions and for Tasmanian
workers who fall under other long service leave legislation, is
10 years of continuous employment.
The Bill is intended to address this inconsistency and unfairness
for Tasmanian private sector workers by reducing the qualifying
periods for access to long service leave. The proposed new
long service leave entitlements under the Bill are:
� 8 weeks' long service leave in respect of the first 10
years of continuous employment; and
� 4 weeks' long service leave in respect of each additional
5 years of continuous employment.
The Bill does not change the rate at which long service leave is
accrued. The current entitlement to 13 weeks' long service
leave after 15 years of continuous employment works out at an
accrual rate of 0.8667 weeks per year. The proposed
entitlement of 8 weeks' leave after 10 years of continuous
employment provides the same accrual rate of 0.8667 weeks
per year.
The proposed new long service leave entitlements are
consistent with those provided in the majority of the other
States and Territories.
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The proposed amendments are intended to commence on
1 July 2012. From that date, the new long service leave
entitlements will apply to all workers who come within the
scope of the Act.
The Bill includes transitional arrangements to soften the
immediate impact on employers by providing some staggering
of the taking of long service leave. Under the proposed
transitional arrangements:
� Workers who have completed 12 or more years of
continuous employment as at 1 July 2012 will immediately
be able to take their long service leave entitlement if they
wish, subject to the needs of their employers'
establishments.
� Workers who, as at 1 July 2012, have completed 9 or
more years but less than 12 years of continuous
employment will have to wait until 1 July 2013 before they
can take their leave (subject to the needs of their
employers' establishments). This does not prevent a
worker with 10 or more years of continuous employment
(or their personal representatives) from receiving their
long service leave entitlements in the event that the
worker leaves their continuous employment or dies prior
to 1 July 2013.
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