Long Service Leave
Employees in Tasmania are entitled to 8 2/3 weeks of long service leave if they have ten (10) years of continuous service.
However, in many cases a question arises as to whether the employee has actually had continuous service when there are long breaks in the employment. Some breaks in the employment don’t break the continuity of employment, for example annual leave, personal (sick) leave, or even extended jury duty and the absence on leave is calculated as part of the 10 years of service.
Parental leave, on the other hand, doesn’t break the continuity of service but the period of absence does not count towards the 10 years of service. As such, an employee may not be able to take their long service leave until 11 years after they commenced work if they had 12 months parental leave.
However, other absences do break the continuity and thus the calculation of long service leave starts again. This occurs if an employee resigns from the employment but returns if the other job doesn’t work out.
There are certain circumstances when an employee may be entitled to pro-rata long service leave after 7 years of continuous service. This occurs when an
o they resign due to illness, incapacity, or domestic necessity,
o they are dismissed for reasons other than serious misconduct, or
o the employer terminates their employment, e.g. redundancy, or
o they are over the age of 60 for women and 65 for men.
A situation that occasionally occurs when an employee is absent for a long period of time due illness or even workers compensation and the period of absence justifies the termination of contract as it is the case the employee will never return to the workplace. If the termination takes place after the 7-year date passes, the employee will be entitled to long service leave, but if the employer properly terminates the employment prior to the 7-year anniversary, there is no obligation to pay long service leave.
For part-time and casual employees there is another requirement for the service to count towards the 10 years required. That is, the employee must work at least 32 hours in each four-week period. If they don’t work the requisite number of hours, then that 4-week period does not count towards the 10 years of service.
We pointed out in a recent newsletter the importance of keeping records, and when it comes to long service leave this is particularly so. Knowing the start date of the employment is obviously important, but when you employ part-time employees or long-term casuals ensuring that they have done the requisite 10 years of service will require the records to show they have met the minimum requirements.
Andrew can assist in reviewing records and calculating long service leave entitlements.