Calculating long service leave

Payment for long service leave

Long service leave is paid at the current ordinary rate (i.e. excluding overtime payments) for the period of the leave. If an employee is paid above the award rate, the long service leave must be paid at the higher rate.

Casual employees are entitled to be paid at the loaded casual hourly rate.

No leave loading is payable on long service leave.

Enquiries regarding superannuation payments and tax on long service leave should be directed to the Australian Taxation Office on 13 10 20 (superannuation) and 13 28 66 (tax).

Calculating long service leave entitlements – full-time employees

Use this table to calculate long service leave entitlements and pro-rata long service leave payable on termination of employment.

Entitlement for completed years and months of service
Completed months (0-5)
  0 1 2 3 4 5
Completed years
0 - 0.0722 0.1444 0.2167 0.2889 0.3611
1 0.8667 0.9389 1.0111 1.0834 1.1556 1.2278
2 1.7333 1.8055 1.8777 1.9500 2.0222 2.0944
3 2.6000 2.6722 2.7444 2.8167 2.8889 2.9611
4 3.4667 3.5389 3.6111 3.6834 3.7556 3.8278
5 4.3333 4.4055 4.4777 4.5500 4.6222 4.6944
6 5.2000 5.2722 5.3444 5.4167 5.4889 5.5611
7 6.0667 6.1389 6.2111 6.2834 6.3556 6.4278
8 6.9333 7.0055 7.0777 7.1500 7.2222 7.2944
9 7.8000 7.8722 7.9444 8.0167 8.0889 8.1611
10 8.6667 8.7389 8.8111 8.8834 8.9556 9.0278
11 9.5333 9.6055 9.6777 9.7500 9.8222 9.8944
12 10.4000 10.4722 10.5444 10.6167 10.6889 10.7611
13 11.2667 11.3389 11.4111 11.4834 11.5556 11.6278
14 12.1333 12.2055 12.2777 12.3500 12.4222 12.4944
15 13.0000 - - - - -
Completed months (6-11)
  6 7 8 9 10 11
Completed years
0 0.4333 0.5056 0.5778 0.6500 0.7222 0.7944
1 1.3000 1.3723 1.4445 1.5167 1.5889 1.6611
2 2.1666 2.2389 2.3111 2.3833 2.4555 2.5277
3 3.0333 3.1056 3.1778 3.2500 3.3222 3.3944
4 3.9000 3.9723 4.0445 4.1167 4.1889 4.2611
5 4.7666 4.8389 4.9111 4.9833 5.0555 5.1277
6 5.6333 5.7056 5.7778 5.8500 5.9222 5.9944
7 6.5000 6.5723 6.6445 6.7167 6.7889 6.8611
8 7.3666 7.4389 7.5111 7.5833 7.6555 7.7277
9 8.2333 8.3056 8.3778 8.4500 8.5222 8.5944
10 9.1000 9.1723 9.2445 9.3167 9.3889 9.4611
11 9.9666 10.0389 10.1111 10.1833 10.2555 10.3277
12 10.8333 10.9056 10.9778 11.0500 11.1222 11.1944
13 11.7000 11.7723 11.8445 11.9167 11.9889 12.0611
14 12.5666 12.6389 12.7111 12.7833 12.8555 12.9277
15 - - - - - -

PLUS

Entitlement for completed weeks and days of service

Entitlement for completed weeks and days of service
Completed days
  0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Completed weeks
0 - 0.0024 0.0048 0.0072 0.0095 0.0119 0.0143
1 0.0167 0.0191 0.0215 0.0238 0.0262 0.0286 0.0310
2 0.0333 0.0357 0.0381 0.0404 0.0428 0.0452 0.0476
3 0.0500 0.0524 0.0548 0.0571 0.0595 0.0619 0.0642
4 0.0667 0.0691 0.0715 0.0738 - - -

Using these tables

An employee who has a period of continuous service of 18 years, 3 months, 2 weeks and 2 days would be entitled to access 15.8548 weeks leave.

Total of:

15 years 13.0000 weeks
3 years, 3 months 2.8167 weeks
2 weeks, 2 days 0.0381 weeks
Total15.8548 weeks

Examples – Payment for long service leave on termination

An employee who has at least 7 years' continuous service and whose employment is terminated (by either party) may be entitled to payment of pro-rata long service leave on termination. It is important to note that such pro-rata payment is subject to certain criteria being met where the employee has less than 10 years' continuous service. This criteria does not apply to an employee who has at least 10 years' continuous service.

An employee with more than 10 years', but less than 15 years', continuous service shall be entitled to payment, on a pro-rata basis, for all continuous service. For example, an employee who is terminated after completing 12 years' continuous service and who has not taken any long service leave would be entitled to a pro-rata payment of 10.4000 weeks. A payment of pro-rata long service leave on termination of employment will be reduced by any period of long service leave already taken and paid for.

Examples – Accessing long service leave

An employee who achieves 10 but less than 15 years continuous service is entitled to access 8.6667 weeks long service leave. On the completion of a further 5 years' continuous service an employee is entitled to an additional 4.3333 weeks long service leave. There is no qualifying period of service once an employee has completed 15 years' continuous service and long service leave accumulated from that point on may be accessed as it accrues. Refer to tables above.

An employee who achieves 15 years or more continuous service is entitled to 13 weeks long service leave plus additional leave for any period of service in excess of 15 years calculated in accordance with the above tables (i.e. if the total service was 17 years 3 months the entitlement would be 13 weeks + 1.95 weeks [entitlement for 2 years 3 months] = 14.95 weeks long service leave).

Employees paid on commission

If an employee is entitled to receive an amount representing commission in the employee's long service leave payment, the Industrial Relations Act 2016 requires an employer to pay the default average commission unless:

  • a relevant award/agreement or contract of employment otherwise provides
  • or
  • the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission, upon application, considers the default average commission would not represent a fair amount in the circumstances. The Act defines default average commission as
    • the total commissions payable to the employee in the 1 year before the leave is taken
    • divided by 52.179
    • multiplied by the number of weeks leave for which payment is being made.

Calculating long service leave entitlements - casual and regular part-time employees

Find out how to calculate long service leave entitlements for casual and regular part-time employees.

  • Last reviewed: 17 Jul 2024
  • Last updated: 20 Sep 2024