Pick the state or territory where you work, enter your dates and the reason your job ended, and the calculator applies that Act's own rate and pro rata rule. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
What to enter
- Where you work. Choose the state or territory whose Act covers your job, which for most people is where they do the work. If you have worked in more than one for the same employer, each state page sets out who its Act covers.
- The date you started. The day you began work with this employer, as shown on your earliest payslip or letter of offer (more on this below).
- The date it ended, or "still employed". If you are still working there, the result is worked out to an "as at" date. It is set to today, and you can move it forward to see the date your leave arises.
- Unpaid breaks that do not count. Weeks of absence that kept your service unbroken but are not counted as service. Leave the field empty if you had none.
- Why the job ended. Resigned, resigned because of illness or a pressing necessity, dismissed, dismissed for serious misconduct, made redundant, retired, or died. Choose "still employed" if it has not ended.
- Your ordinary weekly pay (optional). Only if you want a dollar estimate. Use pay for your normal hours, without overtime.
What counts as your start date
The date that matters is when your continuous service with this employer began, which is not always the date on your current contract. Three situations catch people out:
- You started as a casual. Casual service counts when it is continuous, and each Act has its own test for when it is. The casual and part-time page sets out each test.
- The business was sold. When a business changes hands and you keep working in it, several Acts carry your service across to the new owner. Where yours does, the start date is the day you began with the first owner; each state page gives its transfer rule.
- You left and came back. If you were re-employed after a short gap, your earlier service may still count. The length of gap each Act allows is on the state pages. If the gap broke your service, the start date is the day you came back.
Breaks in your service
Not every absence counts as service, but most do not break it either. Some absences, such as certain unpaid leave or a short gap between contracts, keep your service continuous without adding to it. Enter those weeks in the breaks field, and the calculator pushes the date your entitlement arises back by the same amount. Which absences fall into that group differs between Acts, and so does the limit on unpaid leave that still counts; the continuous service section of each state page sets them out. An absence that broke your service altogether is different: in that case your service starts again from the date you came back, so change the start date instead.
Why the reason for leaving matters
Before you reach the full entitlement, most Acts pay pro rata leave only when the job ends in certain ways. The same dates can give a payment in one state and nothing in another, or a payment after a redundancy and nothing after a resignation. That is why the calculator asks why the job ended, and why it shows the Act's own words for the condition it applied. If more than one reason could describe what happened, for example a resignation because of an illness, the calculator can be run for each in turn. The pro rata page sets out every ground in every Act.
How to read the result
- Completed service is the time from your start date to the end or "as at" date, less the breaks you entered.
- Entitlement says whether the full entitlement has arisen and, if not, the date it will arise if your service continues without further breaks. For a job that has ended, it gives the date the entitlement would have arisen had the employment continued.
- Leave accrued is in weeks, and in weeks and days; for the ACT it is in months, because that Act counts leave in months. An amount that comes to an exact fraction of a week or month is shown as that fraction, any other to two decimals. It uses the Act's own rate. Where an Act counts only completed years, part years add nothing until they are complete.
- Pro rata outcome shows whether the Act provides a payment for the reason you chose, with the section it rests on. Where the outcome turns on a fact the calculator cannot check, such as whether an illness justified resigning, it says so.
- Dollar estimate multiplies the weeks by the weekly pay you entered. It is an estimate: the Acts define ordinary pay in their own ways, some averaging past hours or adding allowances, and that can move the figure.
Under each result you will find what it depends on, who to contact first in that jurisdiction, the body that decides a dispute where the Act names one, and where to ask for help. You can copy the result, or share a link that opens the calculator with your inputs already filled in; the link carries the inputs, so share it only with people you want to see them.
What the calculator does not do
It does not decide whether your service was continuous, whether you are covered by an award or agreement with its own long service leave terms, or whether a portable industry scheme applies instead. It applies the Act to the facts you enter. The regulator named on each state page answers questions about a particular claim, and the portable schemes page and the national page explain when a scheme or an older award applies instead.