Pro rata long service leave is the payment for service that has not yet reached the full entitlement, made when employment ends. Whether it is paid depends on two things: how long you have worked, and why the job ended. The threshold is 5 years in New South Wales and the ACT, and 7 years in Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory. Victoria has no pro rata stage: its full entitlement arises at 7 years.
The reason for leaving decides it
Before the full entitlement, most Acts pay pro rata only on listed grounds. A resignation without one of those grounds is paid in Western Australia and South Australia, and is not payable in New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, the ACT or the Northern Territory.
The rule in each Act
| Where you work | Pro rata from | Paid when employment ends this way | Not paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | 5 years | dismissal other than for serious and wilful misconduct, or an ending for illness, incapacity, pressing necessity or death (LSL Act 1955 (NSW) s 4(2)(a)(iii)) | serious and wilful misconduct or an unlisted resignation |
| Victoria | 7 years | any ending once 7 years are completed (LSL Act 2018 (Vic) s 9(1), s 10(1)) | any ending before 7 years of continuous employment |
| Queensland | 7 years | death, resigning because of illness or a pressing necessity, dismissal for illness or for a reason other than conduct, capacity or performance, unfair dismissal, and the end of some fixed terms (IR Act 2016 (Qld) s 95(4)) | any other ending, including a resignation for another reason and a fair dismissal for conduct, capacity or performance |
| WA | 7 years | death or any ending except dismissal for serious misconduct (LSL Act 1958 (WA) s 8(3)(a)–(b)) | dismissal for serious misconduct |
| SA | 7 completed years | any ending except the cases in section 5(4) (LSL Act 1987 (SA) s 5(3) and (4)) | serious and wilful misconduct, or the worker unlawfully ending the contract |
| Tasmania | 7 completed years | retirement age, illness, incapacity or pressing necessity, or dismissal other than for serious and wilful misconduct (LSL Act 1976 (Tas) s 8(3)) | other resignations, and serious and wilful misconduct |
| ACT | 5 years | dismissal other than for serious and wilful misconduct; resigning for illness, incapacity or pressing necessity; retirement at or after the minimum retiring age, or death (LSL Act 1976 (ACT) s 11C(1)) | other resignations, and serious and wilful misconduct |
| NT | 7 years | retirement age; dismissal not for serious misconduct; illness, incapacity or domestic or other pressing necessity (LSL Act 1981 (NT) s 10(2)) | any ending not listed in s 10(2) |
After the full entitlement has arisen, most Acts pay the leave built up however the job ends. In Queensland, for example, Business Queensland describes payment on any ending after 10 years. After a dismissal for serious misconduct, Western Australia limits what is paid and the Northern Territory sets only a minimum, the leave for the completed blocks of service, as set out below. Full entitlements and rates are compared on the national page.
If you resign
This is where the Acts differ most. Western Australia pays pro rata from 7 years on any ending other than dismissal for serious misconduct, resignation included. South Australia pays from 7 completed years unless one of its two exclusions applies, and one of them is a worker who unlawfully ends the contract. In New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory, a resignation for an ordinary reason such as a new job is not payable before the full entitlement. In Victoria nothing is payable before 7 years, and after it everything is.
Worked example: the same resignation in several places
You started full time on 2 April 2018 and resigned for a new job, with your last day on 2 April 2026 and no breaks. That is 8 years of completed service.
- South Australia: paid at 1.3 weeks' pay for each completed year, so 10⅖ weeks (our arithmetic: 1.3 weeks × completed years from 2 April 2018 to 2 April 2026 = 10⅖ weeks) of ordinary pay.
- Western Australia: paid in proportion to the service, on the basis of 8⅔ weeks for 10 years, so 6.93 weeks (our arithmetic: 8⅔ weeks × completed years from 2 April 2018 to 2 April 2026 ÷ 10 years = 6.93 weeks).
- Victoria: the full entitlement has already arisen, so it is paid out: 6.93 weeks (our arithmetic: 1/60 × 52 × completed years from 2 April 2018 to 2 April 2026 = 6.93 weeks), taking a year as 52 weeks.
- The ACT: the full entitlement has also arisen, so it is paid out: 1⅗ months (our arithmetic: ⅕ × completed years from 2 April 2018 to 2 April 2026 = 1⅗ months).
- New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and the Northern Territory: not payable under the Act on these facts, because resigning for a new job is not a listed ground.
If you are made redundant
Redundancy pays pro rata in every Act that has a pro rata stage, because the employer ends the job for a reason that is not the worker's conduct. Tasmania's Act, for example, covers dismissal other than for serious and wilful misconduct. What still differs is the threshold. In New South Wales and the ACT a redundancy after 5 years is enough. In Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory the threshold is 7 years. In Victoria nothing is paid before 7 years. Coal mining has its own early payment on redundancy, set out on the portable schemes page.
If you are dismissed for misconduct
Before the full entitlement, a dismissal for serious misconduct rules out pro rata in every Act that has a pro rata stage, except that Queensland still pays where the dismissal was unfair. The words are not the same, and the difference can matter in a dispute. New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT say "serious and wilful misconduct"; Western Australia and the Northern Territory say "serious misconduct". Queensland goes further: between 7 years and 10 years, a dismissal for conduct, capacity or performance is outside its list, even where it falls short of serious misconduct, unless the dismissal was unfair.
The New South Wales regulator also says who has to prove what. NSW Industrial Relations' Long Service Leave Guide puts the burden on each side: the employer has to prove serious and wilful misconduct, and a worker who resigned has to prove a qualifying reason, both on the balance of probabilities.
After the full entitlement
Most Acts pay the full balance even after a dismissal for misconduct. Two do not require it. In Western Australia, a worker dismissed for serious misconduct is paid only for the last fully accrued entitlement not yet taken (Private Sector Labour Relations). In the Northern Territory, a dismissal for serious misconduct still requires the employer to pay at least the leave for completed 10-year and 5-year blocks (LSL Act 1981 (NT) s 10(1A)).
If you are dismissed for another reason
A dismissal that is not for misconduct, for example because the role changed or the business closed, pays pro rata in New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory after the threshold. Queensland differs. Its list covers dismissal for illness, dismissal for a reason other than conduct, capacity or performance, and unfair dismissal, so a fair dismissal for poor performance between 7 years and 10 years is not payable under the Act on those facts (IR Act 2016 (Qld) s 95(4)).
If you resign because of illness or a pressing necessity
Five Acts pay pro rata when the worker resigns because of illness, incapacity or a "domestic or other pressing necessity": New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory. Some add that the reason must be serious enough to justify ending the job, and whether it was is a question of fact for the regulator, tribunal or court. In the ACT, the Long Service Leave Act 1976 covers termination by the person because of illness or incapacity or a domestic or other pressing necessity of such a nature to justify the termination
(LSL Act 1976 (ACT) s 11C(1)(a)(i)). In New South Wales the worker carries the burden of showing the reason, as the guide quoted above says. In Western Australia and South Australia the reason does not change the outcome, because a resignation is paid anyway.
If you retire
Retirement is treated in four different ways:
- A listed ground in Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory, tied to a retirement age. The ACT Act, for example, covers retirement at or after the minimum retiring age, or death.
- Not needed in Western Australia and South Australia, where a resignation for any reason is paid.
- Not on the list in New South Wales or Queensland. Retiring before the full entitlement is not payable under those Acts unless another ground applies, such as illness or incapacity.
- Irrelevant in Victoria before 7 years, when nothing is payable for any reason.
If the employee dies
When the service reaches the threshold in the table above, every Act provides for a payment when an employee dies. Below it, none does. The wording of who receives the payment, and when, varies:
- New South Wales: payment to the personal representative on request (LSL Act 1955 (NSW) s 4(5)(b)).
- Victoria: from 7 years, payment on any ending, death included.
- Queensland and Western Australia: death is one of the grounds on which pro rata is paid, as the table shows.
- South Australia: the entitlement vests in the personal representative (LSL Act 1987 (SA) s 5(5)).
- Tasmania: the personal representatives are paid, including where the service had not yet reached the full entitlement (LSL Act 1976 (Tas) s 9(2)(b)).
- The ACT: death is one of the listed grounds.
- The Northern Territory: payment to the personal representative on request (LSL Act 1981 (NT) s 10(3)).
When the money is due
Some Acts set the day the payment is made:
- Victoria: the full amount, due on the last day of work (LSL Act 2018 (Vic) s 9(1)).
- South Australia: immediately on termination (LSL Act 1987 (SA) s 8(4)(b)).
- The ACT: within 90 days after employment ends (LSL Act 1976 (ACT) s 11A(4)(b)).
- New South Wales: ordinary pay for untaken leave, paid at once (LSL Act 1955 (NSW) s 4(5)(a)).
Each state page names who to contact first about how the Act reads and, where the Act names one, the court or tribunal that decides a dispute. To see how your own dates and reason play out, use the calculator.
Sources
- Long Service Leave Act 1976, ACT Legislation Register. Checked .
- Industrial Relations Act 2016, Queensland Government (Parliamentary Counsel). Checked .
- Long Service Leave Act 2018, Victorian Government (Parliamentary Counsel). Checked .
- Long Service Leave Act 1955, NSW Parliamentary Counsel's Office. Checked .
- Long service leave, Workforce Inspectorate Victoria. Checked .
- Long Service Leave Act 1958, Government of Western Australia (Parliamentary Counsel). Checked .
- Long service leave: what is the entitlement when employment ends, Government of Western Australia (Private Sector Labour Relations). Checked .
- Long Service Leave Act 1987, South Australian Legislation. Checked .
- Long Service Leave Act 1976, Tasmanian Legislation Online. Checked .
- Long Service Leave Act 1981, Northern Territory Legislation. Checked .
- Long service leave entitlements and continuous service, Business Queensland. Checked .