Under the WA Long Service Leave Act, after 7 years of continuous employment, a full time, part time or casual employee may have an entitlement to payment of long service leave when their employment ends due to resignation, dismissal, redundancy or if the employee dies.
The long service leave entitlement when employment ends is based on:
- the length of the employee’s continuous employment and particularly whether it is between 7 and 10 years, or 10 years or more; and
- if the employee is dismissed, whether they were dismissed for serious misconduct.
If an employee’s employment ends before they have completed 7 years of continuous employment, they do not have an entitlement to long service leave.
The term continuous employment has a specific meaning and some absences do not count towards an employee’s period of continuous employment. Continuous employment may include service with a previous employer where there has been a change of business ownership.
Watch our long service leave when employment ends video
The WA long service leave calculator can provide an estimate of an employee’s long service leave entitlement when employment ends.
Use the long service leave calculator
Visit the Australian Taxation Office website if you are seeking information on tax and superannuation arrangements relating to long service leave payments when employment ends.
At least 7 years but less than 10 years of continuous employment
Show moreAn employee with at least 7 years but less than 10 years of continuous employment, is entitled to receive payment of pro rata long service leave when their employment ends.
The only exception is where the employee has been dismissed for serious misconduct. In which case the employee is not entitled to any pro rata long service leave.
Serious misconduct is unacceptable or improper behaviour of a substantial nature. The onus is on the employer to prove that dismissal for serious misconduct was warranted. Determining whether an employer has justifiably dismissed an employee for serious misconduct is always assessed according to the facts particular to that situation.
The pro rata long service leave entitlement is calculated as a proportion of a full long service leave entitlement. A full entitlement is 8.667 weeks of leave for 10 years of continuous employment. It is calculated based on the number of years, months, weeks and days of continuous employment the employee has completed.
Example
Riley resigned from her job at a local supermarket after 8 years, 4 months and 5 days of continuous employment. As Riley has more than 7 years continuous employment, she is entitled to receive payment of pro rata long service leave on resignation. Riley’s pro rata long service leave entitlement works out to be 7.24 weeks of leave. This entitlement is paid out at Riley’s ordinary pay.
10 or more years of continuous employment
Show moreWhen an employee completes 10 years of continuous employment, they fully accrue a long service leave entitlement of 8.667 weeks of long service leave.
An employee will accrue a further 4.333 weeks of long service leave for every 5 years of continuous employment they complete after the initial 10 years.
When employment ends, any long service leave that has not been taken must be paid out to the employee.
An employee with more than 10 years of continuous employment may also be entitled to receive payment of pro rata long service when employment ends. After 10 years, pro rata long service leave accrues at a rate of 0.8666 weeks of leave for each completed year of continuous employment. The pro rata entitlement is calculated on completed years of employment only.
The pro-rata entitlement will also apply to each year of continuous employment after the employee accrues each further 4.333 weeks of long service leave for every 5 years of continuous employment – i.e. after 15, 20, 25 years etc. of employment.
Example
Lee has been made redundant after 12 years of continuous employment. Lee’s employer works out the long service leave entitlement due on termination is 10.40 weeks. This is on the basis of a full entitlement of 8.667 weeks for the first 10 years of continuous employment plus a pro rata amount for the other 2 years calculated at 0.8666 for each year. If Lee had taken any long service leave this would be deducted from the total amount he is due to be paid out.
An employee who is dismissed for serious misconduct is only entitled to be paid for any part of their last full entitlement which has not been taken and is not entitled to receive payment of pro rata long service leave.
Serious misconduct is unacceptable or improper behaviour of a substantial nature. The onus is on the employer to prove that dismissal for serious misconduct was warranted. Determining whether an employer has justifiably dismissed an employee for serious misconduct is always assessed according to the facts particular to that situation.
