How to calculate long service leave

Step 1: Work out your continuous service

Count from your start date to your end date. If you still work for your employer, count to today. Then take out any periods that do not count. These periods usually include unpaid leave and some stand-downs. The sections are NSW s 4(11); Victoria s 14; WA s 6A(2); SA s 6; ACT s 2G(5); NT s 12(5).

Periods that do not count push your milestone dates back. In an NSW example, 56 days of agreed unpaid leave means you need 10 years plus 56 days to reach the 10-year milestone.

Step 2: Use your state's formula

Milestone states: NSW, Queensland, WA and Tasmania

During your employment, you can take 8.6667 weeks at 10 years. Then you can take 4.3333 weeks at each further 5 years. The sections are NSW s 4(2)(a)(i), WA s 8(2) and Tasmania s 8(2)(a). In Queensland, after 15 years you can take leave as it accrues (s 95(2)).

When you leave, the amount is years of service x 8.6667 / 10. That is 0.86667 weeks per year. NSW, Queensland and Tasmania count part years. Queensland's official table uses 0.0722 weeks per completed month, 0.0167 per week and 0.0024 per day. WA counts years, months, weeks and days between 7 and 10 years, but only completed years after 10 (s 8(2)(c), s 8(3)).

The official examples are as follows. In NSW, 15 years with no leave taken gives 13 weeks, and 20 years gives 17.33 weeks. In WA, 12 years gives 8.667 + 1.733 = 10.4 weeks.

Victoria: 1 week for every 60 weeks

Your entitlement is your total weeks of continuous employment divided by 60, less any long service leave that you already took (s 6). You can access it after 7 years. Every week counts. The Act does not round your service to a milestone.

At 7 years, 364 weeks / 60 = 6.0667 weeks. Official Victorian pages round this to about 6.1 weeks.

SA and the NT: 1.3 weeks per completed year

You get 13 weeks after 10 years, then 1.3 weeks for each further completed year. Part years do not count (SA s 5(7); NT s 8(1)). In SA, 12 years 6 months gives 12 x 1.3 = 15.6 weeks. SafeWork SA says that 1.3 weeks is 9.1 calendar days.

In the NT, your employer works out the dollar amount year by year. For each completed year, the amount is your rate of pay x that year's weekly hours x 1.3 (s 11). For a full-time employee with fixed hours, this is the same as weeks x weekly pay.

The ACT: entitlement from 7 years

In the ACT, you earn 1/5 of a month for each year of service (s 4). WorkSafe ACT converts this to weeks with the formula (1/5 x years) x 52 / 12. That gives 6.0667 weeks at 7 years, 8.6667 weeks at 10 years and 13.0000 weeks at 15 years. After 7 years, only completed years count (s 3(2)). For the pro rata from 5 to 7 years, the Act counts completed years and months (s 11C(2)).

Steps 3 and 4: Subtract the leave that you used, then apply your pay

Subtract any long service leave that you already took. Then multiply the weeks left by your weekly ordinary pay.

Ordinary pay usually does not include overtime and penalty rates. But there are some differences. Tasmania includes shift penalties. SafeWork SA says that overtime hours count in the SA hours average for workers with variable hours. If your hours vary, read our guide for casual workers. It gives the averaging rule for your state.

Do the arithmetic yourself. Do not copy official examples. WorkSafe ACT's guideline prints $474 x 6.0667 = $2,876.60, but the correct result is $2,875.62. A Business Victoria example shows a 260-week average of $1,661.53, but its own inputs give $1,653.85.