Longserviceleave.com

Guide · Australia

Is leave loading paid on long service leave?

No state or territory long service leave Act adds a leave loading to long service leave. Your employer pays you your ordinary pay. Each Act tells you what that pay includes and what it excludes. Business Queensland says clearly that no leave loading is payable. The other Acts do not mention a leave loading at all.

By Sri Murugan Systems · Rules last reviewed

  • 4 min read
  • 5 sections
  • 17 official sources

Key points

  • No state or territory long service leave Act adds a leave loading to long service leave.
  • Your employer pays long service leave at your ordinary pay.
  • Casual loading is not leave loading. Long service leave pay includes casual loading.
  • A long service leave payout uses the same ordinary pay, so it also has no leave loading.
  • A loading on long service leave comes only from your agreement or contract, not from the state Acts.
On this page
  1. What your employer pays instead: ordinary pay
  2. Why there is no leave loading
  3. Casual loading is different
  4. When your job ends
  5. Awards, agreements and contracts
  6. Common questions
  7. Related guides
  8. Official sources

What your employer pays instead: ordinary pay

Every Act pays long service leave at a version of your ordinary pay. No definition includes an annual leave loading, a long service leave loading or a similar extra percentage. Most definitions expressly exclude overtime and penalty rates.

The table shows what each Act counts. It also shows what the Act, or the state regulator, excludes.

StateWhat your employer paysWhat the pay excludesSection
NSWYour ordinary remuneration or average weekly wage (the one that applies), plus average bonuses and the value of board or lodgingShift work, overtime and other penalty rates. NSW Industrial Relations also excludes allowances for expenses. The pay includes casual loadings 3(1), s 3(2)
VICPay for your normal weekly hours at your ordinary time rate, plus the value of board or lodgingWage Inspectorate Victoria says that pay usually does not include allowances, penalty rates and occasional overtime on top of your ordinary rate. The pay includes casual loadings 15
QLDThe higher rate that your employer pays you immediately before the leave. If that does not apply, your ordinary rateOvertime. Business Queensland says that no leave loading is payable on long service leave. Casuals get the loaded casual rates 98
WAPay for your normal weekly hours at your ordinary time rate, plus casual loading and board or lodgingThe WA guide says that pay does not include shift premiums, overtime, penalty rates, allowances and similar paymentss 7, s 7B, s 7C
SAYour weekly rate of pay at the relevant dateOvertime, shift premiums and penalty ratess 3(2)
TASThe pay that you would reasonably have received if you had continued to work your normal hoursOvertime. WorkSafe Tasmania also lists some allowances, meal and travel payments and discretionary bonuses. The pay includes shift penalties and part-time and casual loadingss 11
ACTSalary or wages, skill, qualification and board allowances, and bonuses that your employer usually pays with your wagesOvertime, penalty rates, and allowances that are not part of the calculation of overtime ratesDictionary ('ordinary remuneration')
NTPay with over-award payments, industry, leading hand, skill or qualification allowances, and bonuses that your employer usually pays with your payOvertime, penalty rates, and district, site and climatic allowancess 7

Why there is no leave loading

Leave loading is an annual leave payment. The Fair Work Ombudsman says that awards and enterprise agreements can give it, and that it does not apply to all employees. Long service leave is a separate entitlement. It mostly comes from state and territory law (Fair Work Act s 113).

The Fair Work Ombudsman says that employers usually pay long service leave at your ordinary pay rate. This is your base pay for your usual hours. The Ombudsman says that this rate does not include allowances, shift loadings, penalties and overtime.

Queensland is the only state where the guidance of the regulator mentions leave loading by name. That guidance says that no leave loading is payable.

Check your own numbers

Pick your state. The calculator uses that state's Act and shows the working.

Casual loading is different

Casual loading is not leave loading. It is part of the ordinary rate of a casual, so long service leave pay includes it. The WA Act says this directly (s 7B). NSW Industrial Relations, Wage Inspectorate Victoria, Business Queensland, SafeWork SA and WorkSafe Tasmania all say the same in their guidance.

When your job ends

A long service leave payout uses the same definition of ordinary pay. In Victoria and WA, the Act treats you as if you start long service leave on the day when your job ends. This rule is in VIC s 9(1)(a) and WA s 9(2). In SA, the rate is the rate immediately before termination (s 8(4)). In the ACT, it is your rate immediately before your job ends (s 11D). Thus a long service leave payout also has no leave loading.

Unused annual leave is a separate part of your final pay. The Fair Work Ombudsman says that it includes annual leave loading if you would have received the loading during employment. That loading is part of your annual leave, not your long service leave. For more information, read our guide to payouts when you leave.

Awards, agreements and contracts

A modern award cannot include terms about long service leave (Fair Work Act s 155). Some employees get long service leave from an older award or a registered agreement instead of state law (s 113). If this applies to you, the terms of that instrument decide how your employer pays your leave.

State Acts set a minimum, so a contract or agreement can give more. For example, the Queensland Act says that leave under another instrument must be at least as favourable as the Act (s 95(6)).

Your agreement or contract can promise a loading on long service leave. If it does, that promise gives you the loading. The state Acts do not.

If you are not sure what applies to you, read your agreement or contract. Then ask your state regulator. If you have a dispute, an employment lawyer can give advice.

Common questions

Do I get 17.5% leave loading on long service leave?

No, not under any state or territory long service leave Act. Business Queensland says that no leave loading is payable. The other Acts do not give one.

Do I get leave loading on long service leave when I resign?

No. A long service leave payout uses the same ordinary pay as leave that you take. Any annual leave loading in your final pay is part of your unused annual leave.

Is casual loading included in long service leave pay?

Yes. Casual loading is part of the ordinary rate of a casual. The WA Act says this (s 7B). The regulators in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, SA and Tasmania say the same.

Are shift penalties included in long service leave pay?

Usually not. The NSW and SA Acts exclude them, and the WA guide excludes shift premiums. Tasmania is the exception. WorkSafe Tasmania says that the pay includes shift penalties.

Can my agreement give me a loading on long service leave?

Yes, if its terms say so. The state Acts set minimums. A more generous contract or agreement term applies in addition to them.

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Official sources

Rules last reviewed 3 November 2026. Every figure comes from the state Acts, the regulators and the ATO; see sources and method.

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