In NSW you become entitled to two months (8.67 weeks) of long service leave after ten years of continuous service with the same employer (s 4(2)(a)(i)(A)). You then get another month (4.33 weeks) for each further five years (s 4(2)(a)(i)(B)). If your job ends between five and ten years, you are paid pro rata only for certain reasons (s 4(2)(a)(iii)).
How much leave you get
The rules come from the Long Service Leave Act 1955. A month means 4 1/3 weeks, and your entitlement is measured in weeks, not days or hours (s 4(2)(a3)).
While you are still employed, leave becomes available at milestones: ten years, then 15 years, 20 years and so on (s 4(2)(a)(i)). The milestone dates still apply after ten years. You cannot take leave you have not reached yet unless your employer agrees to give it to you in advance (s 4(3A)).
If you have taken no leave, 15 years of service gives you 13 weeks and 20 years gives you 17.33 weeks.
Time that does not count as service, such as agreed unpaid leave, pushes your milestone back by the same number of calendar days. In one NSW Industrial Relations example, a worker with 182 days of agreed unpaid leave needed ten years plus 182 days to become entitled. She resigned before then and got nothing.
When your job ends and you qualify for a payment, it is worked out on the basis of two months (8.67 weeks) for ten years of service. That is about 0.87 weeks for each year (s 4(2)(a)(iii)). NSW Industrial Relations counts part years in this calculation.
When you leave
What you are paid when your job ends depends on how long you worked and why the job ended. With less than five years of service, nothing is payable for any reason (s 4(2)(a)(iii)).
Between five and ten years, you are paid pro rata only if your employer ended your employment for a reason other than serious and wilful misconduct, you resigned because of illness, incapacity or domestic or other pressing necessity, or you died (s 4(2)(a)(iii)). The misconduct must be both serious and wilful, and your employer has to prove it. If you resign for illness or pressing necessity, you have to show that this was the reason.
After ten years, you are paid whatever the reason your job ends. Between ten and 15 years the amount is worked out on the basis of three months for 15 years (s 4(2)(a)(ii)). After 15 years you are paid any untaken milestone leave plus a proportionate amount for service since your last entitlement (s 4(2)(a)(i)(C)).
Your employer must pay you as soon as your employment ends (s 4(5)(a)). If a worker dies, the money is paid to their personal representative on request (s 4(5)(b)).
NSW Industrial Relations gives this example: Dean worked part-time for five years and six months, then his employer closed the store. His employer ended the employment, so he was paid 4.76 weeks pro rata.
| How the job ended | 5 to 10 years | After 10 years |
|---|---|---|
| Resigned | Nothing. An ordinary resignation is not one of the listed reasons (s 4(2)(a)(iii)). | Paid for all your service, less any leave already taken (s 4(2)(a)(i)(C), s 4(2)(a)(ii)). |
| Resigned due to illness, incapacity or pressing necessity | Pro rata for all your service. You must be able to show this was the reason (s 4(2)(a)(iii)). | Paid for all your service, less any leave already taken. |
| Employer ended your employment | Pro rata for all your service, unless the reason was serious and wilful misconduct (s 4(2)(a)(iii)). | Paid for all your service, less any leave already taken. |
| Redundancy | Pro rata for all your service, because your employer ended the employment (s 4(2)(a)(iii)). | Paid for all your service, less any leave already taken. |
| Dismissed for serious misconduct | Nothing, if the misconduct was serious and wilful and your employer can prove it (s 4(2)(a)(iii)). | Still paid. NSW Industrial Relations says the entitlement after ten years is payable even on dismissal for serious misconduct. |
| Retirement | Retirement is not a listed reason. You get pro rata only if your retirement fits one of the listed reasons, such as leaving because of illness or incapacity. | Paid for all your service, less any leave already taken. |
| Death | Pro rata for all service, paid to the personal representative on request (s 4(2)(a)(iii), s 4(5)(b)). | Paid to the personal representative on request (s 4(5)(b)). |
Before you rely on this
- An award, enterprise agreement or other law that gives you long service leave at least as good as the Act applies instead of the Act (s 5(1)). If it is less generous or says nothing about long service leave, the Act still covers you. You cannot contract out of the Act (s 7).
- NSW Industrial Relations changed how it applies the Act from 1 March 2026. The changes cover part years after 15 years, the casual two-step test, ordinary pay averaging, bonuses, single-day leave and fixed-term workers. They are not applied to cases already resolved.
- NSW Industrial Relations describes its approach to casual continuity and ordinary pay as its preferred view, and says each case depends on its facts.
- The end of a run of casual engagements, or of a fixed-term contract, may count as your employer ending your employment. This depends on the facts.
- Periods that do not count as service push your milestone dates back. Check your dates carefully before you resign close to a milestone.
- If you work in building and construction, community services, contract cleaning, black coal mining or metalliferous mining, a separate scheme may cover you instead.
- If your employer cannot find you after you leave, they can pay your long service leave to NSW Industrial Relations after 30 days (s 122 Industrial Relations Act 1996).
What counts as service
Counts as service
- Paid leave, weekends, rostered days off and a casual's regular non-working days (s 4(11)(a1)(i)).
- Time off for illness or injury, paid or unpaid, including time on workers compensation (s 4(11)(a1)(ii)).
- Time under a JobKeeper enabling direction between 9 April 2020 and 29 March 2021.
- An unpaid COVID-19 stand down between 11 March 2020 and 31 March 2022 (s 15C).
- Service with a previous owner when the business was transferred to your current employer (s 4(11)(c)).
- An apprenticeship, if the same employer employs you within 12 months after you finish it (s 4(11)(b)).
- All your service when you change between permanent, part-time and casual work.
Does not count, but does not break your service
- Leave your employer agreed to give you, such as unpaid leave (s 4(11)(a1)(vi)).
- Unpaid parental leave, unless your terms of employment say it counts.
- Time off because of an industrial dispute (s 4(11)(a1)(iv)).
- A stand down because of slackness of trade (s 4(11)(a1)(v)).
- A period where your employer ended or interrupted your work to avoid long service leave or State sick leave obligations (s 4(11)(a1)(iii)).
- A gap where your employer ended or interrupted your work for another reason and took you back within two months (s 4(11)(a1)(vii)).
- Casual service before 9 May 1985 (Sch 1 cl 1).
- These periods do not break your service, but they do not count towards it either. Count them in calendar days and add them to your milestone date.
Breaks your service
- Resigning, unless it was because of illness or injury or an industrial dispute. This breaks your service even if you are hired again within two months.
- Your employer ending your employment and not re-employing you within two months, unless it was to avoid long service leave, because of an industrial dispute or because of slackness of trade.
- Any other interruption that does not fit one of the categories in the Act (s 4(11)(a1)).
Casual work counts as service if you worked a series of engagements. NSW Industrial Relations uses a two-step test. First, is there a pattern of engagements? Second, does each break in that pattern fit a category in s 4(11)(a1)? A break that fits no category ends your service. There is no fixed 12-week gap rule. Each case depends on how regular the work was, how long the gaps were and why they happened.
If the business you work for is sold or transferred, your service with the old owner counts as service with the new owner. The new owner carries the whole long service leave liability, and the sale contract cannot exclude it (s 4(11)(c)).
Moving to a related corporation within two months does not break your service (s 4(13)(b)-(c)).
How your pay is worked out
Ordinary pay is worked out at the prescribed date. That is the day before your leave starts, or the day before your last day of employment if you are being paid out (s 3(1)).
If you are paid wholly at a fixed ordinary time rate, you get the higher of your ordinary pay on that date or your average weekly ordinary pay over the previous five years (s 3(1)).
Ordinary pay does not include shift-work amounts, overtime or other penalty rates. NSW Industrial Relations also leaves out expense allowances, reimbursements and one-off ex gratia payments.
If you are casual, your casual loading is included. If you have no fixed weekly hours, your hours are taken to be your average weekly hours over the last 12 months or the last five years, whichever is higher (s 3(2A)). Days that do not count as service, and for casuals days outside your usual pattern, are left out of the average.
If you are paid by commission, piece rates or more than one rate, you get the higher of your average weekly pay over the last 12 months or the last five years. Unpaid leave days and other days that do not count as service are left out of the average (s 3(1)).
Regular bonuses are averaged over the same period (s 3(1)). They are left out if your yearly ordinary pay without bonuses is above the high-income threshold (s 3(2C)). The threshold is the greater of $144,000 or the amount set under the Fair Work Regulations 2009 (Long Service Leave Regulation 2026 cl 4).
If you receive board or lodging and no value is fixed, it is valued at $15 a week for board and $5 a week for lodging (s 3(2)). A pay rise that starts during your leave does not increase your long service leave pay.
Taking your leave
- Minimum period
- By default you take the leave in one continuous period. If you and your employer agree, you can split it into two, three or four periods depending on how much leave you have, or into separate periods of at least one day (s 4(3), s 4(3AA)).
- Notice
- Your employer must give you at least one month's notice of the date your leave starts, or less if you agree (s 4(10), s 4(10A)).
- Public holidays
- A NSW public holiday that falls during your leave, and that you would be paid for, adds one day to your leave (s 4(4A)). Annual holidays taken during long service leave are not part of your long service leave (s 4(4)).
- Leave in advance
- You can agree with your employer to take leave of at least one day before you are entitled to it. It comes off your later entitlement (s 4(3A)). If your job ends before you have earned it, your employer can deduct the excess from your final pay (s 4(5)(c), s 4(5AA)). In a NSW Industrial Relations example, a worker took ten weeks in advance and left at ten years, entitled to 8.67 weeks, so 1.33 weeks could be deducted.
- When you are paid
- You are paid in full when your leave starts, at your normal pay times, or in another way you agree (s 4(7)). The Act does not mention taking long service leave at half pay.
Cashing out
You cannot cash out long service leave while you are still employed in NSW (s 4(8)). It is only paid out when your employment ends (s 4(5)). Your employer also cannot pay you a higher casual rate instead of giving you long service leave. Breaking these rules is an offence with a penalty of up to 20 penalty units (s 10).
Records your employer must keep
Your employer must keep long service leave records for at least six years after you stop working for them (s 8(3)). The records must show your start date, leave taken with dates and pay, your entitlement at ten years and each later five years, bonuses included in ordinary pay, and any payment when you leave (Long Service Leave Regulation 2026 cl 5, cl 6). The records must be available to you and to inspectors (cl 8). If the business is transferred, the old employer passes the records to the new employer (cl 9).
Who these rules cover
- Full-time workers
- Part-time workers, including those with fluctuating hours
- Casual workers employed in a series of engagements
- Pieceworkers
- Commission workers, whether on salary plus commission or commission only
- Outworkers
- Fixed-term workers, depending on the facts
Not covered
- Private sector workers who get long service leave under an award, agreement or pre-modernised award
- NSW public sector workers who get long service leave under the Government Sector Employment Regulation 2014 or an industrial instrument
- Commonwealth government workers
- Local government workers covered by the Local Government State Award 2023
- Workers in a portable long service leave scheme (building and construction, community services, contract cleaning), although the Act may still apply in some cases
- Black coal mining workers (Commonwealth coal long service leave scheme)
- Workers covered by the Long Service Leave (Metalliferous Mining Industry) Act 1963
Recent changes
- 1 March 2026: NSW Industrial Relations' new Long Service Leave Guide took effect. The Act did not change, but the way NSW Industrial Relations applies it did, including counting part years after 15 years, the casual continuity test, ordinary pay methods, bonuses, single-day leave and fixed-term workers. It is not applied to cases already resolved.
- 3 July 2026: The Long Service Leave Regulation 2026 started, replacing the Long Service Leave Regulation 2021. It sets out what records your employer must keep and the high-income threshold for bonuses.
Questions about long service leave in NSW
How much long service leave do I get after ten years in NSW?
Two months, which is 8.67 weeks at your ordinary pay (s 4(2)(a)(i)(A)). After that you get another 4.33 weeks for every further five years (s 4(2)(a)(i)(B)).
Do I get long service leave if I leave after five years in NSW?
Only for certain reasons. Between five and ten years you are paid pro rata if your employer ended your employment (other than for serious and wilful misconduct), you resigned because of illness, incapacity or domestic or other pressing necessity, or you died (s 4(2)(a)(iii)). An ordinary resignation gets nothing.
Do casual workers get long service leave in NSW?
Yes, if they have worked a series of engagements with the same employer. Each gap in the pattern must fit a category in the Act, or service is broken (s 4(11)(a1)). There is no fixed gap limit. Casual loading is included in long service leave pay.
Can I cash out my long service leave in NSW?
No. You cannot be paid instead of taking long service leave while you are still employed (s 4(8)). It is only paid out when your employment ends (s 4(5)).
Does unpaid parental leave count towards long service leave in NSW?
No, unless your terms of employment say it counts. It does not break your service, but it pushes your milestone date back by the number of days you were away.
Official sources
- Long Service Leave Act 1955 No 38NSW Parliamentary Counsel's Office
- Long Service Leave Regulation 2026NSW Parliamentary Counsel's Office
- Long service leaveNSW Industrial Relations
- Long Service Leave GuidanceNSW Industrial Relations
- Long Service Leave Guide (March 2026)Premier's Department NSW
- A Short Guide to Long Service Leave Entitlements (February 2026)NSW Industrial Relations
- Webinar Questions and Answers (April 2026)NSW Industrial Relations
- Long service leave calculatorNSW Industrial Relations
Rules last reviewed 3 November 2026 against the Long Service Leave Act 1955 (NSW) and the regulator's guidance.