Under five years: nothing is payable if you resign, for any reason (s 4(2)(a)(iii)).
Five to ten years: an ordinary resignation, for example to take another job, gets nothing. You are paid pro rata only if you resign because of illness, incapacity or domestic or other pressing necessity (s 4(2)(a)(iii)). You have to show on the balance of probabilities that this was the reason.
Ten years or more: you are paid whatever the reason you resign. Between ten and 15 years the payment is worked out on the basis of three months for 15 years (s 4(2)(a)(ii)). After 15 years you get 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)).
Check your real service date before you resign. Agreed unpaid leave and unpaid parental leave do not count as service, so your ten-year date moves later. In a NSW Industrial Relations example, Marina had 182 days of agreed unpaid leave. She resigned a few weeks after her tenth anniversary but before ten years plus 182 days, so she got nothing.
Resigning breaks your service unless you resign because of illness or injury or an industrial dispute. NSW Industrial Relations says this applies even if the same employer hires you again within two months. Your service would then start again from zero.
If you took leave in advance and resign 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 with 8.67 weeks owed, so 1.33 weeks could be deducted.
Common questions
Do I get long service leave if I resign after eight years in NSW?
Only if you resigned because of illness, incapacity or domestic or other pressing necessity (s 4(2)(a)(iii)). An ordinary resignation between five and ten years gets nothing.
Do I get long service leave if I resign after ten years in NSW?
Yes. After ten years you are paid for your service whatever the reason you leave, and your employer must pay you when your employment ends (s 4(5)(a)).
If I resign and come back, does my service continue?
Generally no. NSW Industrial Relations says a resignation breaks service even if you are rehired within two months, unless you resigned because of illness or injury or an industrial dispute.
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
Rules last reviewed 3 November 2026.