In the Northern Territory you get 13 weeks of long service leave after 10 years of continuous service, earned at 1.3 weeks for each completed year (s 8(1)). Once you have 10 years, the Act pays out your leave credit when you leave for any reason (s 10(1)). Between 7 and 10 years, you are paid only for certain reasons (s 10(2)).
How much leave you get
Once you complete 10 years of continuous service, you are entitled to 1.3 weeks of long service leave for each completed year: 13 weeks in total (s 8(1)).
After that, you become entitled to take more leave each time you complete a further 5 years: 1.3 weeks for each of those years, or 6.50 weeks (s 8(3)).
Part years do not count (nt.gov.au). You cannot earn more than 1.3 weeks for any completed year (s 7(6)(b)).
Leave you have taken comes off your credit (s 8(8)).
When you leave
With less than 7 years, you get no long service leave payment under the Act (s 10(2)).
From 7 to under 10 years, you are paid 1.3 weeks for each completed year only if your job ends: on or after the age at which you may retire; because your employer ended it for a reason other than serious misconduct; or because of illness, incapacity or domestic or other pressing necessity that justifies leaving (s 10(2)). An ordinary resignation gets nothing.
After 10 years, the Act says your employer must pay your whole long service leave credit when you stop working for them, for any reason other than death or dismissal for serious misconduct (s 10(1), s 10(1A)). This includes an ordinary resignation. The credit is 1.3 weeks for each completed year, less leave taken (s 8(1), s 8(8)).
The NT Government's long service leave page (nt.gov.au) describes this more narrowly. It suggests payout is limited to retirement, employer termination and illness or pressing necessity, and to completed 5-year periods once the first 10-year leave has been used. The Act's wording is wider, so this site follows the Act (s 10(1)).
If you are dismissed for serious misconduct after 10 years, you are paid only for completed blocks: the completed 10 years if you have 10 to under 15 years, or completed 5-year periods if you have 15 years or more, less leave taken (s 10(1A)).
If you die, your personal representative can ask for the amount you would have been paid (s 10(3)). It must be paid within 12 months of your death (s 11(7)(b)). Other payments on termination must be made as soon as practicable (s 11(7)).
| How the job ended | 7 to 10 years | After 10 years |
|---|---|---|
| Resigned | Nothing is payable (s 10(2)). | Your whole leave credit is paid (s 10(1)). nt.gov.au words this more narrowly; this site follows the Act. |
| Resigned due to illness or pressing necessity | Paid 1.3 weeks per completed year, if the illness, incapacity or domestic or other pressing necessity justifies leaving (s 10(2)). | Your whole leave credit is paid (s 10(1)). |
| Employer ended your employment | Paid 1.3 weeks per completed year, unless it was for serious misconduct (s 10(2)). | Your whole leave credit is paid (s 10(1)). |
| Made redundant | Paid 1.3 weeks per completed year. Redundancy is a termination by your employer for a reason other than serious misconduct (s 10(2)). | Your whole leave credit is paid (s 10(1)). |
| Dismissed for serious misconduct | Nothing is payable (s 10(2)). | Paid for completed blocks only: the completed 10 years (10 to under 15 years' service) or completed 5-year periods (15 years or more), less leave taken (s 10(1A)). |
| Retired | Paid 1.3 weeks per completed year if you leave on or after the age at which you may retire (s 10(2)). NT law does not set a retirement age. | Your whole leave credit is paid (s 10(1)). |
| Death | Your personal representative can ask for the amount you would have been paid (s 10(3)). | Your personal representative can ask for your leave credit, paid within 12 months (s 10(3), s 11(7)(b)). |
Before you rely on this
- Awards and agreements: the Act does not apply if an award provides for long service leave (s 6(2)(b)). The Minister can approve an agreement that is no less favourable (s 8(5)), and the Act applies despite any less favourable agreement (s 17(1)). The Fair Work Ombudsman says your entitlement may come from a pre-modern award, and that State and Territory laws generally prevail over enterprise agreement terms, with some exceptions. nt.gov.au itself does not explain this.
- After 10 years, nt.gov.au describes payout more narrowly than the Act. This site follows the Act, which pays your leave credit when you leave for any reason other than death or dismissal for serious misconduct (s 10(1), s 10(1A)).
- Ordinary resignation between 7 and 10 years gets nothing. Only the listed reasons qualify (s 10(2)). nt.gov.au gives no minimum for pro-rata; the Act sets it at 7 years (s 10(2)).
- Serious misconduct after 10 years limits you to completed 10-year or 5-year blocks (s 10(1A)).
- NT law does not set a retirement age. If you are retiring between 7 and 10 years, check that your employer accepts that you have reached the age at which you may retire (s 10(2)).
- Pay is worked out year by year using your hours in each year, so part-time years earlier in your career lower the total (s 11(2)-(3)).
- Construction workers in the NT Build portable scheme, and NT and Australian Government employees, are covered by other laws (s 6(2)(a)).
- We could not find an official long service leave calculator for the Northern Territory. This site's figures are estimates.
What counts as service
Counts as service
- Paid leave granted by your employer (s 12(5)).
- Reserve or Citizen Forces service, national service and Civil Construction Corps service, which count as service with your last employer (s 12(2)).
- Service with a related corporation (s 12(6)-(7)).
- Service with a previous owner of the business, if the business was transferred and you moved with it (s 12(8)-(9)).
Does not count, but does not break your service
- Any absence other than paid leave granted by your employer, such as unpaid leave (s 12(5)).
- Workers' compensation absences (nt.gov.au).
- Part years of service (nt.gov.au).
Breaks your service
- Your employer interrupting or ending your employment to avoid the Act does not break your service (s 12(4)(a)).
- An industrial dispute does not break it if you return under the settlement (s 12(4)(b)).
- A stand-down for slackness of trade does not break it (s 12(4)(c)).
- A gap of up to 12 months after finishing an apprenticeship does not break it (s 12(4)(d)).
- Any other interruption does not break it if your employer re-employs you within 2 months (s 12(4)(e)).
- Any other interruption or termination does break it if you are not re-employed within 2 months (s 12(4)).
Casual work: casuals are employees under the Act (s 7(1)), and nt.gov.au says leave accrues during casual employment. There is no separate continuity test for casuals. The general rules apply: gaps of up to 2 months followed by re-employment do not break your service, but unpaid time does not count (s 12).
Transfer of business: if all or part of the business is transferred, by sale, succession or otherwise, and you transfer with it, your service is not broken and counts with the new employer (s 12(8)-(9)). An apprenticeship counts if you are re-employed within 12 months of completing it (s 12(3)).
How your pay is worked out
NT long service leave pay is worked out year by year. For each completed year that makes up your entitlement, your rate of pay is multiplied by your weekly hours in that year and by 1.3. The results are added together (s 11(2)-(3)).
Your rate of pay is the rate on the day before your job ends or your leave starts (s 11(3)). Your weekly hours for each year are your fixed weekly hours in that year or, if they were not fixed, your average weekly hours in that year, without overtime (s 11(1)).
For a full-time employee whose hours never changed, this is the same as weeks of leave x current weekly pay. The Act's example: 40 hours a week for all 10 years at $15 an hour gives $15 x 40 x 1.3 x 10 = $7,800 (s 11(4)).
If your hours changed, each year is worked out separately. The Act's example: 40, 40, 30, 25 and 20 hours a week over 5 years at $30 an hour gives ($30 x 40 x 1.3) + ($30 x 40 x 1.3) + ($30 x 30 x 1.3) + ($30 x 25 x 1.3) + ($30 x 20 x 1.3) = $6,045 (s 11(5)). This means past part-time years are paid at your current rate but at the hours you worked then.
Pay includes over-award payments, industry, leading hand, skill or qualification allowances and service grants, bonuses or incentives usually paid with your wages, and the value of free board or lodging (s 7(1)-(2)). If your terms of employment do not fix the value of board or lodging, it is $15 a week for board and $5 a week for lodging (s 7(2)).
Pay leaves out overtime, penalty rates, district allowance, site allowance and climatic allowance (s 11(1)).
If you have no fixed rate, or are paid partly in other ways such as commission, your rate for a year is your total pay for that year, without the excluded items, divided by the hours you worked that year, without overtime (s 11(1)). Pay and commission for a year are added together (s 7(4)).
Taking your leave
- Minimum period
- You take your leave in one continuous period or, by agreement, in up to 3 separate periods of at least 4 weeks each (s 8(6)(b)).
- Notice
- Your employer must give you at least 2 months' notice of the date your leave starts, unless you agree otherwise (s 8(7)). Leave is to be granted as soon as practicable after it accrues, having regard to the needs of the business, or from a date you agree (s 8(6)(a)).
- Public holidays
- Public holidays that fall during your long service leave count as part of it, so they do not extend your leave (s 9).
- Leave in advance
- No official NT source says whether you can take long service leave in advance.
- When you are paid
- Your employer pays the whole amount on or before your last working day before the leave, or on the pay day just before it, as agreed (s 11(6)). You can also agree on another time or method (s 11(8)(b)). When your job ends, payment is due as soon as practicable (s 11(7)).
Cashing out
You cannot cash out long service leave while you are still employed in the NT. Except for payments when your job ends, your employer must not pay you, and you must not accept, money instead of long service leave (s 10(4)). nt.gov.au also says you cannot cash in your leave instead of taking it. While on long service leave, you must not take other paid work of the same kind (s 16).
Records your employer must keep
Your employer must keep long service leave records for 3 years after your employment ends. If your employment ended because of your death, they must be kept for 6 years after all money is paid to your legal personal representative (s 14(2)).
Who these rules cover
- Full-time, part-time and casual employees
- Employees paid by salary, wages or piecework
- Butty gang members and outworkers
- Apprentices
- Employees paid by commission or a share of earnings (s 7(3)-(4))
Not covered
- People whose long service leave is provided by another NT, Commonwealth or State law, such as NT Government and Australian Government employees and NT Build construction workers (s 6(2)(a))
- People covered by an award that provides for long service leave (s 6(2)(b))
- People employed in an honorary capacity (s 6(2)(c))
- Employers and employees exempted by the Minister because their scheme is no less favourable (s 13)
Recent changes
- 14 October 2015: The current version of the Long Service Leave Act 1981 has applied since 14 October 2015. Only minor formal amendments have been made since then, and the entitlement rules have not changed.
Questions about long service leave in NT
How much long service leave do I get after 10 years in the NT?
13 weeks: 1.3 weeks for each of your 10 completed years (s 8(1)).
Do I get long service leave if I resign after 10 years in the NT?
Yes. The Act pays your whole leave credit when you leave for any reason other than death or dismissal for serious misconduct (s 10(1), s 10(1A)). nt.gov.au words this more narrowly, but this site follows the Act.
Do I get pro-rata long service leave if I resign after 8 years in the NT?
Not for an ordinary resignation. Between 7 and 10 years you are paid only if you leave at retirement age, your employer ends your job other than for serious misconduct, or illness or pressing necessity justifies leaving (s 10(2)).
Can I cash out long service leave in the NT?
No. Your employer must not pay you instead of leave, except when your job ends (s 10(4)).
How is NT long service leave worked out for part-time or casual workers?
Year by year: your current rate of pay x your average weekly hours in each year x 1.3, added up across your completed years (s 11(2)-(3)).
Official sources
- Long Service Leave Act 1981 (NT)Northern Territory Government - NT Legislation
- Long Service Leave Act 1981 - legislation pageNorthern Territory Government - NT Legislation
- Act History - Long Service Leave Act 1981Northern Territory Government - NT Legislation
- Long service leaveNorthern Territory Government (nt.gov.au)
- Long service leave fact sheetFair Work Ombudsman
Rules last reviewed 3 November 2026 against the Long Service Leave Act 1981 (NT) and the regulator's guidance.