Longserviceleave.com

Queensland average hours for long service leave

Work out the normal weekly hours and pay for long service leave in Queensland when your hours have changed. Queensland uses the ordinary hours over the whole service.

By Sri Murugan Systems · Rules last reviewed

Work out normal weekly hours for leave

Industrial Relations Act 2016 (Qld)

Enter the hours worked in each year.

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To turn the hours into weekly pay for leave.

Total hours from payslips or your payroll summary (in Victoria, include paid leave hours). Add unpaid leave weeks so they are left out of the average where your state does that.

Most recent 12 months
The 12 months before that
Year 3 back
Year 4 back
Year 5 back

The Queensland rule

Under the Industrial Relations Act 2016 (Qld), normal weekly hours are the ordinary hours over the whole service (s 98, s 99, s 104, s 105).

Ordinary hourly rate on the day leave starts or termination takes effect x long service leave hours, where long service leave hours come from total ordinary hours actually worked over the whole period of continuous service.

Worked example: hours cut back in Queensland

A long-serving employee worked 35 hours a week for three years, then reduced their hours, with 4 weeks of unpaid leave along the way. They are paid $40 an hour.

YearHours workedUnpaid leave weeks
Most recent 12 months1,3000
The 12 months before1,5604
3 years back1,8200
4 years back1,8200
5 years back1,8200

Under the Queensland rule:

  1. The ruleQueensland uses the ordinary hours over the whole service (s 98, s 99, s 104, s 105).
  2. Whole employment8,320.00 hours ÷ 256.00 weeks = 32.50 hours a week.
  3. Normal weekly hours32.50 hours a week.
  4. Weekly pay for leave32.50 hours × $40.00 an hour = $1,300.00 a week.

So leave is paid at 32.50 hours a week, or $1,300.00 a week.

Each year is counted as 52 weeks, less any unpaid leave weeks you entered. The Acts count calendar days and exclude some unpaid absences, so a payroll figure can differ slightly.

See the Queensland long service leave calculator to work out the full entitlement with these hours.

Common questions

My hours dropped recently. Is my leave paid at the lower hours?

Not always. NSW and Victoria use the higher of a short and a long average, so a recent drop does not lower the pay if you worked more hours over the longer period. SA uses the last 3 years, and Tasmania and the ACT the last 12 months.

Do unpaid leave weeks count in the average?

The Acts generally leave out periods that do not count as service, such as unpaid leave. Enter unpaid weeks for each year and the calculator leaves them out of the weeks it divides by.

Official sources

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