Long service leave for WA public service officers

Who these rules cover

The award covers public service officers appointed under Part 3 of the Public Sector Management Act 1994 who are members of, or eligible to join, the Civil Service Association (cl 4). It does not cover officers whose pay is set under the Salaries and Allowances Act 1975 or fixed by law, or chief executive officers (cl 4(a)-(c)).

Government wages employees, teachers, nurses, police and local government staff have separate arrangements.

How much leave you get

After 7 years of continuous service you get 13 weeks of long service leave on full pay (cl 25(1)). You get another 13 weeks for each further 7 years (cl 25(3)). Part-time officers get the same entitlement, but the pay reflects the hours worked during the accrual period (cl 25(4)).

What happens when you leave

If you resign, retire, are retired or dismissed, or die, you are paid the money value of the leave you are entitled to (Regulations reg 5(1)(a)). On resignation or dismissal, service after your last completed 7-year period does not count (cl 25(5)(c)).

Before 7 years, pro rata leave is paid only in these cases (cl 25(15)). After 12 months: you retire at 55 or older, you are retired on ill-health grounds, or you die. After 3 years: your employer retires you for any other cause and you did not resign. Pro rata is 13 weeks for 7 years, about 1.86 weeks a year.

An ordinary resignation before 7 years gets nothing.

Earlier government service

If you came straight from the Commonwealth, another state government, or a WA state body listed in Administrative Instruction 611, with a gap of no more than one week, your earlier service counts (cl 25(11)). Leave for that earlier period is worked out under your old employer's rules, minus anything you took or were paid. A full entitlement that had already accrued before you joined does not carry over (cl 25(11)(b)). Local government service is not listed.

Taking leave, half pay, double pay and cashing out

By agreement you can take leave in periods of at least one day (cl 25(1)). Your employer may approve leave on full or half pay. Half-pay portions over 4 weeks must be in multiples of a week (cl 25(12)). By agreement you can take leave on double pay for half the time (cl 25(13)). Your employer can direct you to take accrued leave (cl 25(8)).

You can cash out any part of an accrued entitlement by agreement, as long as you take at least 10 days of annual leave that calendar year (cl 25(14)).

If you are within 7 years of your superannuation preservation age, you can agree to early access to pro rata leave at 9.28 days per completed year. It can be taken at half, full or double pay but cannot be cashed out (Agreement cl 32). Public holidays during leave are added back as extra days (Agreement cl 33).