In Western Australia you become entitled to 8 2/3 weeks (8.67 weeks) of long service leave after ten years of continuous employment, then 4 1/3 weeks (4.33 weeks) for each further five years (s 8(2)). If your job ends between seven and ten years, you are paid pro rata for any reason except serious misconduct (s 8(3)).
How much leave you get
The rules come from the Long Service Leave Act 1958. The Act states the figures as fractions. WA government pages show them as 8.667 and 4.333 weeks.
While you are still employed, leave becomes available only in blocks: 8.67 weeks at ten years, then 4.33 weeks for each further completed five years (s 8(2)(a), (b)). You cannot take part of the next block before you reach it, unless your employer agrees to leave in advance (s 10).
So 15 years gives 13 weeks and 20 years gives 17.33 weeks, if you have taken no leave. In a WA government example, Esther has worked 16 years. She can take the ten-year and 15-year blocks, but her 16th year is not available yet.
When your job ends, the amount works out to 8.67 weeks per ten years, which is about 0.87 weeks a year. Between seven and ten years every part year counts. After ten years only completed years count for the extra amount (s 8(2)(c), s 8(3)).
When you leave
With less than seven years of continuous employment, nothing is payable when your job ends.
Between seven and ten years, you are paid pro rata for any reason your employment ends, including resignation, unless you were dismissed for serious misconduct (s 8(3)). The amount is based on 8.67 weeks for ten years and counts your whole period of employment in years, months, weeks and days.
After ten years, you are paid any untaken leave from completed blocks. You are also paid a pro rata amount for each completed year since you last became entitled, at about 0.87 weeks a year (s 8(2)(c)). Part years after ten years are not counted.
If you are dismissed for serious misconduct after ten years, you are paid only the untaken part of your last fully accrued block. You get nothing for the completed years since then (s 8(2)(c)(ii)).
You are treated as starting your long service leave on the day your employment ends, and the full amount must be paid that day (s 9(2), s 9(2A)).
WA government examples: Riley resigns after eight years, four months and five days and is paid 7.24 weeks. Lee is made redundant after 12 years and is paid 8.67 + 1.73 = 10.4 weeks. Anastasia is dismissed for serious misconduct after 12 years and one month, with no leave taken, and is paid only her ten-year block of 8.67 weeks.
| How the job ended | 7 to 10 years | After 10 years |
|---|---|---|
| Resigned | Pro rata for your whole period of employment, including part years (s 8(3)). | Untaken blocks plus pro rata for completed years since your last block (s 8(2)(c)). |
| Resigned due to illness, incapacity or pressing necessity | Pro rata for your whole period of employment. The reason does not matter in WA (s 8(3)). | Untaken blocks plus pro rata for completed years since your last block (s 8(2)(c)). |
| Employer ended your employment | Pro rata for your whole period of employment (s 8(3)). | Untaken blocks plus pro rata for completed years since your last block (s 8(2)(c)). |
| Redundancy | Pro rata for your whole period of employment (s 8(3)). | Untaken blocks plus pro rata for completed years since your last block (s 8(2)(c)). |
| Dismissed for serious misconduct | Nothing (s 8(3)). | Only the untaken part of your last full block. No pro rata for the years since (s 8(2)(c)(ii)). |
| Retirement | Pro rata for your whole period of employment (s 8(3)). | Untaken blocks plus pro rata for completed years since your last block (s 8(2)(c)). |
| Death | Pro rata for the whole period of employment (s 8(3)). | Untaken blocks plus pro rata for completed years since the last block (s 8(2)(c)). |
Before you rely on this
- The Act does not apply if you have a separate long service leave entitlement under an award, agreement or other law that is at least equivalent (s 4A(4)). Equivalence is judged on the whole entitlement, not one part of it. A loading or payment instead of leave does not count as a separate entitlement (s 4A(3)). For national system employees, the WA Act prevails over a less generous long service leave term in an enterprise agreement made on or after 1 January 2010.
- Entitlements that fully accrued before 20 June 2022 follow the older continuity rules. Under those rules, sick leave counted only up to 15 working days a year and authorised absences such as parental leave did not count.
- The WA government calculator is for termination payouts only and shows weeks, not dollars. It gives 7.23 or 7.24 weeks for the Riley example depending on the actual dates, so expect differences of 0.01 weeks.
- The WA calculator page says 0.8666 weeks per completed year after ten years, but the calculator itself uses 0.8667 and rounds to two decimals at each step.
- WA local government employees, and many on-site construction workers covered by the Construction Industry Portable Paid Long Service Leave Act 1985 (MyLeave), have separate arrangements.
What counts as service
Counts as service
- Paid leave of any kind, such as annual leave, sick or carer's leave, long service leave and paid parental leave, and public holidays (s 6(1), s 6A).
- For casual and seasonal workers, absences under the terms of your employment, seasonal breaks, and other breaks after which you reasonably expected to return because the work was regular and systematic (s 6(5), s 6A(1)(c)). WA government pages say this includes unpaid parental leave where you reasonably expected to return.
- Time with a previous employer when the business was transferred (s 7H).
- All your service when you change between full-time, part-time and casual work.
- Service with a related body corporate, but only from 20 June 2022.
Does not count, but does not break your service
- Unpaid leave, such as unpaid parental leave or leave without pay (s 6A(2)(a)).
- Absences your employer authorised, stand downs, industrial dispute absences, union business absences and other absences under s 6(3) (s 6A(2)(b)).
- The gap between your employer ending your employment and re-employing you (s 6A(2)(c)).
- The gap between finishing an apprenticeship and being re-employed (s 6A(2)(d)).
- The gap between your old and new employer when a business is transferred (s 6A(2)(e)).
- These periods do not break your continuous employment, but they are not added to it.
Breaks your service
- Resigning. WA government pages say your earlier service is not usually counted if you are re-employed, though it depends on the facts.
- An absence not covered by s 6, if your employer gives you written notice within 14 days after the absence that it has broken your continuous employment (s 6(3)(e)).
- Being re-employed more than two months after your employer ended your employment, or more than six months after it ended it for slackness of trade (s 6(4)).
Casual and seasonal employment is continuous despite absences under the terms of your employment, seasonal breaks, or breaks after which you reasonably expected to return, however long they are (s 6(5)). Having two or more contracts, or another job at the same time, does not break it (s 6(6)).
A transfer of business applies if your old employer ends your employment, the new employer hires you within three months, you do the same or substantially the same work, and there is a connection between the two employers, such as a sale of assets or outsourcing (s 7E, s 7G). The new employer is then treated as your only employer for the whole period (s 7H) and must receive your records (s 7I).
If your employer ends your employment and re-employs you within two months, or within six months after a slackness of trade termination, your employment is continuous (s 6(4)). An apprenticeship followed by a contract with the same employer within 52 weeks is also continuous (s 6(7)).
Non-permanent Defence Force service does not break your employment if you go back to work as soon as practicable (s 6(2)(b)).
How your pay is worked out
Ordinary pay is the pay for your normal weekly hours at the ordinary time rate that applies when your leave starts (s 7(1)). If your job ends, you are treated as starting your leave on the day of termination (s 9(2)). Casual loading is included (s 7B), and so is the cash value of any board and lodging you do not get during the leave (s 7C).
Ordinary pay does not include shift premiums, overtime, penalty rates, allowances or similar payments.
If your hours varied, your normal weekly hours are the average you actually worked, leaving out periods that do not count as service (s 7(2)). WA government pages say the average is worked out separately for each accrual period: the first ten years, each later five years, and the completed years used for a payout. For casual and seasonal workers, weeks with no work under the terms of employment are counted as zero-hour weeks. For fly-in fly-out workers, the average includes on and off weeks.
WA government example: Mike leaves after 18 years and six months with different hours in each period. He is paid 8.67 weeks at 38 hours, 4.33 weeks at 20 hours, and 2.6 weeks for three completed years at 25 hours, which totals 481 hours. The six months after his 18th year are not counted.
If you are paid by commission, piecework, bonus or other results, your rate is your average weekly pay over the 365 days before the leave starts or your employment ends, leaving out unpaid leave and stand downs (s 7(4), (5)). This applies only where results-based pay is regular and part of your pay, not an occasional discretionary bonus. In a WA government example, Harley earned $100,000 in the last 365 days, so his weekly rate is $100,000 / 365 x 7 = $1,917.81.
If you postpone your leave for your own convenience by agreement, the rate is the one on the day the leave accrued, or the day it starts if you agree (s 7(3)).
Taking your leave
- Minimum period
- You take the leave in one continuous period, or in separate periods if you and your employer agree (s 9(1)(b)). You can ask to take double the time at half pay or half the time at double pay, but your employer does not have to agree (s 9(1C), (1D)).
- Notice
- Your employer cannot direct you to take long service leave at a particular time. If you cannot agree, your employer cannot refuse leave you became entitled to more than 12 months earlier, as long as you give two weeks' notice (s 9(1a), (1b)).
- Public holidays
- A public holiday during your long service leave extends the leave.
- Leave in advance
- You can take leave in advance by agreement. You do not get further leave until the advanced period has accrued, and if your job ends your employer can deduct payment for advance leave you had not yet earned (s 10). In a WA government example, Liam took 8 weeks in advance at seven years and resigned at eight years with 6.94 weeks owed, so 1.06 weeks could be deducted.
- When you are paid
- In the normal course of pay, unless you ask in writing to be paid before the leave starts, or you agree on another method (s 9(3)). When your job ends, the full amount is paid on the day of termination (s 9(2A)). You must not take other paid work in place of your job while on long service leave (s 27).
Cashing out
You can cash out long service leave in WA, but only after a full block has accrued, not in advance (s 5). You and your employer must both sign a written agreement, and you must receive at least the ordinary pay you would have got if you had taken the leave. Your employer must keep the details of the agreement (s 26(1)(e)). In a WA government example, Emma has 11 years of service and 8.67 weeks accrued, and cashes out 4 weeks at four weeks' salary.
Records your employer must keep
Your employer must keep long service leave records while you work there and for at least seven years after (s 26(2)(b)).
Who these rules cover
- Full-time, part-time and casual employees
- Seasonal employees
- Apprentices and trainees
- WA private sector employees in both the national and state systems, subject to the exclusions
- State public sector employees without an award or agreement entitlement that is at least equivalent
Not covered
- Employees with a separate long service leave entitlement under an award, industrial agreement, employer-employee agreement or other law that is at least equivalent (s 4A(4))
- WA local government employees (Local Government (Long Service Leave) Regulations 2024)
- Many on-site construction employees covered by the Construction Industry Portable Paid Long Service Leave Act 1985 (MyLeave)
- National system employees with long service leave in a federal pre-modern award that would have covered the employer before 1 January 2010
- National system employees previously covered by certain federal agreements made before 1 January 2010 who fully accrued long service leave under them before 7 December 2023
- Independent contractors
Recent changes
- 20 June 2022: Major amendments started: new continuous employment rules, casual and seasonal continuity, ordinary pay rules, transfer of business rules, cashing out, the equivalent entitlement test and counting related body corporate service. The old rules still apply to entitlements that fully accrued before this date.
- 31 January 2025: Current consolidated version of the Act, with amendments to s 4 and s 11.
Questions about long service leave in WA
How much long service leave do I get after ten years in WA?
8 2/3 weeks, which is 8.67 weeks at your ordinary pay (s 8(2)(a)). You then get another 4.33 weeks for each further five years (s 8(2)(b)).
Do I get long service leave if I resign after seven years in WA?
Yes. Between seven and ten years you are paid pro rata for any reason except dismissal for serious misconduct (s 8(3)). For example, eight years, four months and five days pays 7.24 weeks.
Can I cash out long service leave in WA?
Yes, once a full block has accrued. It needs a written agreement signed by you and your employer, and you must get at least the ordinary pay you would have received for the leave (s 5).
Can my employer make me take long service leave in WA?
No. WA government pages say an employer cannot direct you to take long service leave at a particular time. Leave is taken by agreement, and your employer cannot refuse leave you have been entitled to for more than 12 months if you give two weeks' notice (s 9(1a), (1b)).
Do part years count after ten years in WA?
Not when your job ends. After ten years only completed years since your last block are paid pro rata (s 8(2)(c)). Between seven and ten years, part years do count.
Official sources
- Long Service Leave Act 1958WA Parliamentary Counsel's Office
- Guide to the Western Australian Long Service Leave ActDLGIRS Private Sector Labour Relations
- WA long service leave calculatorDLGIRS Private Sector Labour Relations
- Overview of long service leave in WADLGIRS Private Sector Labour Relations
- Long service leave when employment endsDLGIRS Private Sector Labour Relations
- Taking long service leaveDLGIRS Private Sector Labour Relations
- Payment for long service leaveDLGIRS Private Sector Labour Relations
- What is continuous employment?DLGIRS Private Sector Labour Relations
- Long service leave for casual and seasonal employeesDLGIRS Private Sector Labour Relations
- Coverage of the Long Service Leave ActDLGIRS Private Sector Labour Relations
- Cashing out long service leaveDLGIRS Private Sector Labour Relations
- Long service leave accrued before 20 June 2022DLGIRS Private Sector Labour Relations
Rules last reviewed 3 November 2026 against the Long Service Leave Act 1958 (WA) and the regulator's guidance.