Purpose:

To provide for the granting of long service leave to certain Western Australian employees and for matters incidental thereto.

Objectives:

• To establish the entitlement of eligible Western Australian employees to long service leave.
• To regulate the calculation of long service leave entitlements, including continuous employment and ordinary pay.
• To provide for the taking of long service leave or payment in lieu on termination of employment.
• To set out requirements for employers regarding the keeping and access to employment records.
• To define the jurisdiction and enforcement mechanisms for disputes related to long service leave.

Key Provisions:

• Definition of “continuous employment” and “ordinary pay” for the purpose of long service leave entitlements.
• Entitlement to long service leave after a specified period of continuous employment, specifically 8 ²⁄₃ weeks for 10 years, and an additional 4 ¹⁄₃ weeks for each subsequent 5 years.
• Provisions for proportionate long service leave entitlements on termination of employment after at least 7 years of continuous employment, under specific circumstances (death or termination by employer for reasons other than serious misconduct).
• Rules for the taking of long service leave, allowing for agreement on timing and payment methods, and requiring employer not to refuse leave due more than 12 months prior if employee gives 2 weeks’ notice.
• Conditions for cashing out accrued long service leave entitlements, requiring a written agreement, signed by employer and employee, and an adequate benefit paid to the employee.
• Stipulations for the transfer of long service leave entitlements and employment records upon a transfer of business, treating employment before and after transfer as a single period of continuous employment.
• Mandatory requirements for employers to keep detailed employment records for a specified period.
• Provisions for employee and industrial inspector access to employment records, including the right to inspect and take copies or extracts.
• Prohibition of engaging in remunerated employment during any period of long service leave, with forfeiture of leave rights and reclamation of payments as a consequence.
• Jurisdiction of industrial magistrate’s courts to hear and determine disputes related to long service leave entitlements and civil penalty provisions.

Evidence of Compliance Requirements For Agricultural Organisations:

• Written Agreement for Cashing Out Leave: If an employer and an employee agree to forgo the employee’s entitlement, or part of the employee’s entitlement, to long service leave, the agreement must be in writing, signed by the employer and employee. The employee must be given an adequate benefit, which is defined as at least the amount of ordinary pay the employee would have received had the leave been taken.
• Transfer of Employment Records upon Business Transfer: On the transfer of a business, the old employer must transfer copies of all transferring employees’ employment records to the new employer.
• Keeping of Employment Records: Employers must ensure the following employment records are kept for each employee:
  • Each employee’s name and, if the employee is under 21 years of age, the employee’s date of birth.
  • The employer’s name and Australian Business Number (if any).
  • The date of any transfer of business as defined in section 7D during the employment of the employee.
  • The date on which the employee commenced employment with the employer.
  • The weekly hours worked by the employee.
  • The gross and net amounts paid to the employee under the contract of employment, and all deductions and the reasons for them.
  • All leave taken by the employee, whether paid, partly paid or unpaid.
  • Any agreement made under section 5 (cashing out leave), including details of the benefit for, and the amount of, long service leave that was foregone, and when the benefit was paid.
  • Such other details as are necessary for the calculation of the entitlement to, and payment for, long service leave under this Act.
  • Other matters prescribed by the regulations.
• Record Retention: Employers must ensure that each employment record is retained during the employment of the employee and for not less than 7 years after that.
• Record Keeping Standards: Employers must ensure that employment records are kept in accordance with the regulations.
• Notice for Taking Leave: Where an employer and employee have not agreed when the employee is to take the employee’s long service leave, the employee is to give to the employer at least 2 weeks’ notice of the period during which the employee intends to take the long service leave, especially for leave that became due more than 12 months prior.
• Payment for Accrued Leave: An employee is to be paid for a period of accrued long service leave at the time payment is made in the normal course of the employment, unless the employee requests in writing to be paid before the period of leave commences (in which case the employee is to be so paid), or the employee and employer agree to another method of payment.
• Access to Employment Records (Inspection/Audit): On a written request by a relevant person (the employee, a person authorised in writing by the employee, or an industrial inspector), an employer must produce to the person the employment records relating to an employee and let the person inspect the employment records. This duty includes letting the relevant person enter premises of the employer for inspection and take copies of, or extracts from, the employment records. Compliance with this duty must be achieved not later than the end of the next pay period after the request for inspection is received. This duty continues as long as the employment record is required to be kept under section 26(2)(b).

Metadata Keywords:

Long Service Leave, Western Australia, Employment Law, Employee Entitlements, Industrial Relations, Record Keeping, Business Transfer, WA Legislation, Employer Obligations, Continuous Employment

Publication Information:

As at 31 Jan 2025, Official Version.

Agricultural Industry Alignment:

Beef & Veal, Chicken, Coarse Grains, Cotton, Dairy, Eggs, Fisheries, Forestry, Horticulture, Oilseeds, Pig, Sheep Meat, Sugar, Wheat, Wine, Wool.

Date Added to database:

This document was parsed and added to the database on 25-07-2025

URL:

https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/statutes.nsf/RedirectURL?OpenAgent&query=mrdoc_48247.pdf →