Anthony Forsyth, Consultant, Corrs Chambers Westgarth

Unlike most other minimum employment conditions, long service leave (LSL) is mainly regulated by state and territory legislation rather than under the National Employment Standards (NES) provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act). There is also specific federal legislation providing LSL entitlements for Commonwealth public servants.

The NES contain some minimal provisions relating to LSL (Pt 2-2 Div 9 , FW Act), which essentially preserve the operation of LSL entitlements applicable to employees under awards and agreements prior to 1 January 2010, pending the development of nationally consistent LSL entitlements.

Modern awards cannot contain provisions relating to LSL. Such provisions may be included in enterprise agreements made under the FW Act (provided that LSL provisions in agreements do not derogate from an employee’s entitlements under applicable state or territory legislation).

See Long service leave.