This blog post relates to long services leave laws in Victoria when no specific industry long service leave award applies. If you would like to discuss long service leave laws relevant to another state or to a specific industry, please feel free to contact us.
Last year saw the introduction of a number of changes to Victorian long service leave legislation. One of the most significant of those changes impacts upon employers of casual employees and casual employees in calculating when there is continuity of service.
Under the Long Service Leave Act 1992 (Vic) (the old LSL Act) if a casual employee took parental leave for a period longer than 3 months, the employee’s period of service was broken. On returning to employment, the employee effectively started back at ‘zero’ service.
However, on and from 1 November 2018, a casual employee taking a period of parental leave may take 104 weeks leave before continuity of service is broken.
What does this mean for your business?
- For service before 1 November 2018 the old rules for calculating apply. For service on and from 1 November 2018 the new rules apply.
- This can be tricky – it requires that very good records are maintained by the business so that the appropriate calculations can be carried out.
- It is essential that well maintained records are kept which detail whether an employee was or is full time, part time or casual and which records all periods of leave. Remember that the employee who has been with you for 2 years and is taking parental leave may one day be an employee of 7 years’ asking you for long service leave.
- We also recommend that records are retained until 6 years after the employee’s employment ended – the time during which the employee can make a claim for unpaid or underpaid long service leave.
If you find that your records are not as good as they could be, you will need to get advice from a lawyer specialising in employment law without delay.
Please give us a call if you would like to talk through any employment concerns.
MORGAN COUZENS LEGAL
The information provided in this blog is produced for guidance purposes only and is not legal advice. The information contained in this blog is based on the current state of the law at the time of writing. The law may have changed since this blog was written.
Morgan Couzens Legal does not accept liability for any loss or damage arising from reliance on the content of this or any blog produced by Morgan Couzens Legal. Liability is limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.
Legal advice should be sought for your individual circumstances. For advice tailored to your individual circumstances, please contact us by telephone on (03) 5722 4681.
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