Claims - ACT Leave

Entitlement

Community sector industry workers registered on or after 1 July 2010 are entitled to 4.33 weeks of portable long service leave after 5 years of recorded service in the industry.

You continue to accrue 0.867 weeks of leave for every year thereafter.

Accessing your benefit

To access your benefit, submit a claim form to us.

You can do this by creating a New Claim in the Worker Portal, or complete one of the different claim forms listed below.

We pay your benefit directly into your nominated bank account.

Amount paid for claims

If you’re an employee, you will be paid an amount calculated by multiplying the number of weeks of long service leave by your average weekly ordinary wages.

To calculate your average weekly ordinary wages:

we use the highest of these:
- weekly average of ordinary remuneration received in the last 2 quarters of recorded service.
- weekly average of ordinary remuneration received in the last 4 quarters of recorded service.
- weekly average of ordinary remuneration received in the last 20 quarters of recorded service.
if you receive compensation under the Workers Compensation Act 1951, we use the weekly average of ordinary remuneration you received during the 4 quarters before the injury occurred.

If you’re a contractor, you will be paid a refund of the total levy contributions you made, plus interest earned.

If you recorded service as both a contractor and as an employed worker, you will be paid the sum of your employee component and contractor component, calculated as above.

Tax on portable long service leave claims

We withhold tax from your long service leave payments in line with ATO guidelines. The amount withheld will show on your end of financial year income statement in your myGov account.

Weekly marginal tax rates will be used for most portable long service leave payments, similar to the tax on your average weekly wage. To estimate the amount of tax to be withheld from your long service leave payment, please refer to the weekly tax table located on the ATO website.

Lump sum payments for long service leave on termination of employment will be taxed at different rates, depending on your service accrual dates and whether the termination is because of genuine redundancy, invalidity, or an early retirement scheme. Please refer to the Schedule 7 – tax table for unused leave payments on termination of employment located on the ATO website.

In line with ATO guidelines, we do not withhold income tax on the contractor component of a long service leave claim.

Contractors should seek independent advice on the tax implications of the refund of contractor contributions and interest.

Claim types

Workers can access their benefit through one of the following claim types:

Claim type	Information
Long service leave	Who can apply? Workers with 5 or more years of service, who are still recording service and wish to take paid long service leave from their current employer. Conditions Worker must have a minimum of 5 years of recorded service. Worker must take a minimum of 2 weeks of long service leave each time they claim. Employer must approve the period of leave requested. Make a long service leave claim
Lump sum payment	Who can apply? Workers with 5 or more years of service who are no longer employed as an employee in the covered industry. Conditions Worker must have a minimum of 5 years of recorded service. Worker must take payment equivalent to a minimum of 2 weeks of payment each time they claim, if not claiming the whole entitlement. Worker must no longer be employed as an employee in the covered industry Worker can be registered as a contractor. Make a long service leave claim
Long service leave payment only	Who can apply? Workers with 5 or more years of service who are still recording service and wish to take a payment instead of taking leave from their current employer. Conditions Worker must be 55 years or older. Worker must have a minimum of 5 years of recorded service. Worker must take payment equivalent to a minimum of 2 weeks of payment each time they claim, if not claiming the whole entitlement. Worker must be currently employed in the covered industry. Employer confirmation must be obtained. Make a long service leave – payment only claim
Age retirement	Who can apply? Workers registered prior to 1 July 2012 who have less than 5 years of service and wish to take a lump sum payment of their pro-rata entitlement after retiring. Workers with 5 or more years of service should refer to lump sum payment instead. Workers registered on or after 1 July 2012 who have less than 5 years of service are not eligible to claim an entitlement. Conditions Worker must be 55 years or older, or have been granted a service pension under the Veterans Entitlements Act 1986 (Cwlth), section 38 (Eligibility for partner service pension). Worker must have been registered prior to 1 July 2012. Worker must have a minimum of 55 days of recorded service. Make a leaving the industry claim
Total incapacity	Who can apply? Workers registered prior to 1 July 2012 who have less than 5 years of service and wish to take a lump sum payment of their pro-rata entitlement after becoming totally incapacitated. Workers with 5 or more years of service should refer to lump sum payment instead. Workers registered on or after 1 July 2012 who have less than 5 years of service are not eligible to claim an entitlement. Conditions A medical practitioner must complete the Certification by Medical Practitioner section of the claim form. Worker must have been registered prior to 1 July 2012. Worker must have a minimum of 55 days of recorded service. Make a total incapacity claim
Deceased	Who can apply? Executors, legal representatives or beneficiaries of a deceased worker who wish to collect a lump sum payment of the worker’s pro-rata entitlement. Conditions Applicant to provide a copy of the death certificate. Applicant to provide a certified copy of the will (if appropriate). Worker must have a minimum of 55 days of recorded service (if registered prior to 1 July 2012), or 5 years of recorded service (if registered on or after 1 July 2012). Make a deceased claim

Claim processing time

We have a claim payment run once a week.

We’ll usually schedule payment within 15 working days of the date you’re starting your portable long service leave, depending on:

when your claim form is received
whether we need further information from current or past employers or interstate jurisdictions to process your claim.

We usually process lump sum and leaving the industry claims within 15 working days of receiving or confirming any required information with:

your past employer/s
interstate jurisdictions.

Claiming portable long service leave in the community sector industry