Workers - ACT Leave

Build your portable long service leave and take it with you

When you’re registered with ACT Leave, your portable long service leave benefits travel with you when you move between registered employers within the industry.

If you do relevant work in the construction industry, you should be registered for portable long service leave. If you are not sure if you are registered, contact us.

Eligible workers in the building and construction industry

In the building and construction scheme, workers are classified as either employees or contractors.

	Registration	Levy	Benefit type	Notes
Employees	Mandatory – must be registered by the employer	2.75% of gross ordinary wages, paid by the employer	Accrued portable long service leave	Includes full-time, part-time and casual employees performing relevant work. Also includes employees on a visa that allows them to work in Australia
Apprentices	Mandatory – must be registered by the employer	Exempt	Accrued portable long service leave	Employers must provide a copy of the apprenticeship training contract when registering an employee as an apprentice
Contractors	Optional – can self-register	2.50% of ordinary remuneration or profit component, paid by the contractor	Contribution refund plus interest	Includes working directors, sole traders or individual partners in a partnership

Registering in the building and construction industry

As an employee or apprentice, your employer would normally register you when you start work with them.

Once registered, we’ll send correspondence with your registration number and instructions on accessing the client portal.

If you don’t think you’ve been registered and you have not received a letter from us with your registration details, contact us.

We’ll also send you an annual statement to ensure:

all work was recorded correctly
your contact details are current.

check and update your contact details
see your service history
update your contact details if you didn’t receive an annual statement.

Sole traders, individual partners in a partnership and working directors in building and construction

You can still benefit from the portable long service leave scheme if you’re a:

contractor (sole trader or individual in a partnership)
working director.

To do this, register with us as a ‘voluntary member’ to contribute towards a portable long service leave benefit. You can also backdate your service up to 1 year from the date you register.

When you claim, instead of taking leave, we’ll give you back the amount you paid in levies plus interest.

If the scheme fund investment made a return, you’ll receive interest of 75% of the rate of return (less any associated fees) or nil (if the fund did not make a return or made a loss). View the current interest rates.

Registering as a contractor

To register as a contractor, complete and submit the Contractor / Working Director Registration form.

Recording service as a contractor

If you register with us as a contractor, you must then lodge quarterly returns through the portal.

Each quarter, you’ll declare:

how many days you worked
your gross ordinary wages or profit part of your income for the quarterly return period.

You’ll pay a levy of 2.50% on what you declare. Most contractors use a minimum daily rate of pay to calculate the gross ordinary wages.

If you have both employee and contractor service recorded, you’ll receive the sum of the worker part and your contractor part when you claim.

Accruing portable long service leave in the building and construction industry

If you were registered in the building and construction scheme in the ACT:

on or after 1 January 1997 – your accrual rate is 13 weeks of portable long service leave for every 10 years of service
before 1 January 1997 – your accrual was 13 weeks of portable long service leave for every 15 years of service.

Your service recorded as an employee, apprentice and/or a contractor counts towards an entitlement.

For example, you would accumulate a total of 10 years of service in the scheme if you recorded:

2 years of service as an apprentice
5 years as an employee
3 years as a contractor.

See more information on entitlements and how to claim.

Deregistration

If you have had no service recorded with ACT Leave for 4 years, your portable long service leave account will be deregistered (closed).

We’ll let you know 3 to 6 months before this is due to happen.

To avoid deregistration, contact us:

if you have service recorded interstate so we can update your records and combine your service when you make a claim
to provide us proof of continued work in the ACT building and construction industry.

Recording work in interstate building and construction industries

The building and construction scheme is portable Australia wide.

If you worked in the industry in another state or territory, they will have a record of your service in that area.

If you move interstate, you must check that you are registered with the portable long service leave scheme in the new state or territory.

When ready, make your claim where you last recorded service. We or the other state or territory provider will:

contact other states and territory providers to confirm the total registered service balance
pay your claim.

If you start working interstate, let us know so we can record your interstate service.

Please note: there are some differences in the type of work covered and the benefits offered under each interstate jurisdiction (including weekly pay rates). Any portion of interstate service included in a workers claim will be calculated and paid in accordance with the legislation and policies of the relevant interstate scheme.

Recording missing service in the building and construction industry

If you think your employer has not recorded your service with ACT Leave, submit a missing service claim form so we can investigate your claim.

You will need to ensure you were:

working in the building and construction industry in the ACT
performing relevant work
an employee (including an apprentice).

Along with the completed form, you will need to provide evidence that you were performing relevant work in the industry during the period of missing service. Evidence could include:

PAYG payment summaries for the period of employment you are claiming missing service
pay slips for the period you are claiming missing service
employment contract with the employer
employment separation certificate if applicable
position description.

Portable long service leave for workers in the building and construction industry