Long service leave for casual employees in Queensland
For long service leave, Queensland treats a casual employee as someone employed more than once by the same employer over a period. A gap between casual contracts no longer than the months in the table leaves service continuous, and that time between contracts also counts in the length of service. A casual's leave pay rests on the ordinary hours they actually worked across the whole period of continuous service.
- By Book Keeping Pros
- Sources checked 15 Oct 2026
The rules in Queensland
| What it is | Value | When it applies | Where it is set |
|---|---|---|---|
| Casual employees can be entitled to long service leave | Yes | As published on 3 December 2024 | Long service leave in Queensland: who is covered |
| Who counts as a casual employee for long service leave | An employee employed more than once by the same employer over a period | As published on 1 January 2026 | s 102: definition of casual employee |
| Longest break between casual contracts that keeps service continuous | 3 months | As published on 1 January 2026 | s 103(3): break between contracts |
| Time between casual contracts, up to 3 months, counts in the length of service | Yes | As published on 1 January 2026 | s 103(4)(b): periods not employed are taken into account |
| Casual service stays continuous when the employee also works elsewhere | Yes | As published on 1 January 2026 | s 103(2)(e): other employment during the period |
| Hours a casual employee's leave pay is worked out from | The ordinary hours actually worked over the whole period of continuous service | As published on 1 January 2026 | s 105(3): definition of actual service |
| The employer and employee can agree to take the leave as its full-time equivalent | Yes | As published on 1 January 2026 | s 104(2): leave taken as its full-time equivalent |
Each rule is read from the source and provision shown; the sources are listed below. Checked 15 Oct 2026.
What it means for your books
- Each contract's start and end dates show the gaps between them. A gap inside the table's limit in months adds to the length of service as well as keeping it continuous, so the service count in the books includes those gaps instead of skipping them.
- Because leave pay comes from ordinary hours actually worked over the whole period of continuous service, timesheets that record ordinary hours on their own are kept from the first contract onwards, not just for recent years.
- Work a casual does for someone else does not break their Queensland service, so the continuity record is built from the business's own contract dates and hours. The Office of Industrial Relations or your accountant can say whether a given casual qualifies.
- If a casual and the employer agree that the leave is taken in its full-time equivalent form, the casual's file holds that agreement with the date it was made, so the leave taken can be matched to it later.
General information
Sources
- Long service leave in Queensland
Business Queensland (Queensland Government). Page last updated 3 December 2024, released 3 December 2024. Checked 15 October 2026.
© The State of Queensland, Business Queensland, licensed under CC BY 4.0 Licence: CC BY 4.0.
- Industrial Relations Act 2016 (Qld), reprint current as at 1 January 2026
Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel. Reprint current as at 1 January 2026, released 22 December 2025. Checked 15 October 2026.
Sourced from the Queensland Legislation website (www.legislation.qld.gov.au), licensed under CC BY 4.0 Licence: CC BY 4.0.
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