Portable long service leave in Victoria

How portable long service leave works in Victoria

• LeavePlus says a business needs to register if it hires workers to do construction or maintenance work in Victoria for more than a set number of days in any calendar month. That includes casuals, part-time and short-term project workers, and apprentices.
• Registered employers submit a return every quarter, even if their workers did no construction work in Victoria. LeavePlus then sends a notice of the long service leave charge, which goes into the fund that supports workers' long service leave.
• The LeavePlus charge is a percentage of workers' ordinary pay, whatever the size of the business. There is no charge for the covered period of a VRQA-certified apprenticeship. The charge is a cost the employer covers, not a deduction from workers' wages.
• The LeavePlus Board of Directors agrees the rate in advance and reviews it yearly, taking actuarial advice into account.
• The Portable Long Service Benefits Scheme lets covered workers in community services, contract cleaning and security build up long service entitlements based on time in the industry, even if they work for different employers.
• Covered employers with covered workers register with the Portable Long Service Authority, report their workers' service in a quarterly return and pay a levy each quarter based on hours worked and ordinary pay. The Authority's Governing Board sets the levy.