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ACT long service leave calculator

Check the long service leave an employee in the Australian Capital Territory can take now, or is owed when they leave, and what it's worth at their weekly pay.

  • By Book Keeping Pros
  • Sources checked 15 Oct 2026

Work out the long service leave

Enter the dates and what happened. The result updates as you type.

Choose the closest description

For normal weekly hours, to see what the leave is worth

General information only. It works out the weeks from the dates and pay you enter and doesn't take your circumstances into account.

Long service leave

Enter both dates

Show working

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How it works

The Long Service Leave Act 1976 (ACT) measures leave in months for each year of service and converts those months to weeks, at the rates in the table below. Once an employee has served the full entitlement period they can take leave, and each completed year after that adds to the leave available.

If employment ends once the full entitlement period is complete, the employee's credit is paid for every completed year of service, whatever the reason for leaving, a plain resignation included. Time after the last completed year isn't counted.

Between the minimum period and the full entitlement period, a proportion is paid only for the reasons the Act lists: the employer ending the employment other than for serious and wilful misconduct, retirement at or after retirement age, resignation because of illness, incapacity or a domestic or other pressing necessity, or death. That proportion is counted in completed months of service rather than years. Resigning for another reason, or a dismissal for serious and wilful misconduct, pays nothing in that window.

The rules the calculator uses

ACT long service leave calculator: the recorded rules
RuleValue
Years of service for a pro rata payment on leaving for a listed reason5 years
Years of service for the full entitlement7 years
Leave for each year of serviceone fifth of a month
Weeks in a month of leave4 1/3 weeks

ACT Parliamentary Counsel's Office, Long Service Leave Act 1976 (ACT), Republication No 29; WorkSafe ACT, Long service leave calculation guidelines Checked 15 Oct 2026.

What the result assumes

  • The employee worked for the same employer, in the ACT alone, without a break, and all of that time counts towards service.
  • Their long service leave comes from the ACT's general Act, not from an award, an enterprise agreement or a portable long service leave scheme.
  • After the full entitlement period only completed years are credited, as WorkSafe ACT's calculation guidelines do, because the Act itself doesn't say whether a part year after the last completed year is paid.
  • Each reason for leaving is matched to the Act's wording, and whether a dismissal was for serious and wilful misconduct or a necessity was pressing turns on the facts and the law, so a result applies if this describes what happened.
  • The figure is the total accrued, with no long service leave the employee has already used deducted from it.
  • The value is the weeks times the employee's ordinary weekly pay for their usual hours on the end date; where hours or pay varied, the Act's averaging applies and isn't worked out.

Sources

  1. Long Service Leave Act 1976 (ACT), Republication No 29

    ACT Parliamentary Counsel's Office. Republication No 29, effective 19 November 2025, released 19 November 2025. Checked 15 October 2026.

    © ACT Government, ACT Legislation Register Licence: ACT Legislation Register copyright policy: copyright, ACT Government.

  2. Long service leave calculation guidelines

    WorkSafe ACT. Undated guideline, listed on a page last modified 11 December 2020, released 11 December 2020. Checked 15 October 2026.

    © Australian Capital Territory Licence: WorkSafe ACT copyright notice: copyright, Australian Capital Territory (unaltered reproduction for personal, educational or non-commercial use).

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Questions about this calculator

Something else on your mind? Ask us directly.

When can an ACT employee start taking long service leave?
From the end of the full entitlement period in the table below. After that, the leave available grows with each completed year of service.
Does an employee who resigns in the ACT get paid long service leave?
If they've completed the full entitlement period, yes: their credit for completed years is paid whatever the reason. Before that, a resignation pays a proportion only when it was because of illness, incapacity or a domestic or other pressing necessity, if this describes what happened.
Why does a pro rata payment in the ACT count months?
The Act works the proportion out from completed months of service, so between the minimum period and the full entitlement period the calculator counts whole months and leaves out any days beyond the last one.
Are part years paid when ACT employment ends after the full entitlement period?
The calculator credits completed years only, following WorkSafe ACT's guidelines. The Act doesn't settle whether time after the last completed year is payable, so ask WorkSafe ACT if it matters for an employee.
Should leave the employee has had be subtracted?
Yes. The result is the leave accrued over the whole service, before any long service leave the employee has already taken, so deduct those weeks to find the balance.

General information

The calculator works through the Long Service Leave Act 1976 (ACT) and WorkSafe ACT's calculation guidelines for the dates entered. It gives general information rather than advice on any one employee's position. If you have a question about an employee's entitlement, contact WorkSafe ACT. Sources checked 15 October 2026.