Portable long service leave allows you to take your entitlement from employer to employer.
What is portable long service leave?
Traditionally, long service leave is a period of paid leave granted to employees in recognition of a long period of service to an employer. Most employees in South Australia must remain with one employer for 10 years to be eligible to take 13 weeks paid leave.
It was recognised that funding in the community services sector is often through government grants and donations, and employment opportunities are predominantly contract-based. Employees in the sector are frequently required to move between employers on a regular basis according to the allocation of funding from year to year. Realising the benefits that portable long service leave delivered to the construction industry through the Construction Industry Long Service Leave Act 1987, the SA Government worked together with employer and employee associations in the sector to develop their own portable model, allowing long service leave to be taken from employer to employer within the community services sector.
So how will it work exactly?
If you are performing work covered by the scheme, each of your employers will report to us on a quarterly basis to confirm your service to the sector in that quarter. Once you have recorded 120 Months of service (equivalent to 10 years) we will pay you to take a 13 week break. Each year after that, you'll accrue another 1.3 weeks of long service leave.
How is service credited?
You will be credited with 3 Months of service per quarter if you worked for one or more shifts in an eligible role. If you didn't work in the quarter, but you were paid for leave from an eligible role, you'll also receive 3 Months of service for that quarter.
How can I check my entitlement?
When you are first registered, we will issue you with a registration number. You'll need to register for access to the Worker Portal when you login to your account for the first time. It's a good idea to check it on a regular basis to ensure all your employers register you. You will also be able to see how close you are to taking that well deserved holiday!