About the scheme
Find out how portable long service leave works in the NSW Community Services Industry.
About the portable long service leave scheme
Traditional long service leave is an additional period of paid leave that workers may be entitled to after working for a company for a certain number of years, usually 10 years.
Many workers in the community services industry work for different employers. They don’t always have 10 years of service with 1 employer to qualify for long service leave. To make sure community services industry workers can access a similar benefit to everyone else, a portable long service scheme was set up.
The Community Services Industry portable long service leave scheme (the scheme) commenced on 1 July 2025. The Long Service Corporation collects levy contributions from employers and use this money to pay long service leave to workers. All levy contributions are combined into 1 fund, which is used to pay workers their long service leave when they’re eligible.
‘Portable’ long service means that a worker keeps their long service record even if they change employers. Workers build their record over the time they work in the industry.
Employers are required to register with us and submit quarterly employer service returns. These returns detail how much gross ordinary wages were paid to workers during that period. We use this information to track each worker’s time and earnings, which builds up their service credits toward long service leave.
With the portable long service leave scheme workers can become eligible for:
- approximately 6.1 weeks of paid leave after 7 years of service, or 6 years with a foundation worker bonus
- 0.8667 weeks of paid leave for every 1 year of recognised service after that.
When a worker has done the required amount of service, they can make a claim and take leave from their job. They'll receive a long service leave payment from us.
In some cases, such as a worker permanently leaving the industry, they may be eligible to apply for a pay-out of their long service leave.
The scheme does not over-ride the requirements of the Long Service Leave Act 1955. Under the Long Service Leave Act, employees are entitled to long service leave if they work for 1 employer for 10 consecutive years.
Related information
Who is covered by the scheme
Community service work covered by the scheme
