In Queensland, long service leave sits in Division 9 of the Industrial Relations Act 2016 (Qld), not in an Act of its own. The full amount comes at 10 years (s 95(2)(a)). Between 7 years and that point, a payment when the job ends depends on the reason, and only the reasons in section 95(4) count.
8⅔ weeks
after 10 years of continuous service, with a proportionate payment possible from 7 years
Leaving after 7 but before 10 years: a closed list
Section 95(3) opens the door for anyone with 7 years of continuous service. In the Act's words: An employee who has completed at least 7 years continuous service is entitled to a proportionate payment for long service leave on the termination of the employee’s service.
(s 95(3))
Section 95(4) then narrows it for anyone who leaves before 10 years: the payment is made only on the grounds it lists.
Section 95(4): the listed grounds
A proportionate payment is made only if the job ends in one of these ways: (s 95(4))
- the employee dies;
- the employee resigns because of illness, which includes injury, incapacity or another medical condition, or because of a domestic or other pressing necessity;
- the employer dismisses the employee because of illness;
- the employer dismisses the employee for a reason other than conduct, capacity or performance;
- the employer unfairly dismisses the employee;
- a contract ends with the passing of time, where the employee reasonably expected to reach 10 years and was prepared to stay.
Read the employer's ground carefully. It covers dismissal for a reason that is not about you as a worker, such as a restructure. In the Act's words, it applies where the employer dismisses the employee for another reason other than the employee’s conduct, capacity or performance
(s 95(4)(c)(ii)). A dismissal for misconduct or poor performance falls outside that ground, and so does resigning to move to another job. One other item can still cover such a dismissal: the case where the employer unfairly dismisses the employee
(s 95(4)(c)(iii)). So a dismissal for conduct or performance that is found to be unfair is paid.
Resigning is not always outside the list. If you leave because of illness or a domestic or other pressing necessity, you are inside it. Whether a reason qualifies turns on the facts, and a dispute goes to the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (s 475(1)).
Worked example: let go in a restructure after eight years
You started on 2 February 2017. Your employer restructures and dismisses you, with your last day on 2 February 2025: 8 years of continuous service. The reason has nothing to do with your conduct, capacity or performance, so it is on the list. The Act writes the full amount as 8.6667 weeks, and the examples on this page work with that figure. The proportionate payment is 6.93 weeks (our arithmetic: completed years from 2 February 2017 to 2 February 2025 ÷ 10 years × 8.6667 weeks = 6.93 weeks).
At an ordinary weekly rate of $1,390.00, that is $9,637.37 (our arithmetic: completed years from 2 February 2017 to 2 February 2025 ÷ 10 years × 8.6667 weeks × $1,390.00 = $9,637.37). Had the dismissal been for performance, nothing would be payable under the Act on those facts unless the dismissal was found to be unfair, with exactly the same service.
Below 7 years there is no payment whatever the reason. The jurisdictions compared side by side are on our pro rata page.
At 10 years and after
Section 95(2) sets the amounts: 8⅔ weeks at the qualifying point, after which the leave keeps growing in proportion to further service, at 4⅓ weeks for each further 5 years (s 95(2)(b)). From here the reason for leaving stops mattering: Business Queensland describes it as payment on any ending after 10 years (Business Queensland).
Worked example: retiring after twelve years
You started on 20 May 2013 and retire with your last day on 20 May 2025, with no long service leave taken: 12 years of service. You receive the base amount plus the part of the further period you have served: 10⅖ weeks (our arithmetic: 8.6667 weeks + (completed years from 20 May 2013 to 20 May 2025 − 10 years) ÷ 10 years × 8.6667 weeks = 10⅖ weeks). Business Queensland's own example for the same service gives 10⅖ weeks (Business Queensland).
At an ordinary weekly rate of $1,540.00, the payment is $16,016.06 (our arithmetic: (8.6667 weeks + (completed years from 20 May 2013 to 20 May 2025 − 10 years) ÷ 10 years × 8.6667 weeks) × $1,540.00 = $16,016.06). It is a few cents more than the same number of weeks at the exact fraction, because the Act's figure is rounded up in its fourth decimal place.
Casual and regular part-time: the hours formula
Section 103 counts casual service, continuous unless a gap exceeds 3 months (s 103(2)–(3)). For anyone who was casual or regular part-time at any point in that service, section 105 sets a minimum amount by formula: the ordinary hours actually worked, divided by the weeks in a year, times 8.6667 weeks for every 10 years, at the ordinary hourly rate (s 105(2)–(3)). "Actual service" has a definition of its own: actual service means the total ordinary working hours actually worked by an employee during the employee’s period of continuous service
(s 105(2)–(3)).
Worked example: a casual with ten years of shifts
You worked casual shifts for one employer from 3 April 2015 to 3 April 2025, never more than a few weeks between engagements, and your pay records show 11,440 ordinary hours actually worked. Your ordinary hourly rate is $34.80. Under section 105 the minimum amount is $6,635.23 (our arithmetic: 11440 ÷ 52 × 8.6667 weeks ÷ 10 years × $34.80 = $6,635.23).
The hours are what you actually worked, not what you were rostered or what a full-time worker would do. More on casual and part-time service across the states is on our casual and part-time page.
When service is continuous
- Coming back to the same employer. If the employer ends your service and takes you back, re-employment within 3 months after termination keeps it continuous (s 134(5)). Beyond that gap the count starts again.
- Approved leave and illness. Continuity is not broken by approved paid or unpaid leave, illness and injury included (s 134(3), (9)).
What the leave is paid at
Business Queensland says the leave is paid at the current ordinary rate, or a higher rate paid just before (Business Queensland). So a worker paid above the ordinary rate immediately before the leave keeps the higher rate for it.
Taking the leave
Leave is normally taken at a time you and the employer agree. Failing that, section 97 lets the employer direct you to take it by giving at least 3 months' written notice of at least 4 weeks' leave (s 97(2)–(3)). With public holidays not counted as leave, a public holiday during the leave does not use it up (s 95(5)).
Cashing in is the exception
Section 110 allows payment instead of leave in two cases only: where an industrial instrument provides for it and you and the employer sign an agreement, or where the commission orders it on your application (s 110(2)–(4)). A side agreement with no instrument behind it does not meet section 110. The commission's test is in the Act: The commission may order the payment only if satisfied the payment should be made
, on compassionate grounds or on the ground of financial hardship (s 110(2)–(4)).
Claims, the commission and the national system
If long service leave was not paid, the claim is for unpaid wages, and the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission may order payment (s 475(1)). A claim of this kind is capped: it can be made only where the total is $100,000 or less (s 476(1)). Claims can be made using the Office of Industrial Relations claim form (Business Queensland).
Division 9 is not limited to the state system: under section 13 it may apply to employers and employees generally under the Fair Work Act, so being in the federal system does not by itself take you outside it (s 13(1)). How federal instruments interact with the state Acts is covered in our national overview.
For checking a result, the government publishes Business Queensland's table of leave by years of service: look up your completed years and months and compare (Business Queensland).
Workers in construction, contract cleaning and community services may also be in a portable scheme run by QLeave, a statutory authority (QLeave). See portable long service leave.
Sources
- Industrial Relations Act 2016, Queensland Government (Parliamentary Counsel). Checked .
- Long service leave entitlements and continuous service, Business Queensland. Checked .
- Calculating long service leave, Business Queensland. Checked .
- QLeave: portable long service leave in Queensland, Business Queensland. Checked .
- How portable long service leave works (contract cleaning), QLeave. Checked .
- Long service leave claim form, Office of Industrial Relations (Queensland). Checked .