Local government reform
New long service regulations for local government, the Local Government (Long Service Leave) Regulations 2024, have been made to modernise long service leave arrangements for employees working in the local government sector.
The previous regulations and corresponding industrial relations scheme had not been substantially updated since their introduction in 1977.
The new regulations will improve the operation of the local government long service leave portability scheme, which is an integral part of local government employment conditions. This means that when staff change employment from one local government to another, all their service in the local government sector counts towards their accrual of long service leave.
The new regulations introduce a raft of changes intended to strengthen the system of long service leave entitlements for local government employees, including:
The new regulations will come into effect on 1 September 2024.
Employees may have different long service leave entitlements based on various legal instruments, including legislation and awards.
Long service leave for Western Australian local governments is provided by the regulations in accordance with section 5.48 of the Local Government Act 1995.
The regulations provide that local government employees have an entitlement to 13 weeks long service leave for every 10 years of reckonable service in the local government sector.
This is greater than the base entitlement of 8.667 weeks of leave for 10 years of continuous employment set out in the Long Service Leave Act 1958.
Information about long service leave entitlements for the WA private sector and WA State public sector is on the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulations and Safety website.
The Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries (DLGSC) has developed a detailed guideline to assist employers with understanding the regulations.
A local government employee can access long service leave after 10 years of reckonable leave has been accrued. Additionally, the new regulations allow an employee to access their long service leave in advance if they have completed 7 years of reckonable service, with the agreement of their employer.
Local government employees are encouraged to take long service leave as soon as practicable. The regulations allow long service leave to be taken in one continuous period or 2 or more periods. These 2 or more periods may be as short or as long as the employer and employer agree. This is to enable flexible use of long service leave. For example, an employee may wish to use their 65 days off work to work 65 four-day work weeks.
Regulation 12(3) provides the mechanism to resolve instances where the employee and employer cannot agree on when to take the leave. Once 12 months since the accrual date have passed, it provides that an employee may give 2 weeks written notice of the leave, after which point the long service leave is taken. For employers, they may provide 2 months written notice directing the employee to take the long service leave at which point they shall be on leave.
For full-time employees, long service leave is based off the employees’ ordinary rate of pay. This does not include allowances, overtime or penalty rates.
For part-time and casual employees, the rate of pay for long service leave is based on the average weekly hours they worked over the entire accrual period.
The regulations include provisions to what is included in an employee’s 10 years of reckonable service in addition to their attendance on an ordinary working day.
Reckonable service includes:
Casual or seasonal local government employees are entitled to 13 weeks long service leave after completing 10 years of reckonable service.
The pay a casual employee receives while on long service leave is based upon their average weekly hours worked during the period of accrual.
Casual and part time employees employed before 1 September 2024 may be subject to a transitional calculation that is outlined in the guideline on local government long service leave.
The regulations require the employee and employer to agree on how and when the employee is to take their long service leave.
The regulations provide a dispute resolution mechanism if an employee and employer cannot agree on when to take leave.
An employee may give 2 weeks notice and their take their leave regardless of the employer’s position if 12 months since the accrual date has passed.
Employers may give 2 months notice directing an employee to take long service leave, at which point the employee will then be on leave.
The regulations will allow employees to request to cash out of their long service leave once they have accrued 10 years of reckonable service.
If an employee leaves the local government prior to taking all, or part of, their long service leave, the employer must pay out all remaining long service leave as part of their termination payment.
If an employee has completed 7 of the 10 years of reckonable service, the employer must pay out a pro rata amount of long service leave as part of their termination payment. However, this does not apply if the employee was dismissed for serious and wilful misconduct.
Where an employee passes away who has completed at least 7 years of reckonable service, the personal representative of the employee will be paid any long service leave entitlement the employee had.
The regulations prohibit an employee undertaking other employment while on long service leave without the approval of their employer. Failure to adhere to this requirement may result in disciplinary action being taken against the employee in accordance with their contract of employment.
This is consistent with the requirements of most employment agreements or employee codes of conduct which require approval for secondary employment.
Local government long service leave is portable across the local government sector. For example, when you change employment from one local government to another local government, your long service leave accrual transfers with you to your new employer.
If you transfer to a new local government employer, your accrued long service leave balance will be transferred to your new position.
When an employee informs their new employer of their previous employment, the new employer will contact the old employer to collect the relevant details and records of the employee’s employment. This is then be used to calculate their long service leave entitlement.
The DLGSC has published Form 1: Former employer’s records in relation to employee to be used by a new employer to request details of the recorded employment and leave entitlements maintained by the former employer.
Local government long service leave accruals are not transferrable to or from a State Government employer.
Local government long service leave accruals are not transferrable to or from the private sector, except where the local government is privatising a service (see Part II, Division 3 of the Long Service Leave Act 1958).
Where a local government acquires a private business and employees are transferred, the long service leave they had accrued with the acquired business is credited and transferred when they become a local government employee. This entitlement then becomes portable within the local government sector.
The regulations provide a base entitlement for long service leave across the local government sector. However, many local government employees are covered by specific industrial instruments such as contracts or industrial agreements, which may provide for improved long service leave entitlements.
In the first instance you should seek to resolve queries about entitlements, calculations, and pay outs with your relevant employer.
If you are unable to resolve your query with your relevant employer, you may wish to consider the following options:
An industrial instrument, such as an industrial agreement, may contain applicable dispute resolution procedures. In addition, individual employees and unions may have options to resolve disputes regarding entitlements, such as mechanisms established under the Industrial Relations Act 1979. Further information is available on the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission website.
The DLGSC cannot provide advice on long service leave entitlements to employees.
You may wish to consider the following options:
The DLGSC cannot provide advice on payroll or employee relations matters to employers.
If you have queries about the wording of the regulations, you can contact our Local Government Hotline on 1300 762 511 or via email at lghotline@dlgsc.wa.gov.au