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Long Service Leave Calculator ACT (Australian Capital Territory)6.07 weeks after 7 years under the Long Service Leave Act 1976 (ACT)

The ACT reaches the entitlement fastest of any jurisdiction: 6.0667 weeks of paid leave after just 7 years of continuous service, then a further fifth of a month each year. If a public holiday or award holiday falls during your long service leave, the leave is extended by a day. A pro-rata payment can be owed from as little as 5 years where the job ends through illness, incapacity, pressing necessity, retirement, death, or a dismissal short of serious and wilful misconduct — and it is worked out on completed years and months.

Official ATO ratesUpdated FY2026-27Free foreverNo signup required

Long Service Leave Calculator — Australian Capital Territory

$

Ordinary time only — no overtime. About $83,200 a year.

Are you still employed?
Long service leave you can take
8.88 weeks
$14,213 gross at $1,600 a week · 44.4 working days

How ACT works it out

Continuous service10 yr 3 mth 2 wk 0 d
Service paid on (completed years and months)10.2500 years
Rate0.8667 weeks per year
Accrued to date8.88 weeks
Qualifying period (7 years)reached
Takeable as leave now8.88 weeks

Tax on the payout (ATO)

Gross payout$14,213.39
Post-17 Aug 1993 at your marginal rate (32.0%)-$4,548.00
Tax withheld-$4,548.00
In your hand$9,665.39

Long service leave you take as leave is taxed like ordinary pay. This schedule is for an unused balance paid out when the job ends. See take-home pay on $95,000 for the year that includes it, or the final pay calculator for the whole termination payment.

Not modelled: unpaid leave and other absences that do not count as service; long service leave you have already taken; portable schemes (building and construction, contract cleaning, community services, security, black coal); an award or agreement that replaces the Act; and pay averaging where your hours changed. A day is taken as one fifth of a week ($320.00 here). Check the balance on your payslip against this figure and ask payroll about any gap.

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Long service leave is not annual leave: annual leave is the federal four weeks a year in the annual leave calculator.

How Much Long Service Leave You Get in the ACT

WorkSafe ACT administers the Long Service Leave Act 1976 through Guidance Note 067. Its authorised officers can inspect records and investigate complaints, and an employer can ask the Registrar of Long Service Leave to review their decisions. Employers must keep long service leave records for seven years after service ends.

The Long Service Leave Act 1976 (ACT) accrues 0.8667 weeks for every year with one employer. At 7 years you can take 6.0667 weeks; after that, a further 1/5 of a month (0.8667 weeks) for each subsequent year of continuous service. Completed years and months are counted; loose days are not.

Continuous serviceWeeks accruedWeeks you can takeWorth at $1,600 a week
5 years4.33—$6,933
6 years5.20—$8,320
7 years6.076.07$9,707
10 years8.678.67$13,867
15 years13.0013.00$20,800
20 years17.3317.33$27,733

Accrued is what is paid out when the job ends and a pro-rata entitlement exists; a dash means the 7-year qualifying period has not been reached.

Pro-Rata Long Service Leave in the ACT

Nothing is owed below 5 years. Between 5 and 7 years the ACT Act pays a pro-rata amount only where:

  • you resign because of illness, incapacity, or a domestic or other pressing necessity serious enough to justify it
  • you leave on or after reaching the minimum retiring age
  • you die
  • the employer ends the employment for a reason other than your serious and wilful misconduct

From 7 years the balance is paid however the job ends, resignation included.

How ACT Long Service Leave Pay Is Worked Out

Leave is paid at your ordinary remuneration, which excludes overtime, penalty rates and allowances paid under an award or agreement.

A special rule protects people who cut their hours late in their career: if you moved from full-time to part-time or casual in the two years before becoming entitled, your ordinary remuneration is your previous five years' salary added together and divided by five.

Payment is made before you go on leave, or on normal paydays if you agree, and as soon as possible after termination. Pro-rata payments between 5 and 7 years are worked out on completed years and months of service.

Taking Long Service Leave in the ACT

The employer must grant leave as soon as practicable after it accrues, at an agreed time. If you cannot agree, the employer gives written notice that the leave must be taken after 60 days. It is an offence for an employer not to grant leave of four weeks or more as soon as practicable, unless both sides agree otherwise.

A public holiday or award holiday during long service leave adds one day to the leave.

Casual, Part-Time and Continuous Service in the ACT

Full-time and part-time employees, including piece-rate workers, are covered; WorkSafe ACT says casual employees may also be covered. Service outside the ACT may not count towards the total.

Continuous service includes annual and long service leave, up to 2 weeks a year of illness or injury, a break engineered to avoid granting leave, and an apprenticeship where you start with the same employer within 12 months of finishing it. Service outside the ACT may not count.

Cashing Out Long Service Leave in the ACT

WorkSafe ACT's Long Service Leave Guidance Note does not address cashing out. Check with WorkSafe ACT before agreeing to anything.

Portable Long Service Schemes in the ACT

Employees in the industries covered by the Long Service Leave (Portable Schemes) Act 2009 would not usually be entitled under the 1976 Act; ACT Leave runs those schemes. Since 1 April 2025 the old contract cleaning scheme has been part of a wider Services Industry Scheme, and on 3 May 2026 the ACT Government delayed the entry of hairdressing and beauty, and accommodation and food services, into that scheme until 1 January 2027.

Also outside the ACT Act

  • employees covered by an award or agreement that contains long service leave provisions
  • ACT and Commonwealth public sector employees
  • employees in the ACT Leave portable schemes — building and construction, community sector, security, and the Services Industry Scheme (contract cleaning; hairdressing and beauty, and accommodation and food services, from 1 January 2027)

Tax, and How ACT Compares

Tax on a payout is federal, so it is the same in the ACT as everywhere: the ATO unused-leave schedule is set out on the hub. A 7-year ACT entitlement of 6.07 weeks at $1,600 a week is $9,707 gross — see take-home pay on $95,000 for the year it lands in. For the other seven Acts side by side, see long service leave in every state.

How this calculator works▼
  • Weeks = years of continuous service × 0.8667, the rate WorkSafe ACT publishes. Completed years and months are counted; loose days are not.
  • Payout = weeks × the weekly pay you enter. The calculator does not apply the ACT averaging or ordinary-pay rules described above, so enter the figure those rules give you.
  • WorkSafe ACT's published worked example is reconciled to this formula in the test suite. Source: https://www.worksafe.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/1673962/Long-Service-Leave-Guidance-Note.pdf, read 10 October 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

ACT long service leave questions and answers

How much long service leave do you get after 10 years in the ACT?

8.67 weeks. Long Service Leave Act 1976 (ACT) accrues 0.8667 weeks for every year of continuous service, and you could already take leave from 7 years. A further 1/5 of a month (0.8667 weeks) for each subsequent year of continuous service.

How much long service leave do you get after 7 years in the ACT?

6.07 weeks, and you can take it — ACT is one of only two jurisdictions where the qualifying period is 7 years rather than 10.

Do you get long service leave paid out if you resign in the ACT?

Only from 7 years if you simply resign. Between 5 and 7 years ACT pays a pro-rata amount only where one of these applies: you resign because of illness, incapacity, or a domestic or other pressing necessity serious enough to justify it; you leave on or after reaching the minimum retiring age; you die; the employer ends the employment for a reason other than your serious and wilful misconduct. From 7 years the accrued balance is paid however the employment ends.

How is long service leave pay calculated in the ACT?

Leave is paid at your ordinary remuneration, which excludes overtime, penalty rates and allowances paid under an award or agreement.

Do casual employees get long service leave in the ACT?

Full-time and part-time employees, including piece-rate workers, are covered; WorkSafe ACT says casual employees may also be covered. Service outside the ACT may not count towards the total.

Can you cash out long service leave in the ACT?

WorkSafe ACT's Long Service Leave Guidance Note does not address cashing out. Check with WorkSafe ACT before agreeing to anything.

Do public holidays extend long service leave in the ACT?

Yes. WorkSafe ACT's guidance says that when a public holiday or award holiday falls during long service leave, the leave is increased by one day for each one.

Can my ACT employer make me take long service leave?

If you cannot agree on a time, the employer can give you written notice that the leave must be taken after 60 days from the date of the notice.

What if I went part-time before reaching long service leave in the ACT?

If you changed from full-time to part-time or casual in the two years immediately before becoming entitled, your ordinary remuneration is your total salary over the previous five years divided by five, so the drop in hours does not shrink your leave pay.

8.67 weeks. Long Service Leave Act 1976 (ACT) accrues 0.8667 weeks for every year of continuous service, and you could already take leave from 7 years. A further 1/5 of a month (0.8667 weeks) for each subsequent year of continuous service.

6.07 weeks, and you can take it — ACT is one of only two jurisdictions where the qualifying period is 7 years rather than 10.

Only from 7 years if you simply resign. Between 5 and 7 years ACT pays a pro-rata amount only where one of these applies: you resign because of illness, incapacity, or a domestic or other pressing necessity serious enough to justify it; you leave on or after reaching the minimum retiring age; you die; the employer ends the employment for a reason other than your serious and wilful misconduct. From 7 years the accrued balance is paid however the employment ends.

Leave is paid at your ordinary remuneration, which excludes overtime, penalty rates and allowances paid under an award or agreement.

Full-time and part-time employees, including piece-rate workers, are covered; WorkSafe ACT says casual employees may also be covered. Service outside the ACT may not count towards the total.

WorkSafe ACT's Long Service Leave Guidance Note does not address cashing out. Check with WorkSafe ACT before agreeing to anything.

Yes. WorkSafe ACT's guidance says that when a public holiday or award holiday falls during long service leave, the leave is increased by one day for each one.

If you cannot agree on a time, the employer can give you written notice that the leave must be taken after 60 days from the date of the notice.

If you changed from full-time to part-time or casual in the two years immediately before becoming entitled, your ordinary remuneration is your total salary over the previous five years divided by five, so the drop in hours does not shrink your leave pay.

Related Calculators

Long service leave in your state

Work out the rest of your pay: annual leave · final pay · redundancy pay · take-home pay

What this covers. How many weeks you have accrued, what the balance is worth at your ordinary pay, and how the ATO taxes a payout — so you can check the figure on your payslip or final pay. It is not legal advice, and it does not cover disputes, dismissal or whether an award or agreement displaces the Act. For those, contact WorkSafe ACT or the Fair Work Ombudsman. Figures verified 10 October 2026.

Sources & References

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    Long service leave— Fair Work Ombudsman

Last verified: 10 October 2026. Our content is based on the latest information from official Australian government sources.

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People reading this page usually work these out too.