Long Service Leave Calculator QLD (Queensland)8.67 weeks after 10 years under the Industrial Relations Act 2016 (Qld)

How Much Long Service Leave You Get in Queensland

Queensland has no stand-alone long service leave Act: the entitlement sits in the Industrial Relations Act 2016, and Business Queensland publishes the entitlement tables in years, months, weeks and days. In Infosys Technologies Limited v Fox [2025] QCA 45 the Court of Appeal held that service outside Queensland, including overseas, needs no “substantial connection” to the state to count.

The Industrial Relations Act 2016 (Qld) accrues 0.8667 weeks for every year with one employer. At 10 years you can take 8.6667 weeks; after that, a further 4.3333 weeks at 15 years (13 weeks in total); past 15 years leave can be accessed as it accrues. Part years count, using Queensland's years, months, weeks and days tables.

Accrued is what is paid out when the job ends and a pro-rata entitlement exists; a dash means the 10-year qualifying period has not been reached.

Pro-Rata Long Service Leave in Queensland

Nothing is owed below 7 years. Between 7 and 10 years the Queensland Act pays a pro-rata amount only where:

• your service ends because you die
• you end your service because of illness, injury, incapacity or another medical condition, or a domestic or other pressing necessity
• the employer dismisses you because of your illness
• the employer dismisses you for a reason other than your conduct, capacity or performance
• the employer unfairly dismisses you

From 10 years the balance is paid however the job ends, resignation included.

How Queensland Long Service Leave Pay Is Worked Out

Leave is paid at the ordinary rate being paid when it is taken — no overtime — and if you are paid above the award, at the higher rate.

Casual and regular part-time employees, and anyone whose status changed during their service, use an hours formula instead of weeks: total ordinary hours worked ÷ 52 × 8.6667 ÷ 10. Business Queensland's example: 15,600 ordinary hours over 10 years gives 260.001 hours of paid leave. Employers must keep a running record of each casual's total ordinary hours to 30 June each year.

Commission is paid as the “default average commission”: total commission in the year before the leave ÷ 52.179 × the weeks of leave, unless an award, agreement or contract says otherwise or the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission finds it unfair.

Taking Long Service Leave in Queensland

Leave is taken at a time agreed with the employer and can be any length the employer agrees to. If you cannot agree, the employer can require you to take at least 4 weeks by giving at least 3 months' written notice.

Long service leave is exclusive of public holidays: a public holiday that falls on a day you would normally work is added to the leave.

Casual, Part-Time and Continuous Service in Queensland

Casual and regular part-time employees qualify after the same 10 years. Their entitlement is worked out from hours, not weeks: total ordinary hours ÷ 52 × 8.6667 ÷ 10. Since 30 March 1994 all continuous casual service counts, but a break of more than 3 months between contracts can end continuity. Casuals are paid at the loaded casual hourly rate.

Generally only paid leave and WorkCover absences count as service. Unpaid parental leave does not accumulate long service leave but does not break continuity either. Re-employment by the same employer within 3 months keeps you continuous, and so does re-employment after a stand-down for an industrial dispute or slackness of trade.

Cashing Out Long Service Leave in Queensland

Queensland long service leave can only be cashed in if the award, enterprise agreement or certified agreement allows it, or if the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission orders it on compassionate grounds or financial hardship (Form 13), and only once the entitlement has been reached.

Portable Long Service Schemes in Queensland

QLeave runs three portable schemes — building and construction, contract cleaning and community services — in which service builds up across employers in the industry rather than with one employer.

• QLeave — building and construction — building and construction workers
• QLeave — contract cleaning — contract cleaning workers
• QLeave — community services — community services workers

Also outside the QLD Act

• employees whose long service leave comes from a federal award or enterprise agreement
• building and construction, contract cleaning and community services workers in Queensland's QLeave portable schemes

Tax, and How QLD Compares

Tax on a payout is federal, so it is the same in Queensland as everywhere: the ATO unused-leave schedule is set out on the hub. A 10-year QLD entitlement of 8.67 weeks at $1,600 a week is $13,867 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.

Frequently Asked Questions

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