Human Resources

Long Service Leave

Teaching Service

Entitlement

A staff member is entitled to the equivalent of three calendar months after ten years of full time eligible service, and one and a half calendar months for each five years of full time eligible service thereafter.

A staff member may however, via application to their principal, access entitlement on a pro-rata basis after seven years of eligible service.  Payment in lieu of this pro rata entitlement will also be paid on termination of employment.

Part-time staff members accrue leave on the same basis as full time staff members, but receive a pro rata payment during the period of leave (see section on Payment during Long Service Leave for further details).

Transitional arrangements

Long service leave is now expressed in hours under the Victorian Schools Agreement 2008.  An employee will receive 495.6967 hours long service leave credit after ten years of full time eligible service.

Pending the implementation of the HRMS upgrade, long service leave will continue to be managed according to existing arrangements with all employees being converted to the new hours methodology as part of the HRMS upgrade.  Employees who cease employment in the meantime will be paid in lieu of long service leave based on the new hours methodology.

When determining a staff member's entitlement to long service leave, service means:

  • the aggregate of the staff member's service

  • any approved leave with pay

  • any periods of prior service recognised for the purposes of leave

  • any period of leave without pay where the leave was specifically approved by the Secretary to count for service

  • any period of war service in the armed forces of the Commonwealth of Australia, provided that services ceased within five years of commencing service with the Department or any other recognised employer

  • any period during which a staff member received a temporary pension benefit payable under the State Superannuation Act 1988

  • any period as a student teacher, student in training or studentship holder with the Department

  • for members of the principal or teacher class, any period of leave with or without pay granted to undertake studies under specific awards as listed in clause 6.15.8 of Ministerial Order 126

  • any casual service as an SSO, VPS staff member or teacher (provided that work as a casual relief teacher or equivalent is excluded). This requires that the actual hours worked are calculated, converted to equivalent full time service and then added to other service, if any.

 

Calculating entitlement

Where a staff member has service with another employer recognised for long service leave purposes, the staff member's full service history with that employer is required in order to calculate the staff member's long service leave entitlement. A long service leave credit is then calculated as though that service had been with the Department.

Upon employment with the Department, staff members who have service with another employer recognised by the Department for the purposes of long service leave and have been paid out for long service leave by that employer, are entitled to accrue long service leave credits as though that service had been with the Department.

When a staff member has already worked for ten years or more with a former employer and the service is recognised by the Department, there is no requirement for that long service leave entitlement to be paid out to the staff member or paid to the Department by the former employer (except for former service with a local government body or water authority).

Long service leave previously granted and payment in lieu of long service leave is taken into account when calculating a staff member's long service leave entitlement.

Payment during long service leave

Where all of a staff member's service has been full time, payment during long service leave will be at the staff member's current ordinary full time rate of pay.

Where all of a staff member's service has been part-time, payment during long service leave will be based on the person's average time fraction over all periods of part-time service.

Where a principal or teacher class employee has had a combination of full time and part time service, payment during long service leave will be split into full-time and part-time components. Payment during leave will depend on which component the staff member chooses to utilise.

Where a school services officer has had a combination of full time and part time service, payment during long service leave will be based on the staff member’s average time fraction relative to the period of eligible service being applied to the leave. 

A staff member may elect to take all or part of the long service leave at half pay (for staff who have had variations in time fraction, half payment will be calculated according to the processes outlined above).

Staff members may apply for payment in advance for long service leave.

A Long Service Leave Eligibility report is available from HRMS which will detail the LSL entitlement for a staff member. The report will also show payment details for staff members with part time service.

Making an application for long service leave

When applying for long service leave, applicants should indicate whether leave is required on full pay, half pay or a combination of the two.  Applications for long service leave should be lodged with the principal before the intended commencement of leave. Unless otherwise approved by the employer, applications for long service leave must be lodged no later than two terms before the intended commencement of leave. Whilst long service leave is an entitlement, the timing of the leave is discretionary. However, it is important that where long service leave is not granted, arrangements should be made with the staff member to enable leave to be taken at an alternative date in the future.

Whilst no minimum period of long service leave applies, leave should not normally be granted for periods of less than one calendar week.

Commuting long service leave to salary

Members of the teaching service have the option to commute a portion of long service credit to salary in conjunction with a long service leave absence of six weeks or longer.  For example a staff member may choose to take eight weeks of long service leave and commute an additional four weeks of entitlement resulting in eight weeks of absence with twelve weeks of pay during this absence. In this case the long service leave entitlement used would be 12 weeks.

With effect from 30 July 2008 commutation of long service leave is also available in special circumstances (such as financial hardship) without the requirement to be absent for a period of long service leave.  Applications for commutation in special circumstances should be forwarded to the General Manager Human Resources for consideration.

Relationship between long service leave and other forms of leave

School Services Officers

School vacation periods

School services officers employed as "calendar year" have annual leave recorded when taken. School vacation periods recorded as annual leave, that fall during a period of long service leave, are not regarded as part of that leave. School services officers employed as “school year” receive their annual leave entitlement during the school vacation periods and as such do not have annual leave recorded. Notwithstanding this, school vacation periods for these employees are also not included in a period of long service leave.

Public holidays

Public holidays which occur during a period of long service leave shall not form part of the leave.

Personal leave

Where a staff member falls ill during a period of long service leave the staff member may be granted personal leave and an equivalent period of long service leave shall be re-credited or the period of long service leave extended by the amount of personal leave approved.

If a staff member on long service leave has long service leave credits re-credited due to personal leave, the period of long service leave is not  automatically extended. A staff member may apply for such an extension.

Parental leave

A staff member may, in lieu of the whole or part of his or her unpaid parental leave, use some or all of any long service leave to which he or she is entitled.

Principal or teacher class

School vacation periods

Where long service leave is to commence at the beginning of a school term and/or to end at the conclusion of a school term, the school vacation period immediately preceding and/or immediately following the leave is not counted as part of the long service leave. Long service leave granted on both sides of a school vacation includes the school vacation.

Public holidays

With effect from 30 July 2008 public holidays which occur during a period of long service leave will not form part of the leave.

Personal leave

Where a staff member falls ill during a period of long service leave the staff member may be granted personal leave and an equivalent period of long service leave shall be re-credited or the period of long service leave extended by the amount of personal leave approved.

If a staff member on long service leave has long service leave credits re-credited due to personal leave, the period of long service leave is not  automatically extended. A staff member may apply for such an extension.

Family leave

A member of the principal or teacher class on unpaid family leave may apply to take long service leave. Any period of long service leave taken during a period of unpaid family leave shall extend the period of unpaid family leave, but not beyond the seventh birthday of the child.

Where the member of the principal or teacher class seeks to resume duty at the end of the long service leave, the person must apply to the school to resume duty from unpaid family leave on the proposed commencement date of the long service leave, giving the school the required period of notice of resumption from unpaid family leave.

Where the member of the principal or teacher class does not intend to resume duty at the end of the long service leave, the long service leave application should state this and the leave may commence at any time. A member of the principal or teacher class who does not intend to resume duty after the period of long service leave is not entitled to pay during the school vacation period following the long service leave.

Where approval is given for resumption of duty from unpaid family leave and the long service leave is granted, the member of the principal or teacher class is entitled to receive pay for the school vacation period immediately following the period of long service leave.

 

Teaching Service | Public Service

Other Resources

Procedures & Forms

The following applies in relation to applying for leave:

  • Applications for leave should be submitted through Employee Self Service (ESS).  Select the following link for more information ESS eduPay
  • An application will need to be made in writing where an employee is unable to access or use ESS or wishes to amend/delete leave submitted through ESS and approved on eduPay.

 

Legislation

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