Amendments to NSW Long Service Leave Act

The NSW government has agreed to introduce two important changes to the NSW Long Service Leave Act

BY Nigel Ward 26 Mar 2020

As we work through ways to assist clients cope with COVID-19 one of the key issues has been allowing them to ‘live off’ provisioned leave rather than draw down on cash as work falls off.

Working with our owner, Business NSW (the NSW Business Chamber Ltd) we are pleased to announce that the NSW government has agreed to introduce two important changes to the NSW Long Service Leave Act.

The two changes that were passed by the NSW Parliament mean that:

Employers no longer need to give a month's notice to employees to take long service leave once they have accrued leave (10 year service) if the employee agrees.
If an employer and employee agree to give and take leave in advance the period of leave no longer needs to be of at least one month but can be of a period shorter than a month.

Employers looking to rely on their Long Service Leave provisions to keep employees ‘in pay’ while managing business slow down caused due to COVID-19 should now consider how these changes might help them.

If this has raised any questions or concerns for your business, call Australian Business Lawyers & Advsiors on 1300 565 846 or email [email protected].

Nigel Ward is the CEO and Director of Australian Business Lawyers and Advisers (ABLA)