Claiming your portable long service

Accruing portable long service benefits

Each quarter, your employer provides the Portable Long Service Authority with information about the hours you worked and ordinary pay during the period. These records are used to calculate your portable long service benefits.

After at least 7 years of recognised service under the Scheme you will be entitled to 1 week for every 60 weeks of recorded work, and become eligible to claim your portable long service benefit.

You can accrue portable long service benefits at the same time as traditional long service. However, you can’t claim both benefits for the same period of service.

If you have taken traditional long service leave from your employer, this may reduce the balance of portable long service available to claim.

Tracking your entitlements

Log in to the worker portal(opens in a new window) to track your portable long service entitlements.

It's important to check the worker portal to make sure your employer has reported your service correctly. If you are missing work hours, you may miss out on portable long service entitlements. If you are missing hours you can make a claim for missing service.

Email enquiries@plsa.vic.gov.au(opens in a new window) if you don’t know your log in details.

Eligibility to claim

The requirements and claim process vary depending on your industry.

Community services workers

Community services workers who are entitled to traditional long service leave with their employer (including where entitlements are specified in an enterprise agreement, industry award, or contract of employment) are not eligible to claim portable long service benefits. They must take long service leave with their employer.

Workers in community services who are not yet entitled to traditional long service leave may consider the advantages of waiting to claim long service benefits with their employer, including the payment of superannuation.

Find out more about community services worker claims.

Contract cleaning and security workers

If you are entitled to both portable and traditional long service leave, you must choose which benefit you wish to take.

There may be additional benefits associated with taking traditional long service leave with your employer, including the payment of superannuation. Workers should ensure they understand the differences between these benefits when considering a claim.

Please note: Portable long service benefit payments do not include superannuation and are paid at the standard rate.

Find out more about contract cleaning and security worker claims.

When can you claim?

Workers can claim portable long service benefits if they have completed 7 years of recognised service under the Scheme.

Recognised service is the total time a worker has worked in an industry covered by the Scheme.

You can view your recognised service on the worker portal.

Worker registration

If you do not perform covered work in your industry for more than 4 years in a row, your registration may become inactive. You must perform covered work for an employer covered by the Scheme to build up portable long service entitlements.

Once your registration is inactive, you may lose all your recognised service days.

We will contact you if you are approaching 4 years in a row without at least one service day being reported by your employer(s).

Claiming portable long service

For more information about making a claim, visit the claim page for your industry using the links below:

Further information