Eligibility
To claim portable long service benefits, you must complete 7 years of recognised service under the Scheme. Recognised service is the total time you have worked in an industry covered by the Scheme.
You can view your recognised service balance on the worker portal.
Your recognised service balance is updated on the worker portal after your employer sends us your hours and ordinary pay each quarter (every 3 months). For example, if you worked in the April to June quarter, your employer has until 31 July to send us your records in their quarterly return. Processing the quarterly return takes us about 7 days.
View the quarterly return due dates.
You won’t be able to claim your portable long service leave until your recognised service balance reaches 7 years on the worker portal.
Choosing which leave to take
If you are entitled to both traditional long service leave with your employer and portable long service leave, you must choose which benefit you would like to take.
You can’t claim both traditional and portable long service benefits for the same recognised service period. For example, workers who take traditional long service leave with their employer for a service period recorded with the Authority would have their entitlement to portable long service benefits reduced by the amount of overlapping service period claimed.
Traditional long service leave
If you decide to take traditional long service leave, your employer will ask you to complete a leave nomination form.
This form allows your employer to claim reimbursement for traditional long service leave paid for a service period recorded with the Authority.
There may be additional benefits associated with taking traditional long service leave with your employer, including the payment of superannuation during your leave period. Workers should ensure they understand the differences between these entitlements when considering a claim.
Portable long service leave
If you decide to take portable long service leave under the Scheme, your employer must approve the leave and complete the portable long service leave employer approval form. You must submit the completed form with your claim to the Authority.
Contract cleaning workers must not perform any work during the period of long service leave agreed with their employer.
Workers permanently leaving the contract cleaning industry do not take leave and are paid their entitlements as a lump sum.
Please note: Portable long service benefit payments do not include superannuation and are paid at the standard rate.
How to claim
Eligible workers claim their portable long service leave on the worker portal.
You should check the worker portal to see if your service has been recorded correctly by your employer and that your contact details are up to date.
To make a claim:
- Log in to the worker portal
- Click on 'Claims' in the menu
- If you are eligible, you will see a 'New claim' button in the top right corner of the screen.
You can follow our step-by-step guide: How to claim guide: Contract cleaning workers.
Claim processing
We will check your work history when we receive your claim. Sometimes we contact you and/or your employer if we need more information.
Claims are usually processed within 3 weeks. It may take longer if we need more information or have to check details with your employer.
Some other claims can take longer to process. For example, if you are retiring or leaving the industry.
Entitlement
Eligible workers are entitled to 1 week of portable long service benefits for every 60 weeks of recorded work under the Scheme.
Your entitlement balance will be available on the worker portal once you become eligible to make a claim.
Claim amount paid
Your portable long service payment is calculated based on the number of weeks (or portion of weeks) claimed, multiplied by the weekly rate of ordinary pay at the time you apply for payment.
If your hours have changed in the past 2 years, we’ll use your average hours, as advised by your employer, to work out your payment.
If your rate of pay increases before your portable long service leave, please contact us so we can update your payment amount. You must send us documentation showing your new pay rate, including when it will increase.
Payment
The Authority pays your portable long service benefit as a lump sum, directly into your nominated bank account.
Tax
Your portable long service leave payment will be taxed at the applicable tax rate in accordance with the Australian Tax Office (ATO) guidelines. For further advice on tax rates, contact the ATO.
The portable long service leave payment is net of tax. Tax will not be withheld from claim payments made on the death of a worker.
Contract cleaning worker claim types
| Claim type | Information |
| Portable long service leave and payment | Who can claim? Contract cleaning workers who have 7 years of recognised service under the Scheme.
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| Leaving the industry – total incapacity | Who can claim? Workers with 7 years of recognised service who are permanently leaving the industry due to total incapacity. Documents we need for the claim
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| Leaving the industry | Who can claim? Workers with 7 years of recognised service who are permanently leaving the industry. Documents we need for the claim
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| Deceased worker | Who can claim? A legal representative, spouse, next of kin or an authorised person under a Power of Attorney can make a claim on behalf of a deceased worker with 7 years of recognised service. Documents we need for the claim
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Further information
How to claim guide: Contract cleaning and security workers
A step-by-step guide for workers to assist in claiming their portable long service leave benefit.
Updated