WORKERS INFORMATION
ON THIS PAGE:
HOW PORTABLE LONG SERVICE LEAVE WORKS
TasBuild portable long service leave has been established for the benefit of construction workers in Tasmania. The scheme allows workers to qualify for a long service leave entitlement based on service to the industry across multiple employers rather than just service with one employer.
The portability aspect recognises that employment in the construction industry is different from office or retail-based jobs. Construction employment is often linked to project work and as employees move from project to project their employer can change.
Portability is also recognised nationally under an agreement between all States and Territories so that service interstate is recognised and will contribute toward achieving an entitlement.
If you are in relevant employment in the Construction Industry your Employer is responsible for registering you, lodging returns and paying contributions on a monthly or quarterly basis.
Employers report the number of days you worked for them in a reporting period. TasBuild maintains a record of this service in a central database. Working days include;
- Annual Leave
- Paid Personal Leave
- Public Holidays
- Rostered Days Off
- Days covered by Workers Compensation
You can accrue a maximum of 5 days per week for 52 weeks or 260 days a year. Workers are encouraged to register for Online Access which will allow the following actions to be taken;
- Update personal and contact details
- Check your employers have recorded service for you
- View the working days accrued and any leave balances owing
- View your latest annual statement
- Lodge an unrecorded service request
- Register as a self-employed worker
- Register interstate service
MAKING A CLAIM AND YOUR ENTITLEMENT
Login to the Worker Portal to submit your application online, download an entitlement application form or contact us to request an application form to be emailed to you.
Entitlement payments are generally made within three weeks of the lodgement of an application with payments made directly into your nominated bank account.
You are paid your ordinary gross weekly rate of pay, including applicable allowances, but excluding travel and fares allowances, overtime payments, casual loading, etc. Where there has been an abnormal wage variation, either increase or decrease, during the accumulation period, your ordinary gross weekly rate of pay may be adjusted.
Please be aware that TasBuild obligations do not include payment for public holidays should any occur during your long service leave taken.
Confirmation of your current wage will be obtained from your employer before the entitlement is paid.
Long service payments are taxable income. Tax is deducted from payments at the rate specified by the Australian Taxation Office. When an entitlement is processed a PAYG payment summary and Entitlement Statement will be provided for inclusion with your next tax return.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How can missing service be recognised?
Under the TasBuild long service scheme, employers are required to report service monthly (or in some cases quarterly) for Workers who are engaged in the Construction Industry in Tasmania. Unrecorded service (missing service) occurs when Employers do not comply with this requirement.
If you feel that you should have had relevant service recorded, but it is missing then you should in the first instance contact your Employer about correcting the missing service. If this is unsuccessful you can login to the Worker Portal to lodge a Request to Investigate Unrecorded Service or complete the form if you have not been registered before with TasBuild.
On the request form, you will need to provide supporting evidence for review by TasBuild. If your claim is approved it will be added to your recorded service and will be taken into account for qualifying for an entitlement.
Is work interstate recognised?
There are portable long service leave schemes in all States and Territories in Australia for the building and construction industry. A National Reciprocal Agreement (NRA) exists between all of these schemes in Australia where you can work in the construction industry in more than one State or Territory and have interstate service recognised by the other schemes and count towards reaching an entitlement.
The rules of the various schemes however are not the same and there are some differences in the types of work covered, the minimum claiming periods and the calculation of payments. Upon reaching an entitlement and making a claim, each Scheme will determine how much your entitlement is based on the service they have recorded and the rate of pay that is applicable in their legislation. Interstate service will be used to reach an entitlement in Tasmania where available. The interstate payment component is included in the entitlement payment at the benefit value received from the interstate fund.
If you are registered with TasBuild and are going to work interstate, you should keep us informed. This will protect your active record with TasBuild from potentially becoming deregistered if no service is recorded for four consecutive years. You will then also need to keep track of the service you have in each State as each Scheme operates independently and will not know what service you have interstate. When you think you have sufficient service for an entitlement, you will need to make a claim with the scheme where your service was recorded last.
If you have already worked interstate and are registered with TasBuild, you can upload copies of your interstate service statements through the Worker Portal. Once these statements have been verified you will be able to see an estimate of your combined entitlement across all portable leave schemes.
What happens if I have a break from the industry?
If you have a break of 4 years or more from the industry and do not achieve 2,600 days of relevant work, all reported relevant work will be removed and you will be deregistered from the Scheme. If you re-enter the construction industry at a later date, you will recommence recording service days from zero.
If you are not recording service with TasBuild because you are working interstate see the FAQ above ‘Is work interstate recognised?’.
Long service is not like a bank account, we do not allocate money to your account for each day worked, we just track your days of relevant employment. The employers contributions received all go into a pool of funds that are invested to ensure that when a worker is eligible to claim a leave entitlement, TasBuild have the funds available in the pool to fund the worker payment.
TAKE THE 2 MINUTE WORKER TEST
The 2 minute test is designed to help you work out if you are an employee or subcontractor. Different rules apply for eligibility in the Portable Long Service Scheme.