Portable long service leave for community based VIC educators

Effective 1 July 2019, Victorians working in community services, including early childhood services, can start accruing long service benefits as part of the Long Service Benefits Portability Regulations (2019). 

Effectively, the change in regulation means that those who are employed in any Victorian community- based children’s service under the Children’s Services Act 1996 or an approved provider under the Education and Care Services National Law (Victoria) (except an entity that is also a registered school) will be eligible for portable long service leave, even when employed across a number of sites. 

The Long Service Benefits Portability Act 2019 (Act) was passed by Parliament in September 2018 with regulations recently enacted from 1st July. For those employed in early childhood, the Act and subsequent regulations will come into effect from January 2020.

From January 2020, early childhood employers fitting the criteria above will be required to pay a levy into the central scheme on a quarterly basis. When an employee has an entitlement to take long service leave, they will apply to take leave with their employer and apply to the scheme for the relevant payment.  

For early childhood teachers, and early childhood educators, who are employed in the community based sector, and who have held a variety of roles within the sector, the entitlements will be held by the central scheme to provide for portability, expiring if an educator or teacher stops working in the sector for more than four years. 

Next steps 

Employer registration

From 1 July 2019, businesses, including Victorian ECEC services operating in the community based context, who employ workers in roles covered by the Portable Long Service Scheme must Register as an Employer with the Portable Long Service Authority.

Registration can be done online at the Portable Long Service Leave Authority website .

Worker registration

Workers will be registered by their Employers through Quarterly Return reporting which commences in October 2019. Workers will be sent a registration pack from the Authority with all of their membership details from November.

Quarterly returns

Employers must submit a Quarterly Return to the Authority, in October, January, April, and July each year. The first Quarterly Return will be submitted in October 2019.

The quarterly return will include information about:

• all workers who have worked for the business during that quarter
• the days they have worked during the quarter
• the pay they received during the quarter.

The Quarterly Return calculates the contribution to be made by the employer and is based on each worker’s ordinary pay multiplied by the levy for their industry.

The Governing Board of the Portable Long Service Benefits Authority has determined the Employer Levy as follows:

• 1.65 per cent for community services (this includes ECEC from January 2020)
• 1.80 per cent for contract cleaning
• 1.80 per cent for security.

The employer contributions paid to the Authority for their workers are then invested by the Authority and will be used to pay workers when they make a claim for long service.

Assistance for employers and workers.

The Authority will host a series of information sessions across Victoria throughout August, September and October, to provide detailed information about registration and reporting requirements.

For more information, please visit the Portable Long Service Leave Authority website, e-mail the Authority with your enquiry or call 1800 517 158.

More information about the central scheme can be found here