Australian workers could soon be eligible for two months of long service leave even if they don’t stay with the same employer for 10 years, under a bold new plan.
The Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) said the policy, announced at a national conference in Perth this week, would replace the existing long service leave system.
The proposal, called ‘transferable’ long service leave, would give employees two months of annual leave if the employee has worked for different employers for 10 years.
The reforms would be ‘universal’, meaning Australian workers in every sector and industry, including informal workers, would be eligible for this right.
Portable long-service leave would mimic the pension system where multiple employers contribute to employees’ leave periods.
This would mean that employees would be able to keep contributions from all their employers, even if they change jobs.
The union voted in favor of a motion at the national conference urging the federal government to implement the proposal.
The AWU, which has 75,000 members, said in a resolution that existing leave entitlements should be reviewed to reflect changes in the workplace.
Portable long service leave would give employees two months of annual leave if the employee works for different employers for ten years (photo, Sydney workers)
“While secure, long-term employment was once the norm for most, millions of people are now in precarious employment, with 22 percent of Australian workers in temporary employment,” the report states.
‘For AWU members and millions of others in precarious work, the prospect of qualifying for statutory LSL [long service leave] is remote at best.
‘Less than a quarter of all employees have been with their employer for more than ten years and 11 percent do not expect to stay in their current position for another year.’
AWU National Secretary Paul Farrow has urged the Federal Government to consider the proposal in a bid to ensure better rights for workers.
“With a federal Labor government prepared to implement sensible and fair industrial relations reform, now is the time to enshrine a transferable long service leave scheme into our workplace rights,” Mr Farrow said.
“Now that the Same Job Same Pay laws have been settled in the first term of the Albanian government, there is no better way to start a second term than with an innovative reform like this.”
Mr Farrow said that under the proposed changes, employees would have to wait a “reasonable period” before using their leave if they change jobs.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Anthony Albanese’s office for comment.
Australian workers could soon get two months’ service leave, even if they don’t stay with the same employer for 10 years, under a radical new plan (pictured, Sydney workers)
The proposal has been rejected by some Australian business leaders.
Ai Group Chief Executive Innes Willcox said the scheme would undermine employers’ ability to retain more staff.
“Adopting universal portable leave for long service would be a deeply flawed step that would inevitably have significant negative consequences for employers, including increased costs and new administrative burdens,” Mr Willcox said.
His comments come after the Australian Reserve Bank predicted the national unemployment rate could rise from 4.1 percent to 4.5 percent by June 2025.
Employees in Australia are generally entitled to two months of long service leave if they have worked for an employer for ten years on a pro-rata basis.
However, leave entitlement varies by state and territory.
Some industries in Australia, such as construction, security and community services, already offer long service commutable leave entitlements.
The system allows employees to keep their accrued long-term leave, even if they move to another employer or work on different projects.