Australian Capital Territory Current Acts

LONG SERVICE LEAVE ACT 1976 - SECT 2G

    (1)     In this Act:

"period of service", as an employee, means a period of continuous service as the employee of a particular employer.

    (2)     However, in working out an employee's period of service, the following interruptions of the period of service do not break the continuity of service:

        (a)     an interruption caused by an industrial dispute if the employee returns to the service of the employer in accordance with the terms of settlement of the dispute;

        (b)     a period when an employee is stood down by his or her employer because of slackness of trade if the employee is re-employed by the employer within 6 months after the day the employee is stood down;

        (c)     a period, other than a period mentioned in the dictionary, definition of "continuous service", paragraph (a) or (b), when the employee is absent with the employer's leave;

        (d)     a period when the employee is absent because of injury arising out of or in the course of the employment;

        (e)     any other interruption, including ending of service by the employer (other than with the intention of avoiding the granting of long service leave), if the employee returns to the employer's service within 2 months after the day the service is interrupted;

        (f)     service by the employee as a member of the Defence Force, other than as a member rendering continuous full-time service;

        (g)     a period of service when the employee is temporarily outside the ACT if the service would be continuous service if the employee were inside the ACT.

    (3)     Also, an interruption of an employee's service of longer than 2 months does not break the continuity of service if the interruption is caused by the seasonal nature of the work.

    (4)     For subsection (2) (f), the service by the employee as a member of the Defence Force is taken to be service with the person by whom the employee was employed immediately before the employee began to serve as a member of the Defence Force.

    (5)     To remove any doubt, the period of the interruption under subsection (2) or (3) (other than a period mentioned in subsection (2) (f) or (g)) must not be taken into account in working out the total period of service.

Example

Fiona starts work in the cosmetics department of Desmond James (‘DJ's'), a department store, on 1 January 1992. She works there until 31 December 1994, when she quits to take up a position with Gray's Brothers, a competing department store. She doesn't like the new manager and returns to her old job at DJ's on 1 February 1995. On 1 June 1995 there is a strike which continues till 30 September 1995, after which Fiona returns to work in accordance with the terms of settlement of the dispute. On 1 August 1999 Fiona injures herself at work and is unable to return to work until 1 December 1999. The cumulative absences of 9 months do not count as service, postponing her entitlement, but do not break continuity of service. Her 10 years long service leave falls due on 1 October 2002.