Northern Territory Consolidated Acts Northern Territory Consolidated Acts(1) In this section:
"hours of work per week" means:
(a) the fixed number of hours per week an employee has worked for an employer during a year of continuous service with an employer; or
(b) where an employee has not worked a fixed number of hours per week, the average number of hours per week the employee has worked for an employer during a year of continuous service with an employer,
but does not include hours of overtime worked by the employee.
"rate of pay" means an employee's remuneration for the hours of work per week worked by the employee calculated:
(a) in the case of an employee who is remunerated in accordance with a rate of pay fixed by the terms of employment of the employee, that rate of pay; or
(b) in the case of an employee:
(i) who is not remunerated in accordance with a rate of pay referred to in paragraph (a);
(ii) who is remunerated partly in accordance with a rate of pay referred to in paragraph (a) and partly in another manner; or
(iii) where no rate of pay is fixed by the terms of employment of the employee,
the average rate of pay paid to the employee during a year of continuous service (to be calculated by dividing the total amount of pay paid, other than any amount paid for hours of overtime worked or as district allowance, site allowance, climatic allowance or penalty rates, by the total number of hours, other than hours of overtime, worked by the employee during the year of continuous service).
(2) Where an employee is entitled to a payment for, or in lieu of, long service leave under this Act, the amount payable to the employee is the sum of the amounts calculated under subsection (3) for each completed year of continuous service that comprises the period of service from which his or her entitlement to long service leave is derived.
(3) An amount calculated for a completed year of continuous service under subsection (2) is to be calculated in accordance with the formula RP x HWW x 1.3, where:
"RP" means an employee's rate of pay payable on the day immediately preceding the day on which he or she ceases to be an employee or takes a period of long service leave, or on the day as agreed in accordance with subsection (8)(a), as the case may be.
"HWW" means the number of hours of work per week an employee worked for an employer during a year of the continuous service.
(4) For the purpose of giving an example of the calculation of a payment under subsection (2) in respect of 10 years of continuous service, where:
(a) an employee works 40 hours per week during the whole of the period of 10 years of continuous service; and
(b) the employee's rate of pay on the day immediately preceding the day on which he or she ceases to be an employee or takes a period of long service leave is $15 per hour,
then the amount payable to the employee is $7,800, being the sum of $15 x 40 hours x 1.3 weeks for each of the 10 years of continuous service.
(5) For the purpose of giving a further example of the calculation of a payment under subsection (2) in respect of 5 years of continuous service, where:
(a) the employee worked:
(i) 40 hours per week during the first year of continuous service;
(ii) 40 hours per week during the second year of continuous service;
(iii) 30 hours per week during the third year of continuous service;
(iv) an average of 25 hours per week during the fourth year of continuous service; and
(v) an average of 20 hours per week during the fifth year of continuous service; and
(b) the employee's rate of pay on the day immediately preceding the day on which he or she ceases to be an employee or takes a period of long service leave is $30 per hour,
then the amount payable to the employee is $6,045, being the sum of ($30 x 40 hours x 1.3 weeks) plus ($30 x 40 hours x 1.3 weeks) plus ($30 x 30 hours x 1.3 weeks) plus ($30 x 25 hours x 1.3 weeks) plus ($30 x 20 hours x 1.3 weeks).
(6) Subject to subsection (8), where an employee is to take a period of long service leave, his or her employer is to pay the amount calculated under (2) to the employee in respect of the whole of the period:
(a) on or before the last day on which the employee is required to work before he or she commences the leave; or
(b) on the pay day immediately before he or she commences the leave,
as agreed between the employer and employee.
(7) Where an employee ceases to be an employee on retirement, termination of employment, ill health, death or domestic or other pressing necessity, the employer is to pay the amount calculated under subsection (2):
(a) to the employee as soon as practicable after termination of his or her employment; or
(b) in the case of a deceased employee, to his or her personal representative as soon as practicable after the death of the employee, but in any case not later than 12 months after his or her death.
(8) An employer and an employee may agree that:
(a) where they have made an agreement under section 8(6) to postpone the grant of long service leave or a part of it, the pay payable in respect of that postponed leave is to be at the employee's rate of pay on the date of the agreement, and payment in respect of that postponed leave is to be made accordingly; or
(b) payment of the employee's pay in respect of long service leave he or she is to take is to be paid at a time other than a day referred to in subsection (6) and that payment be made by cheque, posted to a specified address or otherwise, and payment in respect of that leave is to be made accordingly.