QLeave: Portable Long Service Leave in Queensland

What it is

Queensland runs its portable long service leave scheme under the Building and Construction Industry (Portable Long Service Leave) Act 1991 (Qld). The scheme is administered by QLeave.

QLeave records a worker's service across every employer they work for in the Queensland building and construction industry, and pays the leave itself when the worker claims. The worker never has to reach ten years with one builder.

A note on a common mix-up. BERT, the Building Employees Redundancy Trust, is a redundancy fund. It is not the Queensland portable long service leave scheme. QLeave is.

Queensland is a levy scheme

Queensland funds the scheme from a levy on the project, not from an ongoing employer contribution on wages. This is the same structure as New South Wales and the opposite of Victoria and Western Australia.

The levy applies to the total cost, direct and indirect, of building and construction work in Queensland costing $150,000 or more excluding GST.

The three levies on one form

The portable long service leave levy is collected together with two other levies on the same notification. The combined rate is 0.575 per cent of the total cost of the work, which is $5.75 for every $1,000 or part of $1,000:

• 0.35 per cent funds the portable long service leave scheme
• 0.125 per cent goes to Workplace Health and Safety Queensland
• 0.1 per cent goes to Construction Skills Queensland for industry training

Builders routinely quote the 0.575 per cent figure as though it were all long service leave. It is not. Only the 0.35 per cent share funds the QLeave entitlement.

The levies must be paid before a development permit is issued for building work, plumbing and drainage work or operational work. Where no development permit is required, they must be paid before the work starts. Section 87 of the Act gives a levy payer the right to ask QLeave to review the levy it has determined.

The levy payer self-assesses the estimated cost at notification. The cost is reconciled at completion, and a shortfall means more levy while an overpayment means a refund.

Who registers, and what the employer still owes

Paying the levy does not discharge the employer. Two separate duties run in parallel in Queensland:

• The levy payer, usually the owner or the principal contractor, notifies the work and pays the levy
• The employer registers with QLeave, registers each eligible worker and lodges a worker service return every year

Employers must register if they employ eligible workers doing building and construction work in Queensland. Sole traders and partners who employ workers on wages must register too. Self-employed contractors and company directors who do the work themselves can register as workers in their own right.

Recording service

Employers report each worker's days of service to QLeave at the end of every financial year. The worker service return is due by 31 July.

A worker earns one service credit for each day worked, capped at 220 credits in a year. Days recorded by a previous employer stay on the record. Days recorded in another state can be brought across.

The entitlement

At 2,200 service credits, which is at least ten years in the scheme, the worker can claim 8.67 weeks of long service leave paid by QLeave. Leave can be taken in one block or in portions, with a minimum of five days per claim while still working in the industry.

A worker who is permanently leaving the Queensland building and construction industry, or moving into an ineligible role, can claim earlier if they have at least 1,155 service credits and seven years in the industry.

What to do about it

• Notify QLeave of any work of $150,000 or more excluding GST and pay the levy before the permit issues or the work starts
• Reconcile the final cost of work with QLeave at completion
• Register the business as an employer separately from paying the levy
• Register every eligible worker, including working directors doing the work
• Lodge the worker service return by 31 July each year. Penalties apply under the Act for failing to register or failing to lodge
• Ask an interstate hire for their scheme number so their credits can be recognised