QLD Long Service Leave.
Calculate long service leave entitlement under your state Act. Covers all 8 states & territories with state-specific triggers, accrual rates and pro-rata rules. Pre-configured for Queensland under State LSL Acts.
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| Component | Formula | Value |
|---|---|---|
| State | - | QLD |
| Trigger | - | 10 years |
| Pro-rata from | - | 7 years |
| Years of service | (2026-09-24 − 2025-09-24) | 1.00 yrs |
| LSL weeks | state formula | 0.00 wks |
| Hours of LSL | 0.00 × 38h | 0 hrs |
| LSL value | 0 × $35.00 | $0.00 |
Disclaimer: This tool does not constitute legal or financial advice. Results may be inaccurate due to changes in legislation or your circumstances. This tool does not constitute legal or financial advice. We do not recommend taking actions based solely on these results. The calculator makes assumptions and results may be inaccurate due to changes in legislation, modern awards, or your personal circumstances. You use this information at your own risk. We can't guarantee to be perfect, so do note you use the information at your own risk and we can't accept liability if things go wrong. For official guidance, visit Fair Work Ombudsman (fairwork.gov.au). Fair Work Ombudsman.
How long service leave works in Queensland
Queensland long service leave sits in the Industrial Relations Act 2016 rather than a standalone Act. The full entitlement is 8.6667 weeks after 10 years of continuous service, with a further 4.3333 weeks after each additional 5 years, reaching 13 weeks at 15 years.
The full entitlement is 8.6667 weeks at 10 years, plus a further 4.3333 weeks after another 5 years (13 weeks at 15). Long service leave sits outside the National Employment Standards, so this is set by Queensland law rather than federal law, and the figures differ from every other state. Compare all eight in our guide to long service leave after 10 years.
Leaving before 10 years: pro-rata in QLD
Pro-rata long service leave becomes possible at 7 years of continuous service in Queensland. That threshold is necessary, but in this state it is not sufficient.
This is the single most misunderstood part of long service leave, and it is where people lose the most money. The threshold is what gets quoted in conversation; the condition is what decides whether anything is actually paid. Our pro-rata long service leave guide sets out the rule for all eight states and territories side by side.
What counts as continuous service
Continuous service survives most interruptions. Paid leave counts in full. Unpaid leave of up to 3 months counts as service, and longer unpaid absences pause rather than break it. A transfer of business carries service across, and Queensland has case law confirming that service need only be partly performed in the state to be covered.
Queensland long service leave law covers casual employees, as the law in every state and territory does. What differs between them is the test for whether casual service counts as continuous, which our guide to casual long service leave rules by state sets out for all eight.
How the payment is calculated
Payment is at the ordinary rate you are paid immediately before the leave, or at a higher rate if you are being paid one (s 98). If you were a casual or regular part-time employee at any time during your service, section 105 sets the minimum payment from the total ordinary hours you actually worked over the whole period of continuous service, at your hourly rate for ordinary time on the day the leave starts or the termination takes effect.
How the payout is taxed
The entitlement is set by Queensland law, but the tax on it is federal and works differently to almost every other payment. The ATO splits a long service leave payout by when the service was performed, not just why you left, and taxes each slice under the rules that applied at the time. Service from 18 August 1993 is taxed at your marginal rate on an ordinary resignation, or capped at 30% plus the Medicare levy on a genuine redundancy. Earlier service is treated more favourably again.
This is why a flat 32% estimate is usually wrong: that figure is a ceiling plus the Medicare levy, not a fixed rate, so anyone below the 30% bracket pays less. Work out the split on your own payout with the long service leave tax calculator.
A QLD worked example
Priya, 10 years with one employer, a Brisbane logistics coordinator, on $1,750 a week.
Queensland grants 8.67 weeks at 10 years under the Industrial Relations Act 2016 (QLD). The payment is 8.67 x $1,750 = $15,172.50 gross, whether taken as paid leave or paid out on termination.
Taken as leave it is taxed as ordinary income in the period it is paid. Paid out on termination the withholding rules differ, and for a redundancy they differ again: see how leave payouts are taxed and genuine redundancy and tax.
Does other leave keep accruing while you are on it?
Yes. Long service leave is paid leave, and paid leave counts as service in every Australian jurisdiction. That means annual leave and personal leave continue to accrue for the whole time you are away, and the period also counts towards your next long service leave milestone. A worker taking 8.67 weeks in QLD comes back with roughly a week of extra annual leave already banked.
A public holiday falling inside a period of long service leave is treated the same way it is inside annual leave: you are not taken to be on leave that day, so it does not come out of your balance. The QLD dates are listed on QLD public holidays. If you fall ill during long service leave, most states let you convert the affected days to personal leave with evidence, which preserves the long service balance.
Long service leave in your final pay
When employment ends, any long service leave you are entitled to is paid as part of your final pay rather than separately. It sits alongside unused annual leave, outstanding wages, and notice or redundancy where they apply. Work the whole amount out on the final pay calculator, or see termination pay for how the components fit together.
Two things change the number. Superannuation is generally not payable on a long service leave payout, because the ATO does not treat it as ordinary time earnings, and the withholding rate depends on why the employment ended. A payout tied to a genuine redundancy is taxed concessionally, while an ordinary resignation is taxed at your marginal rate. Neither changes the gross figure the calculator produces above; both change what lands in your account.
The QLD catch worth knowing
Queensland has the widest gap between what workers believe and what the Act says. The 7-year pro-rata figure is widely quoted, but the qualifying reasons are narrow and explicitly exclude resigning for a better job. A Queensland worker resigning voluntarily at 9 years and 11 months receives nothing, while the same worker made redundant that day receives the full pro-rata amount.
Queensland puts the casual and part-time formula in the legislation
Queensland writes the method for casual and part-time employees into section 105 of the Industrial Relations Act 2016. It applies to anyone who was a casual or regular part-time employee at any time during the continuous service the leave relates to, and the qualifying period is the same as for full-time employees. Business Queensland sets out the arithmetic as total ordinary hours worked divided by 52, multiplied by 8.6667, divided by 10, which gives the number of hours of long service leave. Section 105(3) defines those hours as the total ordinary working hours actually worked during the period of continuous service, so overtime is left out. A casual who has worked 10,400 ordinary hours over a decade therefore has 173.33 hours of leave: 10,400 divided by 52 is 200, multiplied by 8.6667 is 1,733.34, and divided by 10 is 173.33. Business Queensland says casuals are paid at the loaded casual hourly rate. Queensland is not alone in legislating for varying hours, because the Acts in the other seven jurisdictions each set out a method built on average weekly hours. Your employer must keep a record of each casual employee's total ordinary hours from the start of their service to 30 June each year, so ask for that record rather than rebuilding a decade of shifts from payslips.
Business Queensland, LSL entitlements and continuous service. Verified 14 September 2026.
Queensland pays at the rate that applies when you take the leave
Section 98 of the Industrial Relations Act 2016 pays long service leave at the ordinary rate being paid to you immediately before the leave is taken, or at a higher rate if you are being paid one, which means a pay rise before you take your leave flows straight through to what you are paid. For anyone who was a casual or regular part-time employee at any point in their service, section 105 sets the minimum payment by applying the hourly rate for ordinary time on the day the leave starts, or on the day a termination takes effect, to the total ordinary hours actually worked over the whole period of continuous service. That is a different approach from NSW, which takes the greater of the current rate and a 5-year average, and from South Australia, which averages hours over the preceding 3 years. Because the whole period counts, years of full-time hours stay in the total if you later move to part-time or casual work: Business Queensland says the total ordinary hours include the hours worked as a full-time employee as well as those worked as a casual or regular part-time employee.
Industrial Relations Act 2016 (Qld) ss.98 and 105. Verified 14 September 2026.
Unpaid parental leave in Queensland pauses accrual without breaking service
Long service leave does not accumulate during unpaid parental leave in Queensland, but that leave does not break the continuity of your service either. Both halves matter. You do not lose the years you have already banked, so the path to the 10-year trigger stays intact, but the clock stops while you are away and your anniversary moves back by the length of the absence. Paid leave of any kind, including paid parental leave, counts as service in full. A Queensland worker taking 12 months of unpaid parental leave therefore reaches 10 years of qualifying service around 11 years after starting. Victoria treats the same absence very differently, counting up to 52 weeks of unpaid parental leave as service for accrual, so an interstate move can change what an identical career break costs you.
Business Queensland, LSL entitlements and continuous service. Verified 11 August 2026.
Construction workers: your service may be portable
If you work in building and construction, the continuous-service rule above may not be the one that applies to you. Queensland runs a portable long service leave scheme where service accrues with the industry rather than a single employer, so moving between builders does not reset the clock. See portable long service leave and our QLD portable scheme guide. You cannot be paid twice for the same period of service.
Where to check your own entitlement
Queensland long service leave is administered by Queensland Government, Business Queensland, which is the authority of record for disputes and for any figure you intend to rely on. The calculator above estimates your balance under the Industrial Relations Act 2016 (QLD); where a number decides whether you resign or wait, confirm it with the authority or the Fair Work Ombudsman first.
Other QLD entitlements
Queensland gazettes 13 public holidays in 2026, listed with penalty rates on QLD public holidays. Construction, contract cleaning and security workers may instead accrue under a portable scheme that follows them between employers, explained in portable long service leave. Australian long service leave is state law, so the same career pays out very differently depending on where it was worked. The two ends of the range are Victoria, which pays an unconditional entitlement from 7 years, the earliest in the country, and South Australia, whose 13 weeks at 10 years is the largest statutory entitlement anywhere in Australia. Queensland sits at 8.67 weeks after 10 years. Every federal entitlement, including annual leave and personal leave, is identical in Queensland and is calculated on the annual leave calculator and the personal leave calculator. For everything owed when a job ends, use final pay. More QLD entitlements are collected on the Queensland hub.