Pro rata long service leave SA: what you are paid after 7 years.

Pro rata long service leave in SA at a glance

• From 7 completed years to under 10: 1.3 weeks for each completed year, paid when the job ends (s 5(3)).
• Not paid if you are dismissed for serious and wilful misconduct, or you end the contract unlawfully, for example by not giving the notice you owe (s 5(4)).
• Under 7 completed years: nothing, for any reason.
• From 10 completed years: 13 weeks plus 1.3 weeks for each completed year after 10, paid however the job ends, misconduct included (s 5(1), (2)).
• Paid at your ordinary weekly rate immediately before the termination, and paid immediately on termination (s 8(4)).

This Act does not apply to SA or Commonwealth public sector employees, construction workers in the construction industry portable scheme, community services workers in the community services portable scheme, or anyone whose long service leave comes from an enterprise agreement, a pre-2010 award or another Fair Work instrument (s 16). Portable scheme workers should start at portable long service leave.

Using the SA pro rata calculator

Set to South Australia and the Pro-Rata tab, the calculator follows the Long Service Leave Act 1987. Enter your start date, your actual or planned last day, your hourly rate and weekly hours, and how the job is ending. It counts completed years by calendar anniversary, so one day short of 7 years is 6 completed years. If you choose resignation, it shows the payment with a condition line: that payment depends on giving the notice your contract or award requires.

Three things are yours to adjust. Move your start date later by any weeks of agreed unpaid leave or parental leave, because they do not count. Subtract any leave you have already taken in advance. And if your hours changed in the last 3 years, enter your 3-year average weekly hours rather than today's (see how the payout is valued).

Why 8 years 11 months pays 8 years: the completed-year rule

Section 5(7) says an entitlement "only arises in respect of completed years of service". Part years are dropped, both in the pro rata band and after 10 years, so each anniversary is a step. SafeWork SA's example worker with 8½ years is paid 10.4 weeks, which is 8 × 1.3.

For an exit the Act pays on. Weeks are 1.3 × completed years, and 13 at 10 years.

At an example ordinary weekly rate of $1,520 (38 hours at $40.00), each completed year is worth 1.3 × $1,520 = $1,976.00, so leaving a month before an anniversary costs that much. Neither the Act nor SafeWork SA says whether the anniversary day itself is counted, so if your last day falls within a few days of one, confirm the count with your employer or SafeWork SA before you fix the date.

Resigning after 7 years in SA: the notice condition

A resignation pays in South Australia, which New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and the Northern Territory do not allow before 10 years, but only a lawful one. Section 5(4)(b) removes the pro rata payment where "the contract of service is unlawfully terminated by the worker", and SafeWork SA gives failing to give the required notice as the example.

The required notice is whatever your contract, award or enterprise agreement sets. If the dispute is about whether your resignation was valid at all, SafeWork SA says that part goes to the Fair Work Ombudsman or the Fair Work Commission first. Retiring is a resignation for this purpose, so the same notice rule applies: SafeWork SA's retiring example gives the required notice period.

Which exits pay pro rata in SA, and which do not

South Australia has no separate illness or pressing necessity trigger, because it does not need one: every lawful exit pays. For a casual on a series of contracts, SafeWork SA treats the employment as terminated when the worker resigns or the employer decides no further contracts will be offered. Under 7 completed years, none of these pays.

Unpaid leave and parental leave push your anniversary back

Some absences keep your service continuous but do not count towards it. SafeWork SA lists parental leave, including employer-funded parental leave unless an enterprise agreement counts it, leave without pay agreed with the employer in advance, a temporary lay-off with re-employment within 2 months, and a stand-down for slackness of trade. Those weeks are added on to the date you reach 7 and 10 years.

Counted in full: illness or injury (paid or unpaid sick leave, casuals included), annual leave, long service leave, and absences in line with your contract of service.

How the payout is valued for part-time and casual workers

The payout uses your ordinary weekly rate immediately before termination, without overtime, shift premiums or penalty rates (s 3(2), s 8(4)). Hourly pay, changing hours, or any casual or part-time work in the 3 years before you leave all switch on section 3(2)(b): your weekly hours across that 3-year window are averaged, then priced at the hourly rate you are on when you go. Weeks of unpaid leave or of work injury absence are skipped, and the window reaches further back so it still totals 3 years (s 3(4)(b)).

SafeWork SA's step-by-step method counts the hours worked each week including overtime, divides by 156 and says not to round the result. Casual loading is part of the hourly rate. Commission earners use average weekly earnings over the last 12 months instead (s 3(2)(a)).

The same averaging applies to leave you take while employed, covered on SA long service leave.

Pro rata payout amounts at 7, 8 and 9 years, and the step up at 10

$1,520 is 38 hours at $40.00, an illustration rather than a sourced wage. From 10 years: 13 weeks plus 1.3 for each completed year after 10.

The step from 9 to 10 completed years is 1.3 weeks, the same as every other year. What changes at 10 is that the two exceptions stop applying, and you can agree with your employer to cash out leave while you stay.

Taking pro rata leave or cash before 10 years while you stay

You cannot insist on taking leave at 7 years: asked whether a worker with 7 years can take long service leave, SafeWork SA answers "No. Not unless your employer allows you to." By agreement you can take leave in anticipation of the entitlement (s 7(4)(d)), and SafeWork SA says to put that agreement in writing, signed by both of you. If you then leave before the entitlement accrues, the employer may deduct the difference from your final pay (s 7(6)).

Cashing out is a right only from 10 years: a payment in lieu by individual agreement, recorded in writing and signed by both of you after the leave has accrued (s 5(1a)). Before 10 years the Act has no cash-out provision. SafeWork SA says the employer is under no obligation to pay out a pro rata entitlement while you are still employed and cannot force you to take a payment instead of leave; it does show one employer agreeing to it at 8 years, so treat that as something an employer may agree to, not something you can demand. The 10-year rules are on SA long service leave.

When the payout is due, and how it is taxed

The payment is due immediately on termination (s 8(4)(b)). SafeWork SA says "immediately" can include what would have been your next pay day, and if an employer in financial difficulty asks for a payment plan, you do not have to accept it.

For service from 18 August 1993, the payout is withheld at your marginal rate on a resignation, retirement or dismissal, or at 32% on a genuine redundancy, invalidity or early retirement scheme payment. No super is payable on unused long service leave paid on termination, whatever the reason; leave cashed out while you are still employed does attract super. Estimate the tax with the long service leave tax calculator.

If your employer will not pay: SafeWork SA claim and the SAET

1. Raise it with your employer first.
2. Lodge a free claim with SafeWork SA (Help Centre 1300 365 255). An inspector investigates and can issue a written notice directing payment within a period of at least 14 days. Not complying is an offence with a maximum penalty of $5,000.
3. Apply to the South Australian Employment Tribunal (SAET) for an order to pay. You, your personal representative, or your union with your consent can apply (s 13(1), (2)). No order can be made if your service ended more than 3 years before the application (s 13(4)).

If your employer did not keep proper records, the SAET may accept your account of your service and average hours unless the employer proves otherwise (s 13(3)). You can inspect your own records during office hours (s 10(5)), and they must be kept for at least 3 years after you leave (s 10(2)(c)). If your employer refused to pay because of a disciplinary action, SafeWork SA says to contact the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Sources

• Long Service Leave Act 1987 (SA), version of 1 July 2017, retrieved 5 October 2026.
• SafeWork SA, taking leave and pro rata entitlements, retrieved 5 October 2026.
• SafeWork SA, accruing leave, retrieved 5 October 2026.
• SafeWork SA, payment of entitlement, retrieved 5 October 2026.
• SafeWork SA, long service leave FAQs, retrieved 5 October 2026.
• SafeWork SA, resolving disputes, retrieved 5 October 2026.
• SafeWork SA, requesting and taking leave, retrieved 5 October 2026.
• SafeWork SA, mix of full-time and part-time calculation, retrieved 5 October 2026.
• SafeWork SA, who is entitled to long service leave, retrieved 5 October 2026.
• ATO, PAYG withholding Schedule 7, retrieved 5 October 2026.
• ATO, what payments are qualifying earnings, retrieved 5 October 2026.

Published 5 October 2026. Checked against these sources on 5 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.