WA Leave Calculator.
Calculate every leave entitlement for Western Australia employees, under the Long Service Leave Act 1958 (WA), Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and the National Employment Standards.
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| Component | Formula | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Accrual rate (FULL-TIME) | 4 wks × 38h ÷ 52 | 2.923 hrs/wk |
| Hours accrued | 2.923 × 52 wks | 152.42 hrs |
| Hourly base rate | - | $35.00 |
| Base leave value | 152.42 × $35.00 | $5,334.62 |
| 17.5% leave loading | base × 0.175 | + $933.56 |
| Total payout | - | $6,268.17 |
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.
Three numbers every WA employee should know.
The NES sets the federal floor; state law adds the long service entitlement and gazetted holidays.
Every WA leave calculator.
Each calculator below is pre-configured for WA law.
WA Long Service Leave
8.67 weeks after 10 yrs. Pro-rata from 7 yrs. Under the Long Service Leave Act 1958.
Open WA Long Service Leave calculatorWA Public Holidays 2026 & 2027
13 gazetted holidays in 2026 plus the 2027 calendar. Penalty rates by award, substitute days when a holiday falls on a weekend.
Open WA Public Holidays 2026 & 2027 calculatorRedundancy Pay (National)
NES sliding scale, 4-16 weeks based on years of service. Small business exemption built in. Section 119 Fair Work Act.
Open Redundancy Pay (National) calculatorAnnual & Personal Leave
Federal entitlements identical across every state, 4 weeks annual + 10 days personal under the NES. National calculator.
Open Annual & Personal Leave calculatorLong service leave is the one entitlement Western Australia sets for itself. Under the Long Service Leave Act 1958 (WA) you reach 8.67 weeks at 10 years, with a pro-rata payout available from 7 years, worked out on WA long service leave. Whether that pro-rata amount is actually paid depends on why the job ended, which differs by state and is set out in pro-rata long service leave. Western Australia also gazettes 13 public holidays in 2026, listed with penalty rates on WA public holidays.
Everything else comes from the National Employment Standards and is identical in every state: 4 weeks of annual leave, 10 days of personal and carer's leave, unpaid parental leave, and redundancy pay on the section 119 scale. When a job ends, final pay brings the notice, unused leave and redundancy components together. The rules themselves are explained in the National Employment Standards guide.
Western Australia long service leave
Western Australia grants long service leave under the Long Service Leave Act 1958. The full entitlement is 8.667 weeks after 10 years of continuous employment, with a further 4.333 weeks for every 5 years of service after that.
The full entitlement is 8.667 weeks at 10 years, plus a further 4.333 weeks for every 5 years after that, set by the Long Service Leave Act 1958 (WA) rather than federal law. Choose long service leave in the calculator above to work out your own balance.
Leaving before 10 years: pro-rata in WA
Pro-rata long service leave becomes possible at 7 years of continuous service in Western Australia. That threshold is necessary, but here it is also sufficient.
The rule for all eight states is side by side in the pro-rata long service leave guide.
What counts as continuous service
Service must be continuous with the one employer, and the employment ending does not always break it: if the employer ends the job and re-employs you within 2 months, or within 6 months where the reason was slackness of trade, continuity is kept, though the gap is not counted (ss 6(4), 6A(2)(c)). Paid leave counts. Unpaid leave and periods of absence with the employer's agreement do not break continuity, though they generally do not add to the total either. Casual and seasonal employees have their own rule: an absence of any length that is under the terms of the employment, caused by seasonal factors, or followed by a reasonable expectation of returning because the work is regular and systematic keeps continuity and counts as service (ss 6(5), 6A(1)(c)). Where a business changes hands, service with the previous employer counts.
How the payment is calculated
The rate is your ordinary pay when the leave starts, or is taken to start on termination, excluding shift premiums, overtime, penalty rates and allowances (ss 7(1), 7A). Where your hours have varied, section 7(2) uses your average weekly hours over the period, which the WA regulator reads as the accrual period: the first 10 years, then each further 5 years. For a casual, that average takes in periods when no work was provided under the terms of the employment. A casual employee's ordinary pay includes the casual loading (s 7B).
Tom, 10 years with one employer, a Perth mining maintenance fitter, on $1,900 a week.
8.67 x $1,900 = $16,473.00 gross, whether taken as paid leave or paid out on termination. The tax on a payout depends on when the service was performed: see the long service leave tax calculator.
The WA catch worth knowing
Western Australia is one of only three jurisdictions, with Victoria and South Australia, where pro-rata is effectively unconditional. A WA worker who resigns at 7 years for any reason at all is owed the pro-rata payment, and the employer must prove serious misconduct to withhold it.
WA allows cashing out, but only once the entitlement has fully accrued
Western Australia sits between the prohibition states and the open-agreement states. An employer and employee can agree in writing to cash out some or all of the long service leave entitlement, but only once the employee has completed the necessary period of continuous employment and fully accrued that entitlement, which means after 10 years and then after each further 5 years. Cashing out a partly accrued entitlement is not available. Where cashing out does happen, the employee must be paid at least the ordinary pay they would have received had they taken the leave, so the agreement cannot be used to discount the entitlement. Compare Victoria, where the same agreement would be an offence for both parties, and NSW, where the Act provides no mechanism at all.
WA Government, cashing out long service leave. Verified 11 August 2026.
Half pay and double pay are both available in WA, if your employer agrees
Western Australia is unusual in permitting the arrangement in both directions. You can agree with your employer to take long service leave at half pay over twice the period, or at double pay over half the period, so an 8.6667-week entitlement can become roughly 17 weeks at half rate or 4.3 weeks at double rate. The catch is that the employer is under no obligation to agree to either. That is a weaker position than Victoria, where an employer must grant a half-pay request unless there are reasonable business grounds to refuse, and it is a stronger position than NSW, where the Act is silent on half pay entirely. Because the arrangement changes both your remaining balance and the rate you are paid, put it in writing before the leave starts.
WA Government, taking long service leave. Verified 11 August 2026.
In WA the employer has to prove misconduct to withhold your pro-rata
Pro-rata long service leave becomes payable in Western Australia at 7 years of continuous employment when the employment ends, and it does not matter how it ends. Resignation to take another job, redundancy, dismissal and death all qualify. The single exception is dismissal for serious misconduct, and the significant detail is that the employer carries the onus of establishing it rather than merely asserting it. That makes WA one of only three jurisdictions, with Victoria and South Australia, where reaching the threshold is effectively enough on its own. A worker resigning at 8 years in WA is paid; the same worker resigning at 8 years in Queensland, NSW, Tasmania, the Northern Territory or the ACT generally is not, because those five require a qualifying reason as well as the years.
WA Government, overview of long service leave. Verified 11 August 2026.
A public holiday during WA long service leave adds a day to the leave
Western Australia deals with public holidays inside long service leave on its own terms. If a full-time or part-time employee is on long service leave and would ordinarily have been entitled to a public holiday that falls during it, the period of long service leave is increased by one day for each such holiday. The holiday is not skipped over and left unpaid, and it is not counted as a day of leave either: the leave is extended. An employee taking 8.667 weeks across Christmas Day and Boxing Day therefore returns two working days later than the raw count suggests. The WA Government guidance states the rule for full-time and part-time employees, so a casual or seasonal employee who would not ordinarily have had the day off should confirm their position with Wageline before relying on it.
WA Government, taking long service leave. Verified 24 September 2026.
Your WA employer cannot direct when you take long service leave
An employer in Western Australia cannot direct an employee to take long service leave at a particular time. The two can agree on dates, and where they have not agreed, the employer cannot refuse leave the employee became entitled to more than 12 months earlier: the employee gives at least 2 weeks notice and takes it in one continuous period. That is the reverse of South Australia, where an employer can direct leave on 60 days written notice. One restriction runs the other way. While on long service leave you cannot take paid employment in substitution for the job you are on leave from, and doing so can forfeit the entitlement, allowing the employer to withhold further leave payments and reclaim wages already paid for the leave taken. A job you already hold alongside this one can generally continue, because it is not in substitution.
WA Government, taking long service leave. Verified 24 September 2026.
How WA compares.
Federal annual leave is identical everywhere. State LSL and public holidays differ.
Modern awards common in Western Australia.
Industry awards layered on top of the NES. Each award has its own penalty rates, leave loading and (sometimes) RDO arrangements.
WA-specific leave questions.
How much long service leave do I get in WA?
When does WA long service leave become payable on termination?
What's the WA pro-rata LSL formula?
Do WA casuals get long service leave?
How many public holidays does WA have in 2026?
Does WA substitute public holidays that fall on weekends?
Is annual leave different in WA?
What law governs long service leave in WA?
Built on WA law.
This WA calculator is built directly from the Long Service Leave Act 1958 (WA), the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), and current WA Industrial Relations guidance.
Reviewed by a registered HR practitioner based in Perth.