About Us

All members of the construction industry, including employers, workers, working subcontractors, working directors and apprentices are required to be registered with LeavePlus. We look after your long service leave, and it keeps building as you move from role to role. It’s the leave that moves with you.

Why have portable Long Service Leave?

LeavePlus provides portable long service leave to workers in the construction industry in Victoria. Without portable long service Leave, construction industry workers would have to work for the same employer for at least 7 years, with no more than 3 months break, to earn long service leave.

It is clear that many workers are disadvantaged if they work in an industry based on separate projects, and frequently move from employer to employer. The construction industry is a typical example of this way of working. It was for this reason that a portable long service leave scheme for construction workers was set up in Victoria in 1976.

97 per cent of Workers in our scheme have had more than one Employer over the period taken to accumulate enough Service to qualify for long service leave.

If not for LeavePlus, these workers would not have been entitled to long service leave.

How Portable Long Service Leave works

LeavePlus keeps a record of how many days of eligible Service a Worker accrues in Victoria. This record of Service is centralised with us so we can keep track of your accrued Service across all of your Employers. Once you have built up 7 or more years of eligible Service, you will be able to claim a Long Service Leave Benefit from LeavePlus at any point thereafter.

LeavePlus is a compulsory part of the Construction Industry (which covers both building and allied trades) in Victoria. As such, all Employers who engage Workers to perform covered work are required to record with LeavePlus how many days of work each Worker has performed. This is done quarterly and builds up your record of Service. The Employer then pays a Long Service Leave Charge into the Long Service Leave Fund so that we can ensure LeavePlus is sufficiently funded to be able to pay out claims to all eligible Workers when they make their claim for a Long Service Leave Benefit.

The Long Service Leave Act

The Construction Industry Long Service Leave Act 1997 is an act of Parliament that creates a scheme providing for portable long service leave in the Victorian Construction Industry. That scheme is administered in accordance with a Trust Deed and the Construction Industry Long Service Leave Rules attached to that Deed. A public company, CoINVEST Ltd (trading as LeavePlus), is the named trustee and is empowered to administer and enforce the scheme created by the Act and the Rules.

Who pays for portable long service leave?

Employers contribute a designated percentage to the Long Service Leave Fund every 3 months. This is an on-cost to Employers and not deducted from Workers’ wages. The contribution rate is currently based on 2.7% of the total ordinary pay of all of their Workers. This keeps the costs uniform and relative between the smaller and larger employers and to make sure that everyone is paying their fair share to fund the Long Service Leave Fund.

The costs are not itemised per Worker. The Worker does not accrue a specified amount of money against their name; rather, their Service is recorded. The amount of Service recorded will, once the qualifying period is reached, translate to a specified number of weeks’ of Long Service Leave Benefit paid by LeavePlus from the Fund. The rate of pay for a Worker’s Long Service Leave Benefit claim is based on their current normal weekly rate of pay at the time of claiming, multiplied by the number of weeks’ leave that is being taken.

In this way, LeavePlus is funded by the industry and pays out a Long Service Leave Benefit directly to the Worker so that the Employer doesn’t have to!

A worker may move from one employer to another

The LeavePlus scheme enables portable long service leave. This means it does not matter how many times a Worker changes Employers, as long as they remain in the construction Industry performing covered work. Any period of employment where 5 or more days of covered work are performed is counted towards long service leave entitlement.

Workers are allowed a longer break between employment periods

Workers can leave covered work for up to 4 years at a time for any number of times without losing their service credits. However, as Service must be continuous for a Worker to be eligible for Long Service Leave Benefits, for any absences in excess of 4 years, the previous service will not count towards eligibility.

Workers only need 7 years of active service to gain a minimum entitlement to Long Service Leave Benefit under the Scheme

Workers only need 7 years of service in the Construction Industry to take apply for a Long Service Leave Benefit from LeavePlus. Once you’ve got 7 years of accrued Service, you can claim your Long Service Leave Benefit at any time. You will need to separately arrange with your Employer the dates on which your leave will be taken and to provide those dates to LeavePlus when you lodge your claim.

If you never accrue 7 years of service, you will not be eligible to claim a Long Service Leave Benefit. However, you may be entitled to a Payment In Lieu if you are unemployed or leave the Construction Industry. LeavePlus also has a death benefit for the estate of registered Workers, provided the Worker accrued at least 55 days of recognised service within four years of passing away, as well as a benefit that can be paid to Workers who are diagnosed with a terminal illness.

The scheme covers self-employed subcontractors

There are a number of factors that determine whether a person carrying out Construction Work in the Construction Industry is a Worker (employee) or an independent contractor (Working Sub-Contractor).

If you are unsure whether you are classed as a Worker or a Working Sub-Contractor, visit our self-employed page. If you are unsure as to whether you are a Working Sub-Contractor or Worker Director, go to our Worker Director page.

If you are a Working Sub-Contractor, you are required to register with LeavePlus. However, you do not need to contribute for your own service in the industry if you do not wish to do so. Our Working Sub-Contractor responsibilities page explains this further including how to make optional contributions towards your own Long Service Leave Benefits.