Obligations

Under the Construction Industry Long Service Leave Act 1997, employers who employ persons to perform Construction Work must provide information to CoINVEST Limited (trading as LeavePlus) and otherwise comply with the Rules of the Construction Industry Long Service Leave Fund. For more information about the Act and Rules, visit our Legislation page.

All employers active in the construction industry in Victoria must:

Provide their business details and register with LeavePlus.
Submit quarterly long service leave returns by the due date.
Pay long service leave charges by the due date.

It is compulsory to register with LeavePlus as an employer, if you are someone (not including Government bodies) who:

Employs workers under a contract of employment (which need not be formal or written);
Being a principal contractor, engages other employers or Working Subcontractors by contract, not being a contract of employment, or
Being a working subcontractor employs a worker.

There are two categories of registration:

Incorporated companies (“Proprietary Limited” or “Pty Ltd” in registered company name) can register here.
Unincorporated businesses (a partnership or sole trader) can register here.

Your workers must be performing construction work which is covered by CoINVEST.

As a quick reference, you can visit the Scheme Coverage page to see if you or your business should be registered with LeavePlus. For a more detailed breakdown of exactly what type of trades and duties fall under work covered under the scheme, you can download a copy of the Rules of the Construction Industry Long Service Leave Fund from the Legislation section of the website.

Compliance Activities:

Non-lodgement of Workers Days and Wages (WDW)

In accordance with the Act and the Rules, LeavePlus will legally pursue any entity which does not comply with its obligations under the law.

This section deals with the compliance activities in respect of:

Overdue long service leave returns
Overdue long service leave charges

The due date for each long service leave return is listed here. If the return is not lodged by the due date, then LeavePlus will:

Issue two SMS and email reminders.
Instruct our solicitors, Geoffrey Mendelson Lawyers, to issue a warning letter.
Serve a legal notice, pursuant to Section 10 of the Construction Industry Long Service Leave Act 1997 requiring you to submit the outstanding return. Notices are served on companies by registered post and served personally on individuals.
Attempt to contact you to discuss the outstanding lodgement(s).

Please note, LeavePlus may issue legal notices without prior reminders or warning letters to employers who have a history of non-compliance.

If you have you received a legal notice pursuant to Section 10 of the Construction Industry Long Service Leave Act 1997, you must submit your Return for the period as specified in the notice by the date stipulated in the notice. Failure to comply is a criminal offence and LeavePlus may seek to prosecute an Employer in accordance with our Enforcement Policy.

Prosecution may result in a court order being issued to pay our legal costs in addition to a fine being issued and a possible criminal conviction recorded.

Non-Payment of Long Service Leave Charges

Invoices are issued to employers based on their quarterly returns and/or any amendments, with payment due 14 days from invoicing.

If an invoice is not paid, LeavePlus will:

Issue a reminder notice
Issue a final notice.
Attempt to contact you to arrange payment.
Refer unpaid debts to an external debt collection agency, Probe Group, to collect on behalf of LeavePlus.

Late payments or unpaid invoices may also incur additional statutory interest charges in accordance with Section 5 of the Construction Industry Long Service Leave Act 1997.

Should invoices remain unpaid following referral to our external collection agency, LeavePlus may instruct our solicitors to issue legal proceedings to recover the charges owed pursuant to the Construction Industry Long Service Leave Act 1997.