Switchboard Work Coverage

The change only applies to some offsite switchboard work.

From 1 July 2024, the LeavePlus Scheme will cover work associated with the assembly of electrical switchboards made specifically for use in particular building/s, structure/s, works or other thing/s of the kind referred to in paragraphs (a) to (c) of the definition of Construction Industry.

The changes do not apply to:

• work on switchboards for the general wholesale market;
• the construction or assembly of the metal cabinet that houses the switchboard;
• work carried out by a worker in the manufacturing section of the business of an employer who manufactures or sells electrical switchboards for use in high or low tension power stations or substations for the generation or transmission of electric power, where that employer also installs or maintains that switchboard at the power station or substation, unless this work comprises less than a third of the work performed by a worker in the return period, in which case it may be covered under the two-thirds rule.

All employers of workers performing switchboard work must comply with the LeavePlus scheme from 1 July 2024.  Criminal penalties apply for non-compliance.

• The first mandatory reporting period is the 1 July 2024 to 30 September 2024 quarter, returns for which are due on 14 October 2024.
• If you have not yet registered your business with LeavePlus, you must do so by 15 September 2024 so that you can lodge your first return on time.
• You can find information about how to register here.
• You can find information about how to submit quarterly returns to us here.  This includes information about how to calculate the days of service and the ordinary pay for your workers for the relevant reporting quarter.

• When you register with us, you will also be asked to submit return information for your workers for any period that they were performing switchboard work with you before 1 July 2024.
• It is important that you submit this information to us so that we can work out how much service should be credited to your workers for any switchboard work they performed before 1 July 2024.
• You will not be required to pay long service leave charges for switchboard work before 1 July 2024.  The information will only be used to determine worker service.
• You are only required to pay long service leave charges for switchboard work performed after 1 July 2024.

• If you are already registered and reporting to LeavePlus for switchboard work, you should continue to submit quarterly returns to us, including for the return periods 1 January to 31 March 2024 and 1 April to 30 June 2024.
• However, you will not be required to pay a long service leave charge for these return periods, where we can clearly identify that the reported work is switchboard work.
• You may also be eligible for a refund of long service leave charges paid by you for switchboard work for the period before 1 July 2024.  We are working through the details of when and how refund payments will be made.  If this applies to you, we expect to contact you with an estimate of your refund by the end of May 2024.
• Refunds will be calculated based on the amount of the long service leave charges paid by you to LeavePlus for switchboard work.  Any charges referable to long service leave benefits paid by us to your workers for switchboard work will be deducted from the refund amount.  No interest will be paid on the refund amount.

• Your workers will keep their service with LeavePlus including for the period before 1 July 2024.  They will also keep any long service leave benefits paid to them before 1 July 2024.
• Switchboard workers who have not had service reported for them will also be entitled to have service recognised with LeavePlus for any switchboard work performed before 1 July 2024.  Once they have 7 years of recognised service with LeavePlus, they may also be able to claim a long service leave benefit from us (9.1 weeks at ordinary pay), the same as other construction industry workers.
• If your workers who have already taken long service leave with you or another employer under the Long Service Leave Act 1998 (Vic) before 1 July 2024, or are entitled to do so based on having 7 years of continuous service with a single employer, the amount they can claim from LeavePlus will be reduced accordingly.

Example: 

Joe is a switchboard worker and has worked in the industry for 10 years. He worked for 1 year with his first employer (Luigi’s Switchboards) and has worked for 9 years with his second employer (Mario’s Super Switchboards).  Neither Luigi’s Switchboards nor Mario’s Super Switchboards have previously reported service to LeavePlus.  Joe is still employed by Mario’s Super Switchboards.

From 1 July 2024, Joe can have his 10 years of service recognised with LeavePlus. This translates to a long service leave benefit for Joe of 13 weeks at ordinary pay (1.3 weeks for every year of service), less any long service leave Joe is entitled to from Mario’s Super Switchboards. Neither Luigi’s Switchboards nor Mario’s Super Switchboards is required to pay any charges in respect of the service prior to 1 July 2024.

Joe decides to take long service leave from Mario’s Super Switchboards for 13 weeks from 1 July 2024.

Since Joe has 9 years of continuous service with Mario’s Super Switchboards, this employer has an obligation under the Long Service Leave Act 2018 to provide paid long service leave to Joe for 7.794 weeks of his 13 week-long service leave period (0.866 weeks for every year of service). This will be deducted from the long service leave benefit Joe can claim from LeavePlus. This leaves 5.206 weeks that Joe can claim as a long service leave benefit from Leave Plus.

Since switchboard work is only coming into the Scheme from 1 July 2024, if your workers have more than 7 years of continuous service with you as a single employer before 1 July 2024, they may be eligible to take long service leave from you in respect of this period of work, under the terms of the Long Service Leave Act 2018 (Vic) or under your organisation’s enterprise agreement.

You may also need to review the circumstances of workers with more than 7 years of continuous service with you who left your employment prior to 1 July 2024, in case you need to make payments to these workers for unused long service leave under the Long Service Leave Act 2018 (Vic).

We encourage you to get advice from your accountant or other professional advisors relating to your specific circumstances since this can be a complex area.

The Scheme is compulsory for employers and workers who are covered by the Act and the Rules – employers are not able to opt out of their obligations under the Act and Rules.  Contracting out of the Scheme is prohibited under section 13 of the Act.  The Act also provides for criminal penalties for covered employers who fail to register with LeavePlus or to submit quarterly returns to LeavePlus.

It is therefore important that you clearly understand your obligations under the Act and the Rules from 1 July 2024.

The LeavePlus website includes detailed information about the Scheme.

You may also wish to speak to your accountant or other professional advisors about your obligations under the Scheme and how to comply.