Workers

Service

Once a worker has left the construction industry or has moved into a non-covered role within the industry (such as site supervisor, project manager or sales etc.) no further service will be recorded for them with LeavePlus.

The worker’s service record will remain open and active for up to four years in case they return to performing covered work again – if they do return within four years, they can continue to build on top of the service they had already accrued in a continuous manner and hopefully build up enough continuous service to become eligible to claim long service leave.

If they do not return within four years, the worker’s service record will be made inactive – meaning that, if they were to start accruing service again at a later point, they would not be able to build on top of what they had previously built up, and a separate block of service would start again from zero.

Entitlement

As long as a worker had previously accrued enough continuous service (currently a minimum of seven years) to become eligible to claim a long service leave entitlement, any unclaimed balance of entitlement will always be available for the worker to claim at any point – it will never cancel or lapse, even if your previous service has been made inactive.

If the worker had not previously accrued enough continuous service (seven years) before their service record is made inactive, then no long service leave entitlement will be available to claim.

If you had actually been/are working in a covered construction role in Victoria, but the service has not been recorded with LeavePlus, you can lodge a Missing Service Query so we can investigate this for you. Before you submit your application, you will need to make sure you have the following ready:

• Your LeavePlus member number
• Details of the employer (including ABN)
• Your PAYG summaries

Providing your LeavePlus member number will help us to allocate your query to your service history.

In providing the details of the employer which you would like us to investigate, especially their ABN, it makes it much easier for us to accurately match details within our database or track down those who may not be in our system yet.

Finally, your PAYG summaries from each year you worked with that employer act as your proof of employment and payment from them as an employee (where missing service relates to your apprenticeship you only need to provide your Apprenticeship Extract, as this contains all the information we need).

Once you have these ready you can log in to the LeavePlus member portal and complete the Missing Service application form.

More information or documents may be requested from you at a later point, but in lodging your Missing Service Query with the above information and documents attached, you will be providing us with enough evidence to commence the investigative process of tracking down your missing service.

Due to the diverse nature of this investigative process, we are unfortunately unable to provide any definite time-frames as to when you can expect your missing service to be successfully added to your LeavePlus record. We generally try to complete these requests within 6-9 months of receipt, but there are often cases where it can take much longer, especially if compliance measures and legal proceedings come into play.

In applying for an ‘approved break in service’, a member can apply to effectively pause their account in a suspended state (if the break is still ongoing), or link two separate blocks of service together to form one continuous block* (dependent on when the service was accrued).

A Break In Service Query can be lodged relating to the following circumstances:

• Working in construction interstate
• Medical incapacity
• WorkCover
• Self-employed subcontractor in Victoria

Any circumstance other than those listed above will not be considered as a valid reason for an ‘approved break in service’.

Along with your LeavePlus member number and personal details, different documentation is required for each different break type, as explained in each section below.

Once you have the relevant information and documentation ready, log in to the LeavePlus member portal to complete to the Break In Service form.

Interstate

Provide the date range of when you were accruing service with any interstate long service leave scheme – then upload your corresponding statement of service from the relevant state for the years you were there. If your interstate work is still ongoing, simply enter today’s date in the ‘end date’ field.

Medical Incapacity

Provide the date range of when your medical incapacity started and ended (if ongoing, use today’s date as the end date). You will be required to upload your ‘certificate of incapacity’ from your medical or insurance paperwork which clearly shows the date when the injury or illness occurred and the date when you were signed off to return to light duties.

WorkCover

Provide the date range of when your WorkCover claim started and ended (if ongoing, use today’s date as the end date). You will be required to upload your ‘certificate of incapacity’ from your WorkCover or insurance paperwork which clearly shows the date when the WorkCover claim started and the date when you were signed off to return to light duties. Where eligible, a maximum of 104 weeks service per WorkCover claim may be credited to your LeavePlus service record.

Self-employed subcontractor in Victoria

Provide the date range of the duration of your time operating as a self-employed construction subcontractor in Victoria, along with the ABN and business details. You will be required to upload the taxable income page of your tax return for the years in the date range you provided. If you are still operating as a subcontractor on an ongoing basis as your primary source of income, simply enter today’s date as the ‘end date’ in the date range.

*Please note that an approved break in service will not credit a member with any extra service – it simply acts as a bridge between two service periods, or serves to suspend your service so that it does not risk becoming inactive.