Long service that doesn't leave
Employers have a critical role in facilitating long service leave for eligible employees in black coal mining.
Overview
The long service leave scheme for black coal mining is one of the most generous of any industry schemes in Australia and is a valuable employment benefit for eligible employees within the industry.
It is governed by various legislation which determines who is eligible, employer obligations under the scheme and actions for non-compliance.
Legal obligations
Employers of eligible employees have legal obligations to ensure those employees can access their long service leave entitlements when eligible to do so. Non-compliance may result in civil and criminal penalties.
Eligibility
Employers are required to report hours worked, and pay levies for, employees deemed eligible under the long service leave scheme, whether their organisation (as a whole) is working in the black coal mining industry or not. This is because eligibility for the scheme is determined by assessment of an employee’s role and their primary duties.
Leave accrual and entitlement
The long service leave legislation determines how an eligible employee accrues leave, when an employee is entitled to take leave accrued, when an employee must be paid and the minimum they must be paid.
Levy advices and payments
Employers of eligible employees are legally obligated to submit a monthly levy advice and payment to Coal LSL on behalf of eligible employees.
We provide a template with pop-up tips and a handy guide to assist you with this. You can contact us by phone or email for additional support. We can also provide training support for your office staff if required.
Employer FAQs
All eligible employees working in the black coal mining industry are eligible for long service leave. It includes people:
- working full-time, part time or casual
- working for contractors
- working for job agencies.
An 'eligible employee' is defined in the legislation as a person who is:
- employed in the black coal mining industry by an employer engaged in the black coal mining industry, whose duties are directly connected with the day to day operation of black coal mining
- employed in the black coal mining industry, whose duties are carried out at or about a place where black coal is mined and are directly connected with the day to day operation of a black coal mine
- permanently employed with a mine rescue service for the purposes of the black coal mining industry
- a prescribed person who is employed in the black coal mining industry (does not include a person declared by the regulations not to be an eligible employee for the purposes of the Act).
If you're unsure of your/your employee's eligibility, please get in touch with us.
The long service leave levy is based on your employee’s eligible wages. What makes up each employee’s eligible wages is defined in section 3B of the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Payroll Levy Collection Act 1992. The levy is payable monthly and, effective 1 July 2018, is 2.0% of eligible wages.
To ensure fund sufficiency, every three years we seek advice from an actuary on the adequacy of the levy rate. In 2017 Coal LSL engaged Mercer Consulting (Australia) Pty Ltd (Mercer) to complete the review. The review determined that the fund was in a strong financial position, which provided us the ability to reduce the levy. For the first time in nearly a decade, the levy rate was reduced from 2.7% to 2.0%.
The change to payroll regulations was supported by our responsible minister and completed the required parliamentary review.
A change in levy rate does not impact employee long service leave entitlements or reimbursements to employers.
Levy rates through time
The legislation provides the minimum entitlements for long service leave, which are:
- If an employee takes leave while employed, they are entitled to be paid at an amount equal to their base rate of pay (including incentive-based payments and bonuses) that would have been payable had they been at work (i.e. not taken the leave).
- If an employee is paid out their accrued leave on cessation, they are entitled to be paid at a rate as if they had taken the leave immediately before they stopped being employed.
- The employment contract or enterprise agreement may provide an enhanced entitlement, as long as that entitlement is at least as favourable as our legislation.
Register
If you employ people who fit the definition of ‘eligibility’, you are legally obligated to register your business with Coal LSL. More information and registration form.
De-register
If your business is in the process of closing, going into liquidation or no longer operational, you need to de-register with Coal LSL. Please get in touch with us to facilitate that process and to learn what obligations you still have to fulfil under the legislation as part of your close-out processes.
Under Section 10 of the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Payroll Levy Collection Act 1992, annual audit reports must be lodged within six months of the end of the financial year.
Non-compliance may result in civil and criminal penalties. For an audit report not submitted by the due date, a company may incur a penalty of $8,400 (40 penalty units, currently valued at $210 per unit) for an individual or $42,000 (200 penalty units) for a body corporate.