Waiver agreements

Waiver agreements provide some eligible employees with an alternative to long service leave in circumstances where they are unlikely to accrue enough qualifying service to take long service leave or they are unlikely to take long service leave despite accruing the necessary qualifying service.

Instead of accruing leave, employees can choose to receive additional remuneration or additional superannuation contributions that are (at least) equal to the amount of levy which their employer would otherwise pay into the scheme on their behalf.

Waiver agreements must meet a number of legislative requirements and must be lodged with Coal LSL for approval. Coal LSL may refuse to approve a waiver agreement where it does not meet all the requirements of Coal LSL's legislation.

Who can make an agreement?

Regulation 7 of the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Administration Regulations 2018 prescribes categories of eligible employees who may make waiver agreements with their employers*.

This includes eligible employees who:

• Are 55 years of age and may not qualify for long service leave before retirement; or

• Are 55 years of age and already have an entitlement to long service leave and may prefer to maximise retirement benefits in lieu of more long service leave; or

• Due to their seniority or classification, might not traditionally have belonged to the Commonwealth scheme and may have additional leave provisions specified in individual contracts; or

• Are participating in vocational training and might not expect to work in the industry long enough to qualify for long service leave; or

• Have an annual salary (including allowances) in 2017 of at least $174,700 and in a subsequent year adjusted by CPI.

*The definition of ‘employer’ in Coal LSL’s legislation refers only to a national system employer as defined in section 14 of the Fair Work Act 2009.

Application process

If eligible, waiver agreements must first be submitted to Coal LSL for approval using the template provided below under Waiver Agreement Resources.

Completed waiver agreements can be scanned and emailed to Coal LSL.

Coal LSL will notify the employer and employee whether the waiver agreement has been approved.

Approved waiver agreements are reported in monthly levy returns and audited via the mandatory Annual Audit Report.

Waiver agreement resources

Legislation relating to waiver agreements is under 39B of the Admin Act and Section 7 of the Admin Regulations.

Enquiries

If you have any questions about this information, please email us or call 1300 852 625 between 8.30am and 5.00pm Monday to Friday (AEST).