Accessing the unclaimed leave of a deceased employee

Employers regularly ask us what to do about long service leave when an employee has passed away. Sadly, it’s more common than you’d think. We’ve developed a new form and simpler process to facilitate prompt payment of unclaimed accrued leave hours to the estate of a deceased employee. All interactions are conducted through an employer and the deceased’s legal personal representative. In accordance with the legislation, only the legal personal representative of a deceased employee may make leave accrual enquiries and lodge a claim through the last known employer. Once an employer receives a written request from the deceased’s legal personal representative, under the legislation the employer must pay any unclaimed accrued leave hours within 30 days. The new Entitlement Application is the form an employer is required to use to initiate this – a copy is provided below. It must be completed and submitted by an Authorised Officer of the business and supplied along with a certified copy of the official Death Certificate. Once we’ve verified any outstanding entitlement, we notify the employer in writing. After the employer makes payment to the deceased’s legal personal representative, the employer is able to claim reimbursement from the Fund for the amount paid using the Claim for Reimbursement form, as they’d do for a standard leave application and payment process. The Entitlement Application form is also available from the Employer Resources section of the website under Employer Forms. If you require more details on the legislation, refer to Part 5A, Division 3, Section 39CC of the Admin Act.