Long Service Leave in Australia: rationale, application and policy issues.

By John Burgess, Anne Sullivan and Glenda Strachan

Does long service leave remain relevant today in the face of the growth of employment instability and contracting out?

Given these changes should the conditions of gaining long service leave reflect changes in workforce structure? What flexibilities could and should be introduced into long service leave conditions and entitlements? The article addresses these issues and looks at the recent review of long service leave conducted by the Qld Industrial relations Commission.

Portability has been established in the construction industry, but given the growth in working hours and the big changes in labour markets, more workers have respite needs that under existing long service arrangements, are just not available.

(Labour & Industry; vol. 13, no. 1, August 2002)