Many nursing staff (including personal carers in aged care) and midwives move to a new job before they have qualified for long service leave (LSL). Generally, service in previous job(s) is not counted for LSL in a new job with a different employer. 

At least seven years’ service, or in some cases 10 years’ service, with one employer is currently required to qualify for LSL. Many nursing staff and midwives have insecure employment and often finish with one employer, not by their own choice.

Making your LSL portable

Portable LSL would mean all of your nursing/midwifery service with all of your employers is counted and you would never lose LSL that you have ‘accrued’ when you change employers. 

The statutory minimum amount of LSL won by unions decades ago is 0.866 weeks per year of service, but some groups of QNMU members have had sufficient bargaining power to get more than that – up to 1.3 weeks per year of service.

Portable LSL schemes in Queensland work by employers paying a small levy to QLeave, a statutory authority. QLeave then pays workers for their LSL when they take it. 

In Queensland, construction workers, contract cleaners and social and community service workers all have portable LSL. But nursing staff and midwives do not. 

The QNMU has taken steps to change that.

Before the state election late last year, the QNMU asked all political parties to commit to exploring Portable LSL for Queensland nursing staff and midwives. The Palaszczuk Labor Government committed to doing this during their next term of government.

In February this year, Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese announced the Australian Labor Party would work with state and territory governments to create portable leave schemes for LSL and also for annual and personal leave.

The QNMU, together with the Queensland Council of Unions, will work with the state government to ensure they honour their commitment made at the last election. We want to see all Queensland nursing staff and midwives’ LSL become portable – watch this space.