From time to time, employees may be set up under the wrong leave accrual rates. This can often happen when setting up LSL for employees that work in different states or when a business expands its operation into another state/territory where the entitlements vary from the original state/territory. If you find that an employee is accruing leave at the incorrect rate, it is best practice to correct their leave balances and the leave category settings so that moving forward you can be assured the entitlements are accruing correctly.
This article will provide steps on how to review your LSL settings and if not correct, we've provided steps on how to process an adjustment pay run to correct the balances.
It is important to note that Long Service Leave entitlements vary by state. For businesses located in a different state to where the employee works or where an employee has worked in a number of jurisdictions, the Long Service Leave entitlement is determined by the relevant state or territory legislation where the employee performs the work.
To find out more detail about long service leave entitlements in your state or territory, click on the relevant link below:
- ACT - WorkSafe ACT;
- NSW - NSW Industrial Relations;
- NT - NT Government;
- QLD - Queensland Industrial Relations;
- SA - SafeWork SA;
- TAS - WorkSafe Tasmania;
- VIC - Business Victoria;
- WA - Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety.
To view the currently configured Long Service Leave accrual rate for your business go to 'Payroll Settings' -> 'Leave Categories' (under the 'Pay Run Settings' heading) -> 'Long Service Leave':
The current accrual rate will then be shown:
You should ensure this rate is set correctly for the state in which your business operates and/or the employees carry out their work. This is the rate at which long service leave will be accruing for your employees unless you have customised the rates by applying a leave allowance template or customising the rates for one or more employees.
The accrual rates will vary by state, as per the table below:
| STATE | ACCRUAL RATE |
| VIC | 0.01667 |
| WA | 0.01667 |
| TAS | 0.01667 |
| NSW | 0.01667 |
| ACT | 0.01667 |
| QLD | 0.01667 |
| NT | 0.025 |
| SA | 0.025 |
The table above shows the calculated accrual rate based on the minimum legislated entitlements. If your business offers an LSL entitlement higher to than the minimum, do not enter the accrual rates displayed in the table. Rather, you will need to calculate the accrual rate and can do so by clicking on the calculator icon next to the 'Standard Allowance' field.
If long service leave accruals have been incorrectly calculated for any employees, you can adjust their LSL balances as follows:
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Run the Leave History report by going to the Reports tab -> Leave History (under the Employee heading) and filter the report for: Leave Category - Long Service Leave. Download the data to Excel.
- Within the excel report go to the Data tab -> Subtotal option -> configure this to add subtotals to the Leave Accrued column:
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For each subtotal, recalculate the accrued leave converting from the old rate to the new, using the following formula:
New Leave Balance = Old Leave Balance / Old Accrual Rate * New Accrual Rate
For example to recalculate from leave accrued at 0.025 to 0.01667 you would use the following formula:
New Leave Balance = Old Leave Balance / 0.025 * 0.01667
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You will then need to create an ad-hoc Pay Run, adding each affected employee, to adjust their long service leave balances as necessary. For information on how to do this refer to the following support articles:
It is also advisable to check the 'Standard Contingent Period’ and ‘Standard Entitlement Period’ to ensure they are as per their state requirement as well.
To do this you will need to go to the Payroll Settings tab -> Leave Categories -> Long Service Leave.