Long Service Leave Calculator WA: How to Calculate Your Entitlement Step by Step

The short answer: 8.667 weeks after 10 years

Under the Long Service Leave Act 1958, Western Australian employees earn 8.667 weeks of paid long service leave after 10 years of continuous employment with the same employer. After that first 10 years, an additional 4.333 weeks is earned for every further 5 years — meaning 13 weeks total at the 15-year mark.

So far, this looks identical to Queensland's system. But between 7 and 10 years, Western Australia takes a dramatically different — and far more generous — approach than most other states.

The 7-year rule: WA's generous surprise

Once you've completed at least 7 years of continuous employment in Western Australia, you're entitled to pro-rata long service leave if your employment ends for almost any reason — including a plain resignation to take a job somewhere else. The only exception, confirmed directly by the WA Government, is if your employer dismisses you for serious misconduct.

WA vs Queensland — the same years, completely different outcome

To see how significant this difference is, compare the exact same scenario under each state's rules:

Identical service length, identical reason for leaving — a difference of nearly $9,700 purely because of which state's legislation applies.

Worked example — WA Government's own case

This exact example is published directly by the WA Government on their own long service leave page:

Notice this calculation uses the exact period down to years, months, and days — not just completed years. This is more precise than some other states, which round to completed years only for their pro-rata calculations.

Worked example — full entitlement on redundancy at 12 years

What counts as continuous employment in WA

Service must generally be continuous with the same employer to count. A few important nuances:

• Business transfers: if there's a transmission of business, service with the first employer counts as service with the second employer — your accrued time isn't lost when a business changes hands.
• Overseas service: time worked overseas with a related entity does not count as service with a Western Australian employer, even if the entities are commonly owned.
• Notice period worked: all hours worked up until your employment ends, including any notice period you work out, count towards your continuous employment.

How WA long service leave is paid

Ordinary pay excludes shift premiums, overtime rates, penalty rates, and most allowances. For casual employees, ordinary pay does include casual loading — an important distinction from how some other leave types treat casual pay. Normal weekly hours may include regularly worked overtime hours, though those hours are paid at the ordinary rate rather than the overtime rate.

Casual employees and the construction industry

Full-time, part-time, and casual employees are all covered by the WA Long Service Leave Act, provided their employment is genuinely continuous with the same employer. If you work in the building and construction industry, however, your long service leave may instead be tracked through the MyLeave portable scheme, where your entitlement follows you between employers in the industry rather than resetting with each new employer.

Does the national vs state system distinction matter here?

Western Australia is unique in having two separate systems of employment law for private sector employees — the national Fair Work system and a WA state industrial relations system. Despite this split, the Long Service Leave Act 1958 applies broadly to most private sector employees in WA regardless of which system otherwise covers them, including employees under national modern awards. This is one entitlement where the dual-system complexity mostly doesn't change your outcome.