Long Service Leave Calculator VIC: How to Calculate Your Entitlement Step by Step
A plain-English, step-by-step guide to calculating Victorian long service leave — with a live calculator, worked examples for full-time and part-time employees, and the CoINVEST portable scheme explained.
Most Victorian employees know they get “long service leave after 7 years.” Fewer know how to actually calculate it — or realise that the formula produces a different result at 7 years, 8.5 years, or 12 years. This guide walks through the Victorian LSL calculation from scratch, with a live calculator and worked examples for every common scenario.
- Formula: weeks of LSL = years of service × (52 ÷ 60) = years × 0.8667
- Payout: weeks of LSL × ordinary weekly pay
- Payable after: 7 years continuous service (any reason except serious misconduct)
- At 7 years: 6.07 weeks · At 10 years: 8.67 weeks · At 15 years: 13.00 weeks
- Part-time: same formula — weekly pay is lower but weeks accrued are identical
- Legislation: Victorian Long Service Leave Act 2018
The Victorian LSL formula — where does 0.8667 come from?
The Victorian Long Service Leave Act 2018 defines accrual as 1 week of leave for every 60 weeks of continuous employment. To convert this into an annual rate, divide 52 weeks in a year by 60:
52 ÷ 60 = 0.86667 weeks per year
This is the number of weeks of LSL that accrue for every year of continuous employment in Victoria. There is no minimum block that triggers a sudden jump — accrual is linear and continuous from your first day.
How to calculate Victorian LSL: 4 steps
Count from your employment start date to today (or to the date employment ends). Include partial years — if you’ve worked 7 years and 6 months, that’s 7.5 years.
years = (end date − start date) ÷ 365.25
Multiply your years of service by the Victorian accrual rate of 0.8667 (1 week per 60 weeks of service).
weeks = years × 0.8667
Use your ordinary rate — base salary or hourly rate × ordinary hours. Exclude overtime, discretionary bonuses, and one-off allowances. For varying hours, use the average over the last 12 months.
weekly pay = annual salary ÷ 52 (or hourly rate × ordinary hours/wk)
Multiply your leave weeks by your ordinary weekly pay. This is the gross payout before PAYG withholding.
gross payout = weeks × ordinary weekly pay
Victorian Long Service Leave Calculator
VIC · LSL Act 2018Enter your years of service, weekly pay and reason for leaving to calculate your exact Victorian LSL entitlement.
Gross figure before PAYG withholding. Victorian LSL paid on termination is taxed as ordinary income. For the net figure use the payout tax calculator.
Full LSL calculator — all 8 statesWorked examples: calculating Victorian LSL
Resignation after 7 years · $1,400/wk
Redundancy after 10 years · $1,800/wk
25 hrs/wk · $30/hr · 8 years
Still employed · 15 years · $2,000/wk
Year-by-year Victorian LSL accrual reference table
Use this table to quickly look up how many weeks you’ve accrued at any point during your employment. Values use the 0.8667 rate under the Victorian Long Service Leave Act 2018.
| Years of service | Weeks accrued | Hours (38/wk) | At $1,200/wk | At $1,600/wk | At $2,000/wk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 yrs | 4.33 | 164.7 | $5,200 | $6,933 | $8,667 |
| 6 yrs | 5.20 | 197.6 | $6,240 | $8,320 | $10,400 |
| 7 yrs (threshold) | 6.07 | 230.5 | $7,280 | $9,707 | $12,133 |
| 7.5 yrs | 6.50 | 247.0 | $7,800 | $10,400 | $13,000 |
| 8 yrs | 6.93 | 263.5 | $8,320 | $11,093 | $13,867 |
| 8.5 yrs | 7.37 | 279.9 | $8,840 | $11,787 | $14,733 |
| 9 yrs | 7.80 | 296.4 | $9,360 | $12,480 | $15,600 |
| 10 yrs | 8.67 | 329.3 | $10,400 | $13,867 | $17,333 |
| 12 yrs | 10.40 | 395.2 | $12,480 | $16,640 | $20,800 |
| 15 yrs | 13.00 | 494.0 | $15,600 | $20,800 | $26,000 |
| 20 yrs | 17.33 | 658.7 | $20,800 | $27,733 | $34,667 |
Calculating Victorian LSL for part-time employees
Part-time employees in Victoria use the identical accrual formula — years × 0.8667. The weeks of leave accrued are the same as a full-time employee with identical years of service. What differs is the ordinary weekly pay, which is lower because the part-timer works fewer hours.
Under the 2018 Act, if an employee changes from full-time to part-time (or vice versa) during their employment, the ordinary rate for LSL purposes is averaged over the 12 months before taking leave. This means transitioning to part-time shortly before taking LSL does reduce the payout value — the Act uses the 12-month average to produce a fairer outcome.
How to read your payslip for your VIC LSL balance
Most Victorian payslips show a long service leave accrual section separate from annual leave. Here’s what to look for and how to verify the figures match the 0.8667 formula:
Sample Victorian payslip — leave section
How to verify the LSL accrual figure: For a fortnightly pay cycle at 38 hrs/wk: ordinary hours per fortnight = 76. LSL accrual rate = 76 × (1/60) = 1.267 hrs/fortnight. If your payslip shows around 1.27 hrs per fortnight (or 2.54 hrs/month), the calculation is correct. Any significant deviation is worth querying with your employer or Wage Inspectorate Victoria.
Victorian LSL payout on resignation vs termination — is there a tax difference?
Unlike annual leave payouts — which use different ATO withholding methods depending on whether you resign or are made redundant — Victorian long service leave paid out on termination is treated as ordinary income for most employees today and taxed at your marginal rate.
The historical exceptions (concessional rates on pre-1978 and pre-1993 accrual) still technically apply on paper, but with leave accrued before 1993 now being extremely rare in practice, the vast majority of Victorian employees receive LSL payout taxed at their ordinary marginal rate using standard PAYG withholding.
Tax is not withheld using the Schedule 7 averaging method that applies to annual leave. This means a large LSL payout may attract high withholding in the pay period it’s processed — but the correct tax is reconciled when you lodge your individual tax return for the year.
Related calculator Estimate PAYG tax on your LSL payout — Annual Leave Payout Tax Calculator →CoINVEST — the Victorian construction portable LSL scheme
If you work in Victoria’s building and construction industry, your LSL does not sit with your individual employer — it is registered with CoINVEST, the portable long service leave scheme. Your entitlement carries across employers, meaning a site labourer who has worked with three different construction companies over 8 years has a single pooled entitlement — not three separate (incomplete) ones.
Similar portable schemes operate for contract cleaning workers and community services workers in Victoria. If you work in one of these industries, check with your employer which scheme you are registered with — your LSL balance may be held externally, not by your current employer, and may not appear on your regular payslip.
Common mistakes when calculating Victorian LSL
- Using the old pre-2018 formula. The Victorian Long Service Leave Act 2018 replaced the 1992 Act from 1 November 2018. The entitlement rules changed — particularly around pro-rata on resignation and casual employee inclusion. Any calculator or guide referencing the “1992 Act” or the old “qualifying period of 7 years for employer-initiated termination only” is out of date.
- Including overtime in the ordinary rate. LSL is paid at the ordinary rate — base pay for ordinary hours. Overtime, penalty rates and discretionary bonuses are excluded unless they are regular and expected as part of ordinary pay.
- Forgetting partial years. LSL accrues continuously. If you’ve worked 8 years and 3 months, use 8.25 years in the calculation — not just 8.
- Assuming CoINVEST balance = employer-held balance. Construction workers need to check CoINVEST separately. The employer’s payslip does not show CoINVEST-held entitlements.
- Treating resignation under 7 years as forfeiting everything. Under the 2018 Act, the entitlement hasn’t been lost — it just isn’t yet payable. If you’re re-employed by the same employer, the prior service may count toward the qualifying period.
- Applying the annual leave accrual rate instead of the LSL rate. Annual leave accrues at 0.07692 per hour. LSL accrues at 1/60 per week of service. These are completely different rates and cannot be used interchangeably.
This article reflects the Victorian Long Service Leave Act 2018 as understood at June 2026. For disputes, contact the Wage Inspectorate Victoria on 1800 287 287. WorkCalc Australia is independent and not affiliated with the Victorian Government or Wage Inspectorate.
Victorian LSL calculation — frequently asked questions
Step-by-step answers to the most common Victorian long service leave calculation questions.
How do I calculate long service leave in Victoria?
Victorian LSL = years of service × 0.8667 × ordinary weekly pay. The 0.8667 rate comes from 52 weeks ÷ 60 (1 week per 60 weeks of continuous service under the LSL Act 2018). For 8 years at $1,500/wk: 8 × 0.8667 × $1,500 = $10,400.40 gross. Use the calculator above for your exact figure.
How much long service leave do I accrue per year in Victoria?
Approximately 0.8667 weeks per year, or 1 week for every 60 weeks of continuous service. For a 38-hour employee, this is about 32.93 hours per year — roughly 2.74 hours per month, or 1.27 hours per fortnight. Check your payslip: the fortnightly LSL accrual should be about 1.27 hours for a 38-hour full-timer.
How is Victorian long service leave calculated for part-time employees?
The weeks formula is identical — years × 0.8667. The difference is in the payout amount. A part-timer on 20 hours per week at $30/hr has an ordinary weekly pay of $600. After 8 years: 8 × 0.8667 × $600 = $4,160.16 gross — compared to $10,400 for a full-timer on 38 hours at the same hourly rate. Same weeks of leave accrued; different payout because of the lower weekly pay.
When does long service leave become payable in Victoria?
After 7 years of continuous service under the Victorian Long Service Leave Act 2018. The entitlement is payable whether you are taking leave (still employed) or receiving a payout on termination. After 7 years, pro-rata applies to any exit reason except serious and wilful misconduct — including general resignation.
How do I calculate Victorian LSL on resignation?
Same formula: years × 0.8667 × ordinary weekly pay. After 7 years, Victorian employees who resign receive their full accrued LSL balance as a payout. For example: resigning after 8.5 years on $1,400/week: 8.5 × 0.8667 × $1,400 = $10,315.15 gross. Tax is withheld at your ordinary marginal rate — not using Schedule 7 averaging.
What is the CoINVEST long service leave scheme in Victoria?
CoINVEST is Victoria’s portable LSL scheme for the building and construction industry. Workers accumulate LSL with the scheme (not individual employers), so it carries across jobs within the industry. Employers pay a quarterly levy to CoINVEST. Workers check their balance at coinvest.com.au. The same 7-year threshold and 0.8667 accrual rate applies.
How do I calculate long service leave for varying hours in Victoria?
The Act uses a 12-month averaging method. The ordinary weekly pay for LSL purposes is the average of ordinary earnings over the 12 months immediately before taking leave (or the full employment period if shorter). This means moving to part-time hours shortly before taking LSL will affect the payout calculation — the 12-month average softens but doesn’t eliminate the impact.
Is Victorian long service leave tax free?
No. Victorian LSL paid during employment (as leave) is taxed as ordinary income at your marginal rate. LSL paid on termination is also ordinary income for most employees today — unlike annual leave termination payouts, which use the Schedule 7 averaging method. Over-withheld tax is refunded when you lodge your annual return.