Hairdressers, beauticians, and accommodation and food service workers could soon take their long service entitlements with them when they move jobs within the same industry as the ACT Government moves to expand portable long service leave.
Portable long service leave enables long service leave entitlements to be accumulated on length of service in a covered industry rather than service with a single employer. Currently, the industries covered in the ACT were building and construction, contract cleaning, the community sector, and security.
Debate was adjourned until the next sitting.
Mick Gentleman, ACT Minister for Industrial Relations and Workplace Safety, said secure jobs are good jobs.
“Casual and short-term jobs remain common in many sectors. This puts workers in those industries at a serious disadvantage in terms of accruing the entitlements that support long term work-life balance, job satisfaction, and health.
“Unstable employment arrangements are associated with poorer mental health and shorter life expectancies. We will use every lever in our control to improve this situation for working Canberrans, especially those in highly transitory industries.
“Portable long service leave allows workers to accrue paid long service leave that they can access, even if they change employer, so long as they remain employed within their covered industry. Whereas traditional long service leave is accumulated based on length of service with a single employer.
“The schemes work a bit like superannuation. For the duration of a worker’s employment, employers pay a levy, based on a percentage of the employee’s salary, into an independently run fund. In this case, the ACT Long Service Leave Authority.
“How much employers are required to pay varies according to the industry. The contract cleaners’ portable long services leave levy, for example, is 1.07 per cent of the gross ordinary wages of employees.
“Workers in the ACT’s building and construction, community services, contract cleaning, and security industries have been covered by portable long service schemes.
“Expanding portable long service schemes is a progressive approach to protecting the rights of our more mobile workers and helping future-proof industries that may struggle to attract and retain staff.
“We have worked closely with community members, business owners, industry representatives, and unions in developing this Bill, which was introduced to the Legislative Assembly today.
“Through the consultation process, we heard concerns from some employers in the proposed industries that the additional expense will be too much for their businesses to sustain. That’s why we’re suggesting a two-year period prior to commencement, this would allow employers to prepare for the change.
“ACT Labor always has and always will stand for fair employment conditions and safe, secure jobs for all Canberrans.”
Expanding portable long service leave schemes was one of the key commitments in the Parliamentary and Governing Agreement.
