15 September 2015
ACTU Secretary, Dave Oliver, yesterday gave evidence to the Victorian Government inquiry into the portability of long service leave entitlements.
Mr Oliver told the inquiry that single-employer based long service leave models were no longer adequate for the modern workplace.
People now have multiple jobs during their life as opposed to building careers at single employers but this doesn’t change the fact that after many years of work people need an extended period of rest.
The nature of the workplace has changed and fundamental rights to extended leave after a long period in the workforce are now less accessible due to long service leave regulations failing to keep pace.
Long service leave entitlements vary from state to state and the ACTU submission calls for them to be standardised at the “highest common denominator” so that workers don’t lose current entitlements.
The ACTU submission to the inquiry proposes three potential models for portable long service leave:
Quotes attributable to Dave Oliver:
“The increasingly casual nature of so many jobs coupled with the fact people are working 10, 15, 20 different jobs in their life means we need to rethink long service leave away from the notion of service to a single employer and towards service in the workforce.”
“Long service leave is only one area where we need to rethink the way we deliver entitlements to workers.”
“The changed nature of our economy requires us to rethink other forms of leave entitlements so that all workers are able to access paid time off for illness, family and recreation.”
“Just as we did with superannuation we need to develop a new framework that reflects the needs of workers in a changing workplace environment.”
“This will ensure workers have time to rest and recover after extended years in the workforce and are able to not only enjoy time off but also come back better rested to make a contribution to the workforce well into the future.”
ACTU Secretary, Dave Oliver, yesterday gave evidence to the Victorian Government inquiry into the portability of long service leave entitlements.
Mr Oliver told the inquiry that single-employer based long service leave models were no longer adequate for the modern workplace.
People now have multiple jobs during their life as opposed to building careers at single employers but this doesn’t change the fact that after many years of work people need an extended period of rest.
The nature of the workplace has changed and fundamental rights to extended leave after a long period in the workforce are now less accessible due to long service leave regulations failing to keep pace.
Long service leave entitlements vary from state to state and the ACTU submission calls for them to be standardised at the “highest common denominator” so that workers don’t lose current entitlements.
The ACTU submission to the inquiry proposes three potential models for portable long service leave:
- The Approved deposit fund model; where employers deposit the funds into an account that rolls over into new accounts that follow an employee from workplace to workplace.
- Industry-based defined benefit fund model; a more limited portability model where employers register as part of an industry based fund and workers entitlements are accrued from workplace to workplace as long as they stay in the defined industry. This is similar to many existing schemes.
- Accumulation model; Similar to how superannuation currently operates employers would pay long service leave entitlements into an account held for the worker by an approved financial institution which the worker could only access the funds after meeting release criteria.
Quotes attributable to Dave Oliver:
“The increasingly casual nature of so many jobs coupled with the fact people are working 10, 15, 20 different jobs in their life means we need to rethink long service leave away from the notion of service to a single employer and towards service in the workforce.”
“Long service leave is only one area where we need to rethink the way we deliver entitlements to workers.”
“The changed nature of our economy requires us to rethink other forms of leave entitlements so that all workers are able to access paid time off for illness, family and recreation.”
“Just as we did with superannuation we need to develop a new framework that reflects the needs of workers in a changing workplace environment.”
“This will ensure workers have time to rest and recover after extended years in the workforce and are able to not only enjoy time off but also come back better rested to make a contribution to the workforce well into the future.”
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