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ARTICLE · 19 MARCH 2022

NSW par­lia­ment pro­pos­es mak­ing COVID-19 long ser­vice leave flex­i­bil­i­ty permanent

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The proposed Bill will pro­vide employ­ers and work­ers with greater flex­i­bil­i­ty in access­ing long ser­vice leave.

AustraliaEmployment and HR
Katrina Seck
Katrina Seck
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On 15 Feb­ru­ary 2022 the NSW Gov­ern­ment intro­duced a Bill mak­ing per­ma­nent changes to the Long Ser­vice Leave Act 1955 (NSW) (LSL Act) to pro­vide employ­ers and work­ers with greater flex­i­bil­i­ty in access­ing long ser­vice leave. 

The COVID-19 and Oth­er Leg­is­la­tion Amend­ment (Reg­u­la­to­ry Reforms) Bill 2022 includes, amongst oth­er things, the abil­i­ty for:

  • a work­er with an enti­tle­ment to long ser­vice leave to take that leave in two or more sep­a­rate peri­ods of not less than one day;
  • an employ­er, with the agree­ment of a work­er, to give less than one month's notice of when it is pro­posed long ser­vice leave be giv­en and taken;
  • an employ­er and a work­er to agree to a work­er tak­ing a peri­od of long ser­vice leave, of not less than one day, in advance of the work­er becom­ing enti­tled to it (pre­vi­ous­ly any long ser­vice leave in advance was required to be tak­en for a peri­od of not less than one month).

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