MyLeave Employer FAQ

‘Employer means a natural person, firm or body corporate who or which engages persons as employees in the construction industry’; or ‘labour hire agency which arranges for a person who is a party to a contract of service with the agency to do work in the construction industry for another person’.

Workers include individual subcontractors hired principally for labour and paid by the day or hour.

The following information outlines the MyLeave Board’s present interpretation of the term ‘ordinary pay’ under the Construction Industry Portable Paid Long Service Leave Act 1985 (the Act). It is intended as a summary only, and its application should be assessed according to individual circumstances.

Ordinary pay is a key term in administering the Act, as it determines:

• the rate at which workers are paid long service leave, and
• the contributions employers make for a worker’s ‘day of service’.

The calculation of ordinary pay for a day of service varies depending on whether a worker is entitled to annual leave, as set out in sections 3(1) and 3(3a) of the Act.

Ordinary pay information is divided into two parts:

1. Workers entitled to paid annual leave, such as full-time and part-time workers.
2. Workers not entitled to paid leave, such as casual workers.

Because the Act defines ‘ordinary pay’ differently for these two categories, it is important to refer to the relevant part when considering individual cases.

Please refer to the relevant section below.

Ordinary Pay for Full-time and Part-time Workers (entitled to paid annual leave)

Details related to the application of the ordinary pay definition to full-time and part-time workers e.g. those workers entitled to paid annual leave can be found on the link below:

Ordinary Pay for Full-time and Part-time Workers (entitled to paid annual leave)

Ordinary Pay for Casual Workers (not entitled to paid leave)

Details related to the application of the ordinary pay definition to casual workers e.g. those workers not entitled to paid leave can be found on the link below:

Ordinary Pay for Casual Workers (not entitled to paid leave)

Definition different to Long Service Leave Act 1958

Note: The definition of ‘ordinary pay’ in the Long Service Leave Act 1958 is different from the definition in the Construction Industry Portable Paid Long Service Leave Act 1985.

For more information please go to Ordinary Pay

To view the current Contribution Levy, please visit the MyLeave Publications and Forms page. 

Note that the ordinary rate of pay is not the award rate. See ‘Ordinary Pay’ above for more detail.

Yes. Maintenance work is covered by MyLeave where:

• it is routine and minor in nature; and
• undertaken on fixed-plant

Yes, workers who are employed in Western Australia under a working visa are to be included on Quarterly Returns.

If you employ workers in a classification of work within one of the prescribed awards, and that work is being done on-site, you will need to register.

If you are unsure of whether you are required to register or not, please contact us.

Just complete and submit an Employer Registration Application Form (opens a new window).

Registration certificates confirming registration are sent to employers after their applications have been processed and accepted.

No, if a worker has been paid to take long service leave by MyLeave they cannot work during their approved leave period. If you urgently need to recall the worker, please contact us so that we can provide you with options assist you with this issue.

The difference comes from the distinction between "days of service" reported by employers and the "days of service" used to calculate your long service leave entitlement. Employers report all days you receive ordinary pay, which could total 260 days a year. However, for long service leave calculations, one "year of service" is defined as 220 days, which accounts for 20 annual leave days, 10 personal leave days, and 10 public holidays each year. This means casual workers don’t need to work all 260 days to accrue a full year of service for LSL.  It is also important to know that in the Act, there is no direct link between 'days of service' reportable by an employer and the way a worker accrues a 'year of service' towards their LSL entitlement