Long Service Leave Act 1976

The Secretary may, subject to such conditions as he thinks fit to impose, exempt an employer from the operation of this Act or a provision of this Act in respect of all or any class of the employees employed by the employer where the Secretary is satisfied that– those employees are, or that class of employee is, under the terms of employment with the employer, entitled, under any scheme established or conducted by or on behalf of that employer, to benefits that are not less favourable to those employees, or that class of employees, than those prescribed by this Act; and it is in the best interests of those employees, or that class of employees, that the exemption should be granted.

An exemption granted under subsection (1) shall be granted so as to operate for such period, not exceeding 5 years, as the Secretary may determine, and may be renewed so as to operate for such further periods, not exceeding 5 years at any one time, as the Secretary may think desirable.

Where the Secretary revokes or refuses to renew an exemption granted under this section, the continuous employment, before the date of the revocation or refusal, of the employees in respect of whom or, as the case may be, of the employees included in the class of employees in respect of which, the exemption was granted shall be taken into account for the purpose of computing their entitlement to long service leave under this Act, but – any period of long service leave granted to such an employee before that date pursuant to such a scheme as is referred to in subsection (1)(a) shall be deemed to have been a period of long service leave granted to him under the provisions of this Act; and any sum paid to such an employee in lieu of long service leave before that date pursuant to such a scheme shall be deemed to have been a payment in lieu of long service leave under the provisions of this Act.

The Secretary shall not grant an exemption under this section in respect of any scheme that does not provide for the granting of long service leave, as such, to the employees to whom the scheme relates.

Subsection (4) does not apply in respect of a scheme in respect of which an exemption was in force immediately before the commencement of the Long Service Leave Act 1964 or any scheme varying, altering, or amending that scheme.

The Secretary – may of his own motion; and shall, on the application of an organization of employers or of employees or of the relevant employer – review any exemption granted by him pursuant to this section before the commencement of the Long Service Leave Act 1964.

If, on such a review as is mentioned in subsection (6), the Secretary is of the opinion that the benefits under the scheme that is the subject of the exemption are not as favourable as those prescribed by this Act or that it is no longer in the best interests of the employees to whom the scheme relates that the exemption should continue to operate, the Secretary may revoke the exemption or may determine that the exemption shall continue to operate only upon and subject to such terms and conditions as he may impose.

An exemption or the renewal of an exemption granted under the Long Service Leave Act 1956 shall be deemed to have been granted under this Act at the time it was actually granted.