Long Service Leave - Reducing days worked

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My wife is a nurse in a Victorian public hospital. Nurses say that if they drop the number of days they work a week then they will lose too much of their accrued Long Service Leave.

Excuse my math if wrong but the following should give you an idea what they believe:

If they worked 4 days a week for 15 years I'd assume that they would be entitled to 1/30th of that in LSL, which is six months. 4 days a week over six months = 96 days accrued LSL.

They are saying that if they dropped to 2 days a week after having worked 4 days a week for many years, then their accrued LSL would be based only on the current 2 days a week and that accrued LSL would drop accordingly to 48 days.

I'm not a nurse and my LSL accrues by the day and wouldn't drop if I started working fewer days a week. I would be paid the accrued days at my current rate of pay.

It doesn't seem logical or fair that nurses would lose any accrued LSL and perhaps they are confused with getting paid at their current rate of pay. Their LSL, however, appears to be quoted in weeks not days and is transferable so I thought I'd ask.

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Specializes in ICU.

Best to run this past the union but it does not sound right to me. When I got a LSL pay it was colculated as hours accrued not weeks but this was QLD not VIC. They can't reduce what you already have accrued. You will be accruing less as 2 days a week but they can't take away what is already there.

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Best to run this past the union but it does not sound right to me. When I got a LSL pay it was colculated as hours accrued not weeks but this was QLD not VIC. They can't reduce what you already have accrued. You will be accruing less as 2 days a week but they can't take away what is already there.

I agree and think that her friends are just confused but perhaps somone visiting this forum knows for sure without asking the ANF.

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Specializes in ICU.

The other option is simply to ring HRM/Personell and get it directly from them.

Here is a copy of the Victorian Nurses Award.

http://www.wagenet.gov.au/WageNet/Search/View.asp?doccode=AW790805&doctype=AW&quickview=Y

They HAVE to abide by that it is law.

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Specializes in Medical.

Victorian nurses are no longer protected under an award, but have an agreement in place. Nurses at my hospital (also a public one in Vic) have told me that pay office here have said that LSL is no longer calculated as a total of their working time, but is instead based on the hours worked in the last few months. It all sounds like a rort to me, and I've advised those staff members to contact the union. Of course, I always think that's a good idea!

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Specializes in ICU.

I didn't realise - Does sound like a rort and they SHOULD go to the union. I would also be asking the pay office if the reverse is true. If I UP my working hours a couple of months before I go on LSL do I get MORE LSL????

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Before I posted, my wife had asked HR and she said to me that they told her the accrued LSL would reduce. I didn't mention it as I thought she'd just misunderstood. I had also looked at the award before posting but LSL is quoted in the award as months.

My wife hasn't contacted the ANF and doesn't intend to drop hours. I was just curious as it seemed silly but perhaps my wife and her friends are not as dumb as I thought.

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Specializes in Medical.

Gwenith, a couple of nurses on my ward have done precisely that - worked full time for a couple of months and had LSL at full pay...

Husband, glad I could demonstrate your wife's intelligence for you!

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Gwenith, a couple of nurses on my ward have done precisely that - worked full time for a couple of months and had LSL at full pay...

Husband, glad I could demonstrate your wife's intelligence for you!

Who would have thought?

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