Long Service Leave

27 The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (3 December 2014). (First Session)

1. What is the estimated long service leave liability as at 30 June 2014 in days and dollars?

2. What is the highest long service leave entitlement that has not been taken for any employee, as at 30 June 2014, in days and dollars?

3.

(a) What funding, as at 30 June 2014, was held in accounts controlled or administered by the Department or Agency to fund long service leave; and

(b) What were the names of the accounts and total funds held in these accounts as at 30 June 2014?

4.

(a) What policies, and monitoring of these policies, are in place to ensure that there is not a build up of long servie leave liability within the Department or Agency; and

(b) Are employees required to take long service leave after a certain level of entitlement has accrued?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change): The Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion has received this advice:

The following information is provided in relation to the Communities and Social Inclusion, Social Housing, Multicultural Affairs, Youth and Volunteers portfolios. Information regarding long service leave in the other portfolios within the relevant departments will be reported by the responsible Ministers.

1. As at 30 June 2014, the estimated long service leave liability was $34,175,119 which represents 122,006 working days (based on 915,042 hours on 7.5 hour days).

2. As at 30 June 2014, the highest long service leave entitlement in dollars that had not been taken for any employee was $327,472 which represents 241 working days (based on 1,810 hours on 7.5 hour days). The highest long service leave entitlement in days was 377 working days (based on 2,824 hours on 7.5 hour days) which represents $103,591.

3.

(a) The Department for Communities and Social Inclusion (DCSI) holds no funds specifically for long service leave liability. When long service leave is taken, it is paid by the department out of appropriation. If appropriation is insufficient to fund the long service leave expense, additional funding is sought from the Department of Treasury and Finance.

(b) As stated in the answer to III (a), no funds are held in a specific account.

4.

(a) DCSI monitors long service leave liability through the department's payroll system and contracts an actuary to calculate the long service leave liability at the end of the financial year.

(b) The department has no industrial instrument to direct an employee to take their long service leave entitlement.