Workers - ACT Leave

Safely store your portable long service leave when you change jobs

When you’re registered with ACT Leave, your portable long service leave benefits go with you if you move between eligible jobs within the industry.

If you do relevant work in the contract cleaning industry, you should be registered for portable long service leave.

Eligible workers in the contract cleaning industry

In the contract cleaning scheme, workers are in 2 groups:

	Registration	Levy	Benefit type	Notes
Employees	Mandatory – must be registered by the employer	1.07% of gross ordinary wages, paid by the employer	Accrued portable long service leave	Includes full-time, part-time and casual employed workers performing relevant work. Also includes workers on a visa that allows them to work in Australia
Contractors	Optional – can self-register	1.67% of ordinary remuneration or profit component, paid by the contractor	Contribution refund plus interest	Includes working directors, sole traders or individual partners in a partnership.

Getting registered in the contract cleaning industry

As an employed worker, your employer would normally register you when you start work with them.

Once registered, we’ll send you a letter with your registration number.

If you don’t think you’ve been registered and you have not received a letter from us with your registration details, submit an employee registration form.

We’ll also send you an annual statement to ensure:

all work was recorded correctly
your contact details are current.

Use your registration details to log into the portal to:

check and update your contact details
see your service history
update your contact details if you didn’t receive an annual statement.

Sole traders and working directors in contract cleaning

You can still benefit from the portable long service leave scheme if you’re a:

contractor (sole trader or individual in a partnership)
working director.

To do this, register with us as a ‘voluntary member’ to gain a portable long service leave benefit. You can also backdate your service up to 1 year from the date you register.

When you claim, instead of taking leave, we’ll give you back the amount you paid in levies plus interest.

If the scheme fund investment made a return, you’ll receive interest of 75% of the rate of return.

Registering as a contractor

To register as a contractor, complete the relevant form:

Contractor / Director Registration form

Recording service as a contractor

If you register with us as a contractor, you must then lodge quarterly returns through the portal.

Each quarter, you’ll declare:

how many days you worked
your gross ordinary wages or profit part of your income for the quarterly return period.

You’ll pay a levy of 2.5% on what you declare. Most contractors use a $130 minimum daily rate of pay to calculate the gross ordinary wages.

If you have both employee and contractor service recorded, you’ll receive the sum of the worker part and your contractor part when you claim.

Accruing portable long service leave in the contract cleaning industry

If you were registered in the contract cleaning industry scheme in the ACT on or after 24 June 2000, you accrue 8.67 weeks of portable long service leave for every 7 years of service.

Your service combines under the scheme when you accrue it as:

an employed worker
contractor.

For example, you would gain a total of 7 years of service in the scheme if you recorded:

5 years as an employed worker
2 years as a contractor.

See more information on entitlements and how to claim.

Getting deregistered

If you have had no service recorded in the ACT for 4 years, your account will deregister (close) from ACT Leave.

We’ll let you know 3 to 6 months before this is due to happen.

To avoid deregistration, contact us:

if you’re having service recorded interstate so we can add it
to provide us with proof of continued work in the ACT building and construction industry.

Recording work in interstate contract cleaning industries

The contract cleaning industry scheme is portable between the ACT, NSW and Queensland.

If you worked in the industry in NSW or Queensland, they will have a record of your service in that area.

If you move interstate, you must register with the portable long service leave scheme in the new state.

When ready, make your claim where you last recorded service. We or the other state provider will:

contact other states and territory providers to confirm the total registered service balance
pay your claim.

You must also notify the state or territory provider of where you have service recorded when you start work in another state or territory. This is important to avoid deregistration from inactivity.

Recording missing service in the contract cleaning industry

If you think your employer has not recorded your service with ACT Leave, submit a missing service claim form so we can investigate your claim.

You will need to ensure you were:

working in the contract cleaning industry in the ACT
performing relevant work
an employed worker.

Along with the completed form, you will need to provide evidence that you were employed by the employer during the period of missing service. Evidence could include:

Portable long service leave for workers in the contract cleaning industry