WA MyLeave Revised Interpretations

The MyLeave Board has completed a review of some key provisions in the Construction Industry Portable Paid Long Service Leave Act 1985 WA (CLSL Act), resulting in revised interpretations of ordinary pay that affect how contributions and claims are managed for casual workers, and identified restrictions on employer refunds paid directly to workers.

The following information has been provided to employers registered with MyLeave to help them with the updated contribution requirements and to ensure they are aware of the restrictions on employer refunds.

Key Changes:

Ordinary Pay for Casual Workers

Ordinary hours for casual workers can now be determined from employment contracts, letters of engagement, or IFAs, provided these documents define or identify ordinary hours. This change may impact how contributions and claim payments are calculated, especially for workers whose contracts specify more than 38 hours per week. Arrangements for averaging ordinary hours over rostered work cycles have been clarified.

Allowances paid while performing ordinary hours of work are covered under a broader interpretation of what constitutes ordinary pay, while conditional or reimbursement-based allowances are excluded.

A comparison of the previous and revised interpretations is detailed here <URL> https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/myleave-construction-long-service-board-wa/revised-interpretation-ordinary-pay-causal-workers

Employer Refunds for Direct Payments to Workers

Employers are generally no longer eligible for refunds from MyLeave for long service leave payments made directly to workers. Instead, all long service leave claims for registered workers must be made by the worker through MyLeave and employers should no longer make long service leave payments to registered workers in eligible job roles directly.

Refunds may only be considered in limited cases, such as deregistration (i.e. no longer registered with MyLeave), transitions to a non-eligible role, or entitlements arising under industrial instruments or another Act.

To assist with the application of the revised interpretations of ordinary pay for casual workers, or employer refunds additional guidance materials are on our website at https://www.myleave.wa.gov.au .