Court Victory Confirms Construction Leave Entitlements Beyond the Building Sector

Millions of dollars in long-service leave entitlements and ongoing liabilities might be owed by major businesses outside of the building sector. This follows two court decisions that identify the scope of the construction industry under Victoria’s portable long-service league scheme.

GALLERY  

The Supreme Court has ruled in favour of CoInvest Limited (trading as LeavePlus), the administrator and regulator of portable long service leave for the construction industry in Victoria. It was part of the case Detector Inspector Pty Ltd v CoInvest and EnergyAustralia v CoInvest Ltd.

Both rulings confirm that regardless of the main character of the employer’s business, employees who perform construction work in Victoria are entitled to portable long service league. If construction work is part of the businesses purpose, employers must contribute to LeavePlus for their workers.

LeavePlus chief executive Craig Bells says the breakthrough decisions validate its interpretation of the Act and Rules governing the scheme.

“We’ve always understood that construction work under the LeavePlus scheme extends beyond work that is done on new construction sites, and the outcomes of these cases have provided much-needed clarity around that understanding,” Craig says.

“If you employ workers performing construction work, you’re covered by the scheme even if you wouldn’t describe your business ordinarily as being in the construction industry.”

Craig wants businesses that may have employees performing construction work to reassess their industrial obligations and ensure they’re compliant.

“These court decisions clarify the inclusion of industries that may have previously doubted their participation in the LeavePlus scheme,” he says.

“Whether they are providing services in the energy, rail, or telecommunications, or any other industry, these rulings invite any business with employees that perform construction work to do the right thing and contribute to LeavePlus in accordance with the law.”

According to Craig, thousands of Victorian employers are not complying with their obligations to pay long-service leave charges to LeavePlus. It intends to use the courts decisions to educate employers in industries such as energy, home maintenance and telecommunications

Image courtesy of Josh Olalde, Unsplash.

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