Employer obligations

Understand your obligations as an employer in the community services sector. Find out about the penalties for non-compliance and how you can appeal decisions made about your registration.

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Compliance obligations
Penalties for non-compliance
Appeal a decision
Related information
Related legislation

Compliance obligations

The Community Services Industry Portable Long Service Leave Scheme (the scheme) commenced on 1 July 2025. The scheme allows eligible workers to build up a long service record. It's a record that stays with them across different employers and contracts.

Eligible employers have obligations as outlined in the Community Services Sector (Portable Long Service Leave) Act 2024 and as required by the Long Service Corporation (LSC). If you do not comply, penalties may apply.

Registration obligation for employers

By law, you must register with the Long Service Corporation if you employ 1 or more people to carry out community service work in NSW.

Employers must:

register with the Long Service Corporation within 1 month of becoming an eligible employer
submit quarterly service returns that show the gross ordinary wages paid to each worker for that quarter
pay a quarterly levy contribution
keep accurate and timely records
provide any change of details to LSC within 14 days of the change
tell us before making a long service leave payment under the 1955 Act to a registered worker
respond to requests from LSC within the specified timeframe.

Worker service records

Investigators are authorised to inspect your records to check you are complying with your legal obligations.

For each employee, you must keep a record of:

name and date of birth
phone number and address
worker registration number if the employee is a registered worker with LSC
type of work they carried out
gross ordinary wages for each return period
number of days worked in each return period
dates of employment and termination (if applicable)
copy of their employment contract
long service leave granted
pro rata payment details, if made instead of long service leave when they stopped working.

You must keep books and records for 7 years after the day an employee’s employment ends.

Paying long service leave

The portable long service leave scheme doesn't replace your obligation to pay long service leave to your workers under the Long Service Leave Act 1955 (1955 Act). The portable scheme operates alongside the 1955 Act. You must maintain compliance with both Acts.

If you pay long service leave to a registered worker under the 1955 Act or an enterprise agreement, you may claim reimbursement from us for the portion of the entitlement that relates to service accrued under the CSI scheme.

See Claim reimbursement for a long service leave payment to learn more about employer claims.

Penalties for non-compliance

Penalties may apply if you do not comply with your compliance obligations. Penalties are outlined in the Community Services Sector (Portable Long Service Leave) Act 2024 and the Community Services Sector (Portable Long Service Leave) Regulation 2024.

Penalties apply but are not limited to:

non-compliance with your responsibilities
providing misleading information
obstructing our inspectors from carrying out their duties.

It is your responsibility to ensure you understand and comply with your legal obligations under the Act.

Appeal a decision

You can appeal to the Community Services Sector Long Service Leave Committee if you disagree with a decision we make. Members include employer and union representatives from the NSW community services sector.

You can appeal the decision to:

refuse an application to register as an employer
cancel an employer registration
refuse an application to register a worker
refuse to grant an exemption from lodging a return
refuse to waive or reduce interest on unpaid levies
refuse to grant an extension of time to pay a levy
the amount of an unpaid levy assessment.

How to appeal

Return the appeal form sent to you with your decision letter, your appeal must be lodged within 42 days of the date of the decision letter.

The committee reviews information used in the original decision along with other information provided.

Your appeal:

must explain why the original decision should be overturned – for example, where the decision was based on incorrect or misinterpreted information
should include supporting documents.

The Committee Chairperson may accept an appeal within 6 months in the event of exceptional circumstances.

We send you the outcome of your appeal in writing.

Employer registration
Manage employer service returns
Make levy contributions
Compliance

Community Services Sector (Portable Long Service Leave) Act 2024
Community Services Sector (Portable Long Service Leave) Regulation 2024
Community Services Sector (Portable Long Service Leave) (Levy Determinations) Order 2025

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