Long Service Leave specialist
Payroll
- Melbourne
- Contract or Temp
Job Description
About the Organisation:We have partnered with a leading Australian healthcare provider delivering critical care and support services across hospitals, aged care facilities, community health and allied health operations nationally. With a large, diverse workforce operating under multiple Awards, EBAs and state-based legislative frameworks, payroll compliance and employee entitlements are central to the people strategy.
We are seeking an experienced Senior Long Service Leave Analyst to lead the interpretation, calculation, governance, and remediation of Long Service Leave (LSL) obligations across multiple Australian jurisdictions, with a strong emphasis on Victorian legislation and healthcare enterprise agreements.
The Opportunity: This role is responsible for the accurate administration, interpretation, and governance of Long Service Leave entitlements across a complex national workforce. The successful candidate will act as the organisation’s subject matter expert on LSL legislation, ensuring compliance with all applicable state and territory legislation, Awards, EBAs and internal payroll controls.
The role will partner closely with Payroll, People & Culture, Finance, Legal and external auditors to manage complex LSL calculations, historical reviews, remediation projects, and legislative interpretation.
THIS ROLE CAN BE BASED IN MELBOURNE, OR REMOTELY WITHIN AUSTRALIA. Key Responsibilities: Long Service Leave Compliance & Governance
- Act as the organisational SME for Long Service Leave legislation across all Australian states and territories.
- Interpret and apply the Victorian Long Service Leave Act 2018, including complex continuous service provisions, casual employment rules and interstate service considerations.
- Monitor legislative updates, Award changes and Enterprise Agreement obligations impacting LSL accruals and payments.
- Ensure payroll compliance with healthcare-specific EBAs and public/private hospital employment arrangements.
- Provide advice to Payroll, HR and senior stakeholders regarding LSL entitlements, portability, transfers of business and terminations.
Victorian LSL Focus
- Manage compliance with Victoria’s 7-year LSL entitlement framework.
- Interpret complex Victorian provisions relating to:
- Continuous service
- Casual and part-time employment
- Unpaid leave impacts
- Parental leave treatment
- WorkCover absences
- Transfers of business
- Interstate employment connected to Victoria
- Assess entitlement calculations under both the Long Service Leave Act 2018 and healthcare EBAs where more beneficial provisions apply.
- Support remediation activities arising from historical payroll inaccuracies or legislative interpretation changes.
National LSL Administration
- Administer and review LSL obligations across:
- New South Wales
- Queensland
- South Australia
- Western Australia
- Tasmania
- ACT
- Northern Territory
- Identify legislative differences between jurisdictions, including qualifying periods, pro-rata entitlements and termination rules.
- Ensure state-specific compliance obligations are accurately configured within payroll systems.
Payroll & Systems
- Review payroll system configurations for LSL accrual calculations and automated processing.
- Validate accrual rates, leave balances and payout calculations.
- Conduct payroll reconciliations, audit reviews and compliance reporting.
- Partner with HRIS and Payroll Systems teams on testing, upgrades and implementations.
- Support payroll remediation and backpay projects where required.
Analysis & Reporting
- Produce detailed LSL liability reporting for Finance and external auditors.
- Analyse historical employee data to determine entitlement exposure and compliance risks.
- Prepare audit-ready documentation supporting payroll calculations and legislative interpretation.
- Identify trends, risks and process improvement opportunities.
Stakeholder Management
- Partner with HR, Finance, Legal and operational leaders to provide expert guidance on LSL matters.
- Respond to escalated employee entitlement queries and complex case reviews.
- Liaise with external advisors, Fair Work representatives and government bodies where required.
Skills & Experience Essential
- Extensive experience in Australian payroll compliance, ideally within healthcare, aged care or large multi-site organisations.
- Strong working knowledge of the Victorian Long Service Leave Act 2018.
- Demonstrated experience in interpreting Long Service Leave legislation across multiple Australian states.
- Advanced knowledge of Awards, EBAs and NES provisions relating to leave entitlements.
- Experience managing payroll audits, remediation programs or compliance reviews.
- Strong analytical and reconciliation skills.
- Advanced Excel capability, including pivots, lookups and payroll data analysis.
Key Technical Knowledge: The successful candidate will possess a strong working knowledge of:
- Victorian Long Service Leave Act 2018
- Fair Work Act and National Employment Standards
- Continuous service rules
- Casual employee LSL entitlements
- Transfers of business
- Interstate employment considerations
- Pro-rata LSL calculations
- Healthcare Awards and EBAs
- Payroll taxation impacts on leave payments
- Financial provisioning of leave liabilities
Personal Attributes
- Highly detail-oriented with strong problem-solving capability
- Strong investigative and analytical mindset
- Able to interpret complex legislation pragmatically
- Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication skills
- Resilient and comfortable operating in complex, high-volume environments
- Strong sense of accountability and compliance focus
Why Join?
- Opportunity to become the organisation’s national LSL subject matter expert
- Complex and meaningful work supporting essential healthcare services
- Collaborative and supportive leadership team
- Flexible working arrangements
- Large-scale payroll transformation and compliance projects
- Career growth within a national healthcare organisation
To find out more, please submit your CV to Marcus Stubbs at Appreciating Payroll following the application links below.
