Victorian Portable Long Service Benefits Scheme
Victoria’s Portable Long Service Benefits Scheme means that certain workers in the security sector are able to accrue long service entitlements and carry them between roles, provided for by a levy paid by their employers.
The Scheme has been operating since July 2019, when it was enacted by the Victorian Government under interim regulations. The new, permanent Long Service Benefits Portability Regulations 2020 came into effect on 1 October 2020. The scheme is administered by the Portable Long Service Authority (PLSA).
The Scheme is aimed at industries where most employees are casual or on short-term contracts, and very rarely with one employer long enough to be eligible for traditional long service.
This is not the case in the locksmith industry, however. While the MLAA advocated to the Victorian Government for locksmiths to be excluded from the Scheme because of this, our efforts were unfortunately not successful.
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Who falls under the Scheme?
The Portable Long Service Benefits Scheme applies to workers in the community services, contract cleaning and security sectors. As part of the broader security sector, some locksmith workers also fall under the scheme.
For the purposes of the Scheme, the security sector is defined as where security activities are undertaken by people licensed or registered under the Private Security Act 2004. This includes the Class B Security Services registration (aka a Victorian Private Security Individual Registration or VPSIR), which covers:
- The installation, repair, service or maintenance or security equipment and systems such as camera systems, audio systems, audio or visual recording systems, alarms and alarm monitoring systems, safes and vaults, security intrusion detectors and electric, electromagnetic, magnetic or biometric access control devices
- Acting as a security advisor
As a result, locksmiths whose main area of work is safes and vaults or electronic security may be eligible for the scheme.
If a locksmith doesn’t work in these areas and doesn’t require a VPSIR, they do not fall under the Portable Long Service Scheme.
What do employers need to do?
Businesses who employ eligible workers are required to register with the PLSA, and pay an employer levy for each of their eligible workers. The PLSA collects these levies on behalf of workers, and then makes the funds available once workers become eligible. It works in a similar way to superannuation.
Once you’ve registered, you’ll be required to submit quarterly returns to the PLSA, which will issue you an invoice with the amount of employer levy you are required pay. The levy is 1.80% of workers’ ordinary wages for the security sector.
You can find a step-by-step guide for employers on the PLSA website here.
FAQs
Several questions were posed to the PLSA by Master Locksmiths members in a webinar hosted by the Association in May 2021, which was presented by the Authority’s CEO Joseph Yeung. The FAQs below include the PLSA’s answers to those questions.
Does the scheme apply to locksmiths who only undertake automotive work?
No, automotive locksmithing activities are not covered by the Portable Long Service Benefits Scheme.
Does the scheme apply to non-locksmith staff in the business?
No, the scheme only applies to staff who are predominantly performing security work that requires a VPSIR. Admin and sales staff, for example, are not eligible for the scheme, nor are:
- Installing a lock as part of work as a builder
- Cutting unrestricted keys
- Operating a prison or other correctional facility
- Selling self-install security systems
Are apprentices included?
The scheme covers any apprentice or other employee whose employment agreement requires the individual to learn or be taught security work that ultimately requires a VPSIR. The apprentice must be taught by someone else in the business who already holds a licence to be eligible for the scheme. This excludes individuals who are learning this work through a learning institution like TAFE.
In essence, this means that if an apprentice is being trained to perform work on safes and vaults or electronic security in the workplace (work which they will eventually need a VPSIR for), they fall under the scheme.
However, if they are simply learning these skills as part of their locksmithing TAFE course and their role doesn’t actually include safe and vault or electronic security work, they don’t fall under the scheme.
Will businesses who sign up for the scheme need to calculate back payments for eligible staff?
Yes. The scheme became mandatory on 1 July 2019. If employees have been doing eligible work as of that date, they need to be included in the scheme and payments calculated from that date.
If an employee is eligible for the scheme, do they also receive traditional long service leave?
Yes. Portable long service leave doesn’t affect any traditional long service leave that employees accrue. That still functions as before.
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