Compliance and enforcement

Scheme compliance

Employers have had a number of years to familiarise themselves with the Portable Long Service Benefits Scheme and their obligations.

The Authority has shifted its focus from a primarily educative approach to a strategic enforcement program to increase employer compliance.

A refreshed regulatory strategy was published in June 2024 outlining our approach to compliance and enforcement.

Compliance and enforcement principles

In administering the Scheme, the Authority is guided by the following principles, ensuring high ethical standards of behaviour and decision making, and consistency of outcomes.

Fairness	The Authority will act within the Victorian Model Litigant Guidelines and the legal ethics framework for the conduct of compliance activities, including enforcement using legal action.
Transparency	The Authority will make its compliance and enforcement positioning clear to the participants in the Scheme. Compliance matters finalised by litigation will be made public as part of being transparent.
Accountability	Decision making in the area of compliance and enforcement will take place within a framework of rigorous corporate governance and the checks and balances that the Authority is subject to.
Proportionality	The Authority’s compliance and enforcement responses will be proportional to the conduct creating the non-compliance and the resulting or potential harm caused.
Timelines	The Authority will conduct compliance activities, including investigations and enforcement as efficiently as possible to avoid undue delay and uncertainty to those affected by the non-compliance, both workers and employers.
Confidentiality	The Authority will act with confidentiality in matters under investigation and will not make public comment on matters that may or may not be under investigation.

Where a matter is in the public domain and it is in the public interest to make comment, the Registrar may make comment on a matter. No comment will be made on cases that are before the courts.

New regulatory strategy

The Authority will focus on 4 strategic areas over the next 3 years:

Registration of non-complying employers: these are employers who are covered by the Scheme but remain unaware (or that are willfully refusing) to register with the Scheme.
Under registration of workers: this includes all workers who are covered by the Scheme but that have not been registered by their employer or their employer has not reported on the workers full eligible service by under-recording the workers hours.
Timely submission of quarterly returns: this includes employers who fail to submit, or are regularly late in submitting their quarterly returns.
Prompt or non-payment of levies: there continues to be employers who fail to pay their levies or pay their levies promptly.

Regulatory strategy - Compliance and Enforcement

The Portable Long Service Authority's new Regulatory Strategy is available now.

Offences that the Authority can prosecute

The Authority can prosecute the following offences under the Act where employers fail to comply with their obligations under the Scheme:
- failure to apply for registration within the required time
- failure to notify a change of registered active employer details
- failure to notify a registered active employer ceasing to be an employer for a covered industry
- failure to give the Authority a quarterly return
- failure to pay the portable long service levy to the Authority
The Authority can prosecute the following offences under the Act where an employer takes adverse action against workers in relation to their long service entitlements:
- an employer for a covered industry taking adverse action against a worker because the worker is entitled to long service benefits under the Act
- an employer for a covered industry taking adverse action against a worker because the worker sought to exercise the entitlement to long service benefits under the Act
- an employer for a covered industry taking adverse action against workers because the workers made an enquiry as to their entitlements to long services benefits under the Act
- an employer for a covered industry taking adverse action against a worker because the worker applies to the Authority for a determination as to the taking of long service leave under the Act
The Authority can prosecute where the employer fails to keep and/or provide a worker with access to long service records under the Scheme:
- an employer for a covered industry failing to keep long service records for a worker while employed by that employer
- an employer for a covered industry failing to keep long service records for a worker for 7 years after the worker stops working for the employer
- making a false or misleading statement in or material omission from a long service record without reasonable excuse
- an employer for a covered industry refuses a request by a worker or worker’s personal representative to provide a copy of a long service record relating to that worker.
The Authority can prosecute where a person has not complied with a notice to produce information or documents:
- failing to comply with a notice under s.61 to produce documents or provide information
- knowingly producing a document to an authorised officer under s.61 that is false or misleading in a “material particular”.

Employers

Updated 23 October 2024