Court orders agency to pay legal costs after guilty plea
A Victorian court has fined Jellis Craig Kingston Pty Ltd $7,000 after the real estate business admitted it failed to pay a former worker their long service leave when their employment ended.
Workforce Inspectorate Victoria brought the case after the agency withheld more than $16,000 for more than 17 months. Prosecutors alleged the company breached the Long Service Act 2018 by not paying the employee their full entitlement on departure.
The Magistrates’ Court of Victoria also ordered Jellis Craig Kingston to pay the former employee’s legal expenses. The company has since paid the full amount it owed.
According to Workforce Inspectorate Victoria, the employee had worked for the business for almost nine years. That period is well beyond the seven years of continuous service needed to qualify for long service leave under Victorian law.
Acting commissioner Lily Dekic said: “The employee in this case had given almost nine years of loyal service to this business and deserved to be paid their entitlements.”
Dekic also warned that a sale or ownership change does not wipe out the leave liability. She said the incoming owner becomes responsible for paying employees what they are owed.
She added: “Blaming a payroll issue doesn’t cut it – the responsibility rests with the employer to make sure they are complying with the Long Service Leave Act.”
Victorian law covers workers after seven years
Victoria’s Long Service Leave Act 2018 applies to full-time, part-time, casual, seasonal and fixed-term workers. After at least seven years with one employer, an employee can take long service leave and must be paid any unused entitlement when the job ends.
Most Victorian employees are covered by the Act unless another source sets their long service leave rights, such as other legislation, a registered agreement, an award or another law.
Workforce Inspectorate Victoria said it helped 320 Victorians recover almost $1.7 million in long service leave entitlements during 2025-26, highlighting how often disputes over the payment arise.
