Supreme Court rules 18-day stint in Queensland enough to activate long service leave entitlements

Introduction

Under the Industrial Relations Act 2016 (Qld) (IR Act), Queensland employees are entitled to a period of long service leave at full pay in circumstances where the employee has completed 10 years of continuous service with the same employer. Questions about an employee’s entitlement to long service leave are uncontroversial where the employee has performed their 10 years of continuous service for an employer situated in Queensland.

However, complexities can arise where continuous employment with the same employer is performed in multiple jurisdictions. This is because the meaning of ‘continuous service’ under the IR Act includes any work performed for an employer that is either:

• wholly in the State of Queensland; or
• partly in and partly outside the State.

The recent case of Infosys Technologies Ltd v Fox [2025] QCA 045, is one such example where an employee had the right to long service leave crystallise in Queensland despite a majority of his continuous service being performed in other jurisdictions.

Facts

In March 2012, the employee commenced employment at Infosys, with a large cross-jurisdictional presence. Initially, the employee was trained in India. However, his contract stated he could be transferred to any other departments abroad when needed. In June 2018, the employee was deployed to Melbourne where he worked for just over three years.

In March 2022, the employee was then transferred to Brisbane where his start date was delayed due to health issues. During this time, the employee resigned from his employment at Infosys and, when well enough to return to work, served out his contractual notice period in Brisbane.

The employee’s total period of continuous service with Infosys was just over 10 years, comprising:

• 6 years, 3 months, and 10 days in India
• 3 years, 9 months, and 13 days in Melbourne
• 18 days in Brisbane.

Subsequently, the employee made an enquiry to the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC) about his entitlement to long service leave under the IR Act. The QIRC determined that the employee’s service was regarded as continuous service that was partly in and partly outside the State, which meant he qualified for long service leave in Queensland under the IR Act. Infosys appealed the QIRC’s decision to the Queensland Court of Appeal.

Court of Appeal decision

On appeal, Infosys contended that, to qualify as continuous service of 10 years ‘partly in … the State’, the part of service in the State must amount to a substantial proportion of the total continuous service. Therefore, 18 days out of 10 years was not sufficient.

The Court did not support Infosys’ contention and held that the employee’s entitlement to long service leave in Queensland hinged on whether, at any time, the employee’s service was geographically located in Queensland. To determine this, the Court had to look at the terms and conditions of the employee’s contract.

Based on the contract, the Court held that, despite the employee’s base location being in India, he also served Infosys in Melbourne; therefore, he was required to work as per the business requirements in Australia. However, when the employee was transferred to Brisbane, the terms of his contract of employment were altered insofar as his service location had changed from Melbourne to Brisbane.

The Court clarified that, even though the employee had resigned before moving to Brisbane, as he worked the notice period in Brisbane this was work performed under the altered contract of employment. Therefore, although the work was for a short period of time, for at least the notice period his service was located in Queensland.

Ultimately, the Court dismissed Infosys’ appeal with costs, determining that the employee was entitled to long service leave under the IR Act.

What does this mean for employers?

In this case, the Supreme Court clarified that the IR Act provisions regarding long service leave entitlements are to be interpreted according to their literal meaning. Employees will be entitled to long service leave upon completing 10 years of service even where a small period of this employment is performed in Queensland (no matter how short).

This decision also provides an important warning for employers with cross-jurisdictional workplaces, reminding employers to beware of leave entitlements when deploying employees to Queensland.

If you have any questions regarding an employee’s entitlement to long service leave, please contact a member of our workplace relations and safety team.