{"id":"F2017L00415","name":"Employer Reimbursement Rules 2017","slug":"employer-reimbursement-rules-2017","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":96150,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2017L00415-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-02","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Employer Reimbursement Rules 2017","content":"![](image.001.png)\n\nEmployer Reimbursement Rules 2017\n\nThe Board of the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave Funding) Corporation makes the following Rules under subsection 45(1) of the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Administration Act 1992.\n\nDated 28 February 2017\n\nDarlene Perks\n\nChief Executive Officer\n\nPart 1 Preliminary\n\n1 Name of Rules\n\nThese Rules are the Employer Reimbursement Rules 2017.\n\n2 Commencement\n\nThese Rules commence on 1 July 2017.\n\n3 Revocation\n\nThe Employer Reimbursement Rules 2011 are revoked.\n\n4 Definitions\n\nIn these Rules:\n\n> Act means the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Administration Act 1992.\n\n> post-2012 entitlement, for an eligible employee, means the amount of LSL credit (in hours) accrued by the eligible employee in respect of the period starting on 1 January 2012.\n\n> pre-2012 entitlement, for an eligible employee, means the amount of long service leave (in hours) accrued by the eligible employee in respect of the period before 1 January 2012.\n\n> Note Several other words and expressions used in these Rules have the meaning given by section 4 of the Act, for example:\n\n> Note: • eligible employee\n\n> Note: • eligible wages\n\n> Note: • employer\n\n> Note: • LSL credit\n\n> Note: • Payroll Levy Collection Act.\n\n  \n\nPart 2 Notional accounts\n\n5 Creation of notional accounts\n\n(1) The Corporation must create a notional account for each person who becomes an eligible employee after the commencement of these Rules.\n\n(2) Subrule (1) does not require the Corporation to create a notional account for a person unless the Corporation is aware that the person is an eligible employee.\n\n(3) A notional account established before the commencement of these Rules is to be taken by the Corporation to be a notional account created under subrule (1).\n\n6 Recording of amounts of levy\n\nThe Corporation must, for each month, record in the notional account for an eligible employee, the amount paid by an employer in respect of the employee as levy under the Payroll Levy Collection Act, for the month.\n\n7 Correction of notional accounts\n\n(1) The Corporation may make corrections to a notional account if it determines that the details of that account are incorrect.\n\n(2) If the Corporation makes a correction under subrule (1) it must record the reasons why the correction was made.\n\nPart 3 Calculation of reimbursable amounts (Part 5A of the Act)\n\n8 How does the Board decide the reimbursable amount for an employer?\n\n(1) If the Corporation receives a claim from an employer for reimbursement under section 44 of the Act after the commencement of these Rules, the Board must decide the amount the employer is to be reimbursed by calculating that amount in accordance with:\n\n(a) if the employer made a payment under Part 5A of the Act to an eligible employee – Rule 9 of these Rules; or\n\n(b) if the employer made a payment under Part 5A of the Act to an eligible employee's legal personal representative. – Rule 10 of these Rules.\n\n(2) The Board is not required to deal separately with any part of a claim that relates to pre-2012 entitlements and any part of a claim relating to post-2012 entitlements.\n\n9 How is the reimbursable amount for a payment to an eligible employee calculated?\n\n(1) The reimbursable amount for a payment to an eligible employee is the amount worked out in accordance with the formula:\n\nLSL paid x eligible wages amount per hour\n\nwhere:\n\n> LSL paid means the hours (including any part of an hour) of long service leave entitlement paid for by the employer in respect of an eligible employee, not exceeding the hours of long service leave entitlement (including any part of an hour) recorded by the Corporation with respect to that employee, immediately prior to the date of payment by the employer and not including any hours for which a reimbursement has already been made;\n\n> eligible wages amount per hour means the amount per hour of the employee's eligible wages:\n\n(a) if the employee is employed by the employer at the time the payment is made – immediately before he or she was paid for, or commenced to take, the long service leave, or\n\n(b) if the employee is not employed by the employer at the time the payment is made – immediately before he or she left their employment with that employer.\n\n(2) If the amount calculated under subrule (1) is more than the amount actually paid to the eligible employee in respect of the employee's long service leave entitlement, the reimbursable amount is taken to be the amount paid to the eligible employee.\n\n10 How is the reimbursable amount for a payment to a legal personal representative calculated?\n\nThe reimbursable amount for an employer in respect of a payment made by the employer to an eligible employee's legal personal representative under either section 39C or 39CC of the Act is the amount that would have been the reimbursable amount for the employer if the payment had been made to the eligible employee under Rule 9.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"These Rules revoke the Employer Reimbursement Rules 2011 and replace them with a new set of procedural and calculation rules that: require the Corporation to create and maintain notional accounts for eligible employees when the Corporation is aware of eligibility and to record monthly levy amounts (Rules 5–6); allow the Corporation to correct accounts with recorded reasons (Rule 7); and prescribe the Board’s method for calculating reimbursable amounts for employer payments to eligible employees and to legal personal representatives (Rules 8–10). The scope therefore changed in that the 2011 Rules were expressly revoked (Rule 3) and the 2017 Rules establish the current mechanics for notional accounts, corrections and the precise reimbursement formula set out above."},"complexity_factors":["Dependence on definitions and terms defined in the Act (Rule 4 references the Act for core terms).","Interaction between record-keeping (notional accounts) and entitlement calculations (Rules 5–7 and 9–10).","Conditional calculation elements: capped hours (recorded hours minus previously reimbursed hours), and eligible wages per hour determined by employment status at payment or at leaving (Rule 9(1)).","Administrative discretion: Corporation creates accounts only if aware (Rule 5(2)) and may correct accounts but must record reasons (Rule 7).","Procedural constraint that the Board need not separate pre-2012 and post-2012 parts of claims (Rule 8(2)), which affects claim processing but does not add complex new formulas."],"plain_english_summary":"What these Rules do, in plain language\n\n- These Rules (Employer Reimbursement Rules 2017) replace the 2011 Employer Reimbursement Rules and took effect on 1 July 2017 (Rules 2–3). They set out how the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave Funding) Corporation (the Corporation) must keep records and how the Board must decide reimbursement claims by employers under Part 5A of the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Administration Act 1992 (the Act).\n\nMechanics — what changes and how it works\n\n- Notional accounts: The Corporation must create a notional account for each person who becomes an eligible employee after these Rules start, but it only has to create an account if it is aware the person is an eligible employee (Rule 5(1)–(2)). Notional accounts already created before these Rules are treated as created under these Rules (Rule 5(3)).\n\n- Recording levy payments: Each month the Corporation must record in an eligible employee’s notional account the amount an employer actually paid as levy under the Payroll Levy Collection Act for that employee (Rule 6).\n\n- Corrections: The Corporation may correct notional accounts if it determines details are incorrect and must record the reasons for any correction (Rule 7).\n\n- Deciding reimbursement claims: If an employer claims reimbursement under section 44 of the Act after these Rules commence, the Board must calculate the reimbursable amount using the formulas in these Rules (Rule 8(1)). The Board does not have to separate any parts of a claim that relate to pre‑2012 and post‑2012 entitlements (Rule 8(2)).\n\n- Formula for reimbursement to an employer who paid an eligible employee: The reimbursable amount equals the hours of long service leave paid by the employer (subject to the hours recorded in the Corporation’s records and excluding hours already reimbursed) multiplied by the employee’s eligible wages amount per hour (Rule 9(1)). The eligible wages amount per hour is taken from immediately before the employee began the leave (if still employed) or immediately before they left employment (if not employed at payment time) (Rule 9(1)(a)–(b)). If that formula produces a figure higher than the amount actually paid to the employee, the reimbursable amount is limited to the amount actually paid (Rule 9(2)).\n\n- Payments to legal personal representatives: If an employer paid the employee’s legal personal representative (under section 39C or 39CC of the Act), the reimbursable amount is worked out the same way as if the payment had been made to the eligible employee (Rule 10).\n\nWho pays, who decides, and what this makes people do\n\n- Who pays: Employers pay levies under the Payroll Levy Collection Act (Rule 6 refers to levy amounts). Employers may also make payments of long service leave to employees or to legal personal representatives and then claim reimbursement under Part 5A of the Act (Rules 8–10).\n\n- Who decides: The Corporation maintains notional accounts and may correct them (Rules 5–7). The Board determines the reimbursable amount for employer claims using the Rules’ formulas (Rule 8(1)).\n\n- Behavioural effects supported by the text: Because reimbursements are capped by hours and by the amount actually paid, employers have an operational reason to ensure their levy payments and employee payments are properly recorded so that notional accounts reflect the hours eligible for reimbursement (Rules 6 and 9). The Corporation’s rule that it only creates an account if it is aware an employee is eligible (Rule 5(2)) makes the Corporation’s awareness a necessary step for an employer to rely on recorded entitlements.\n\nImplementation, compliance and decision-discretion points (text-cited)\n\n- Record-keeping and administrative tasks: The Corporation must record levy amounts monthly in notional accounts (Rule 6) and must keep reasons for any corrections it makes to those accounts (Rule 7). Employers who wish to claim reimbursement must rely on those recorded amounts when the Board applies the formula (Rules 6, 8–9).\n\n- Discretion and potential gaps: The Corporation has discretion not to create a notional account unless it is aware the person is an eligible employee (Rule 5(2)). The Corporation also has discretion to correct accounts when it determines they are incorrect, subject to recording its reasons (Rule 7). The Board, when deciding a claim, must apply the formula in these Rules and is not required to separate claim parts into pre‑2012 and post‑2012 entitlements (Rule 8(2)).\n\nCosts, incentives and trade-offs (mechanisms, not judgments)\n\n- Concentrated benefit: An employer who pays eligible long service leave and whose payments match recorded hours and wages can recover amounts under the formulas in these Rules (Rules 8–10). The immediate benefit accrues to employers who meet the recording and payment conditions set out.\n\n- Administrative cost and compliance burden: The Corporation must maintain monthly records in notional accounts and document any corrections (Rules 6–7). Employers must ensure their payments and levy records align with the Corporation’s records to support claims (Rules 6, 9).\n\n- Payment caps and limits: Reimbursements are limited by (a) the hours recorded in the Corporation’s notional account immediately before payment and excluding previously reimbursed hours, and (b) the actual amount paid to the employee if that is less than the formula amount (Rule 9(1)–(2)). These are mechanical limits embedded in the calculation.\n\nKey sections cited: Rules 2–3, 5–7, 8–10."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation appears to maintain its original scope as reimbursement rules for the coal mining long service leave scheme. It replaces the 2011 rules with updated provisions but does not appear to have expanded beyond the original purpose of establishing reimbursement calculations and notional account management."},"complexity_factors":["Cross-referencing to primary legislation (Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Administration Act 1992 and Payroll Levy Collection Act) for key definitions and powers","Mathematical formula in Rule 9 with multiple defined variables and conditional logic (employed vs not employed at time of payment)","Distinction between pre-2012 and post-2012 entitlements requiring historical tracking","Nested conditions in Rule 9(1) regarding hours limits and prior reimbursements","Integration with Part 5A of the Act (reimbursement scheme) requiring external knowledge of that Part's operation","Concept of 'notional accounts' – a virtual accounting mechanism that requires understanding of the broader levy collection system"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this legislation does:**\n\nThese rules set up a system for reimbursing coal mining employers when they pay long service leave (LSL) to their workers. In the coal mining industry, employers pay a special levy (like a tax) into a central fund managed by the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave Funding) Corporation. When an employer actually pays LSL to a worker, they can claim that money back from the Corporation.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\n- **Coal mining employers** – they can claim reimbursement after paying LSL to eligible employees or their legal personal representatives (the person who handles a deceased employee's affairs)\n- **Eligible employees** in the coal mining industry – their LSL entitlements are tracked through \"notional accounts\" (virtual records, not actual bank accounts)\n- **The Corporation** – it must track levy payments and calculate how much to reimburse employers\n\n**How it works:**\n\n- The Corporation creates a **notional account** for each eligible employee to track levy payments made by employers\n- When an employer pays LSL to a worker, they submit a claim\n- The reimbursement is calculated based on: **(hours of LSL paid) × (hourly rate of eligible wages)**\n- There's a cap: if the calculated amount exceeds what the employer actually paid the worker, the reimbursement is limited to the actual payment amount\n- The rules cover payments to deceased employees' representatives too\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nThese rules ensure employers don't bear the full cost of long service leave twice – once through the levy system and again when actually paying the leave. The notional account system creates transparency by tracking what levies have been paid for each worker, ensuring reimbursements match contributions.\n\n**Key technical notes:**\n- The rules distinguish between **pre-2012 entitlements** (leave accrued before 2012) and **post-2012 entitlements** (leave accrued from 2012 onwards), but claims don't need to separate them\n- Employers can only claim for hours recorded by the Corporation and not previously reimbursed"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/employer-reimbursement-rules-2017","history":"/api/acts/employer-reimbursement-rules-2017/history","analysis":"/api/acts/employer-reimbursement-rules-2017/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/employer-reimbursement-rules-2017/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/employer-reimbursement-rules-2017/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/employer-reimbursement-rules-2017/documents"}}