LeavePlus (formerly Coinvest) is a portable long service leave scheme established by a Victorian statute. It requires employers in the construction industry to contribute 3% of the ordinary pay of persons they employ to perform construction work into a fund. Employees can then access that fund when they take long service leave.

In two recent decisions, the Supreme Court of Victoria has taken an expansive view of the employers that are in the construction industry.

In the first case, EnergyAustralia Pty Ltd v CoInvest Ltd (2025), the Court ruled that a company operating a power station is required to contribute to LeavePlus for persons it employed to undertake maintenance and repairs of the power station.

The LeavePlus scheme applied to employers in the industry of carrying out the maintenance of, or repairs to, structures or works for the generation, supply or transmission of electric power, when they employ persons to carry out that work (unless it was work comprising maintenance or repairs of a routine or minor nature for an employer that is not engaged substantially in the construction industry).

The Court ruled that, while the employer is in the industry of the generation of electricity, the employer’s enterprise has the substantial character of being in the industry of repair and maintenance of structures or works for the generation, supply or transmission of electric power because of:

• the integral nature of that repair and maintenance work to the functioning of the power station and its capacity to generate electricity;
• the scale, size and importance of that work; and
• the substantial proportion of the paid workforce of the employer who are engaged in that work.

This brings the employer into the LeavePlus scheme.

Secondly, in Detector Inspector Pty Ltd v CoInvest Ltd (2025), the Court ruled that a business carrying out safety checks and maintenance of smoke alarms, electrical and gas appliances in residential rental properties in Victoria was required to contribute to LeavePlus for persons it employed as gas fitters, electricians and smoke detector technicians carrying out that work.

The rulings confirm that an employer can be required to contribute to LeavePlus even if the predominant character of its business is not building and construction.