Cleaners, community service and security workers have won access to portable long service leave in Victoria after laws passed state parliament.
Under the new laws, effective from mid-2019, those workers will be entitled to long service leave or benefits after working for seven years in their industry, irrespective of the number of employers they have worked for over that time.
Union United Voice said cleaners and guards often stay at the one site over many years, but face a revolving door of contractors, prompting the restart of entitlements with every new employer.
"This is a life-changing reform for cleaners and guards, and it means at long last, they can finally get a well-earned break," United Voice Victorian secretary Jess Walsh said.
"Victoria would grind to halt without these workers. They work around the clock, year in, year out, keeping our buildings clean and safe, but too often their loyalty and dedication went unrecognised. That changes today."
In 2016, a parliamentary inquiry found current laws for cleaners and guards "inequitable".
Retired cleaner Sam Ismaili welcomed the changes.
"In my 37 years cleaning the premier's office I wasn't able to take long-service leave once," he said.
"Cleaners and guards have fought for portable long service leave for a long time because it will make a big difference."
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