Record keeping

Employee record keeping obligations

Employee records must:

be in a form that is readily accessible to a Fair Work Inspector
be in a legible form and in English (preferably in plain, simple English)
be kept for 7 years
not be altered unless for the purposes of correcting an error
not be false or misleading to the employer's knowledge
be made available at the request of the employee or former employee
be made available at the request of Fair Work Inspectors or trade union officials to determine if there has been a contravention of relevant Commonwealth workplace laws

The following employee records must be kept:

Record	Detail
Employment details	employer’s full name and ABN employee’s full name start date employment type (full-time/part-time/casual) employment basis (permanent/temporary)
Pay	pay rate before and after tax amounts paid deductions any incentive-based payment, bonus, loading, penalty rate, or any other monetary allowance or separately identifiable entitlement paid
Pay slips	employer’s name and ABN employee’s full name date of payment pay period before and after tax amounts if paid hourly – the hourly rate, hours worked and total amount paid if paid an annual salary – the employee’s salary rate loadings/allowances/bonuses/incentive payments/penalty rates/other separate monetary amounts any deductions made super contributions made or required for that pay period and the fund name or name and number
Record of time worked	hours worked for casual or irregular part-time employees, or piece workers overtime hours agreement to average hours
Leave records	leave taken leave balance annual leave cashing out agreement, a record of how much was paid, the amount cashed out and when the payment was made
Superannuation records	amount paid pay period date(s) paid the fund name the contribution was made to reason the employer paid into the fund
Termination records	how the employment was ended if notice was provided and if so, how much the name of the person who ended the employment
If applicable, transfer of business records	records of any transferring employees records of employees who have transferred within 3 months of the sale
If applicable, individual flexibility agreement	a copy of the written agreement a copy of any notice or agreement to end the flexibility agreement
If applicable, guarantee of annual earnings	the guarantee date the guarantee was cancelled

Pay slips

Pay slips must be issued to employees within one working day of their pay day, either in electronic or hard form.

A pay slip must include all of the following:

the employer's name
the employer's ABN
the employee's name
the date of payment
the pay period
the gross and net amount of payment
any loadings (including casual loading), monetary allowances, bonuses, incentive-based payments, penalty rates, or other separately identifiable entitlement paid.

Additionally, where relevant, a pay slip must include any of the following:

if the employee is paid an hourly pay rate, the ordinary hourly pay rate and the number of hours worked at that rate and the amount of payment made at that rate
if the employee is paid an annual rate of pay (salary), the rate as at the last day in the pay period
any deductions made, including the name, or the name and number, of the fund or the account of each deduction
if the employer is required to make superannuation contributions for the benefit of the employee:
- the amount of each contribution the employer made or intends to make during the pay period
- the name, or name and number, of any superannuation fund into which the contributions were made or will be made.

Payslips shouldn’t include information about family and domestic violence leave. It should instead be recorded as ordinary hours of work or otherwise to make it appear that the employee has not taken leave. Employers must still keep a record of this leave balance.

Penalties and consequences

Penalties may be imposed on employers for record keeping and pay slip contraventions and for knowingly making or keeping false or misleading records. Knowingly giving or producing false or misleading information or documents to Fair Work officials may also be a criminal offence.

Maintaining good employment records also benefits employers in the event that an employee brings a wage-related claim against the employer. Where no record exists, the onus will be on the employer to disprove the claim.