Proper Record Keeping is the ‘Bedrock of Compliance’

Fair work has long acknowledged that record keeping can be quite involved and tedious, but it has been acknowledged by the courts that record-keeping is the “bedrock of compliance with the Fair Work Act and the minimum standards under a modern Award”, because without it, it is very difficult to be sure workers have been paid correctly.

Doing the right thing when it comes to records protects employers, as well as employees. Making and keeping proper records ensures that everyone can check that the pay a worker receives corresponds with the hours worked, and that the right pay rate has been paid.

It is accepted that an employer must make, and keep for 7 years, employee records that specify:

• ​​the rate of remuneration paid to the employee;​​​

• ​the gross and net amounts paid to the employee;

• any deductions made from the gross amount paid to the employee;

• ​if an employee is a casual or irregular part time employee who is guaranteed a rate of pay set by reference to a period of time worked, the hours worked by the employee (such as a time sheet);

• ​if the employee is entitled to be paid an incentive-based payment, bonus, loading, penalty rate, another monetary allowance or separately identifiable entitlement, the details of the payment.

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