Seven years. Full stop. Under the Fair Work Act 2009 (s.535), every Australian employer must retain pay records — including payslip copies — for a minimum of seven years. Miss that obligation and you're looking at penalties up to $93,900 per contravention for corporations. Fair Work inspectors know exactly what to ask for. They will ask.
- 7 years — the mandatory retention period under the Fair Work Act 2009 (s.535). No exceptions.
- Up to $93,900 per contravention for corporations in 2025/26 — each missing record is its own contravention.
- Digital storage is fine — provided records are in English, accessible, and printable for inspectors.
- Set deletion reminders per employee, not per business — the clock starts from each individual's last record entry.
What the Fair Work Act Requires You to Keep
Section 535 of the Fair Work Act 2009, read alongside the Fair Work Regulations 2009, specifies exactly which records every employer must retain. The 7-year minimum is non-negotiable — one employee or one thousand, the rule is identical.
Records must be in English — or readily convertible to English — and produced for a Fair Work Inspector on request. Here is the full mandatory list:
| Record Type | What Must Be Included |
|---|---|
| Pay records | Employee name, employment type, pay rate, gross and net pay, deductions, superannuation contributions, leave balances |
| Payslip copies | A copy of every payslip issued to the employee |
| Hours worked | Required for casual and part-time employees; number of hours worked each pay period |
| Award / agreement details | The applicable modern award, enterprise agreement, or individual arrangement |
The Fair Work Act payslip requirements govern what must appear on each payslip. The record-keeping rules govern what you must store after issuing it. Both apply simultaneously — and both are enforced.
Penalties for Non-Compliance
- Individuals: up to $18,780 per contravention
- Corporations: up to $93,900 per contravention
- Both figures apply under the Fair Work Act civil penalty provisions (updated for 2025/26 indexation)
Two distinct scenarios each attract their own contravention: failing to keep records at all, and keeping records that are false or misleading. The second isn't reserved for deliberate fraud. Incomplete records, inconsistent figures, payslips that can't be located — all of it can cross that line.
Under s.709 of the Fair Work Act, a Fair Work Inspector can enter your workplace and request pay records without a warrant. If those records aren't available on the spot, the burden shifts to you to explain why.
How to Store Payslip Records Compliantly
Consider James, a Melbourne café owner who stored payslips in a shared email folder for three years — then had a staff turnover and lost access to the account. When a Fair Work audit came, he couldn't produce records for two former employees. Two employees. Two separate contraventions. The lesson is blunt: storage method matters as much as the 7-year rule itself.
A three-step approach eliminates most of the risk:
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1
Choose a storage method — and commit to it. Digital and paper are both accepted under the Fair Work Act. Digital records must be accessible and printable in a readable format. A payroll platform that auto-generates timestamped payslip PDFs is the cleanest solution available. Personal email inboxes and local hard drives without backups are not storage strategies — they are liability. See how to create a payslip in Australia for the full requirements checklist.
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2
Lock down access. Payslip records contain personal information regulated under the Privacy Act 1988. Restrict access to authorised payroll and HR staff only. Document who holds access and review it every time your team changes. Cloud storage? Enable audit logs — they are your paper trail inside the paper trail.
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3
Set deletion schedules per employee — not per business. The 7-year clock starts from the date the record was made, not from when the employee departed. A blanket "purge everything older than 7 years" approach misses this entirely. Calendar a review for each departing employee individually. For casual employee payslip requirements, hours-worked records must be included in that same retention schedule.
“PayslipMate stores and timestamps every generated payslip automatically — your 7-year archive builds itself, with no manual filing required.
The EOFY payslip checklist is a reliable annual prompt to verify your archive is complete and accessible before the new financial year opens.
Keep payslip records for 7 years. Store them securely. Make sure a Fair Work Inspector can access them on request. Penalties are assessed per contravention — one missing file can cost an individual employer nearly $19,000. Build the right system once, and it protects you indefinitely.
Generate compliant payslips and build your 7-year archive automatically.
Generate Compliant Payslips with PayslipMateFrequently Asked Questions
How long do employers have to keep payslip records in Australia?
Australian employers must keep pay records and payslip copies for a minimum of 7 years under the Fair Work Act 2009 (s.535) and the Fair Work Regulations 2009. This applies to all employers covered by the national workplace relations system.
Can payslip records be stored digitally in Australia?
Yes. The Fair Work Act accepts digital records, provided they are in English (or easily converted), accessible, and producible in a readable format when a Fair Work Inspector requests them. Cloud-based payroll platforms that auto-archive payslips satisfy this requirement cleanly.
What is the penalty for not keeping payslip records?
As of 2025/26, civil penalties reach up to $18,780 per contravention for individuals and $93,900 per contravention for corporations. Each missing or falsified record is treated as a separate contravention — gaps across multiple employees multiply fast.
Does the 7-year rule apply to casual employees too?
Yes — and for casuals, the obligation is broader. You must also retain records of hours worked each pay period, on top of standard pay record information. See the full breakdown of casual employee payslip requirements for what must appear on the payslip itself.
When does the 7-year clock start?
It starts from the date the record was made — not from the employee's termination date. A pay record created in July 2019 must be retained until July 2026, regardless of whether that employee is still with you. Set reminders per employee, not per business anniversary.
```htmlDo payslip records need to be kept for employees who resigned or were terminated?
Absolutely. The 7-year retention obligation continues after employment ends. Many businesses make the mistake of purging records when an employee leaves — that's precisely when Fair Work disputes and underpayment claims tend to surface. Keep terminated employee records in a separate archive, clearly labelled with the final employment date.
Bottom Line
Australian employers must retain payslips and pay records for 7 years from the date each record is made — not from termination, and not from the financial year end. The obligation applies to every employee type: full-time, part-time, and casual alike.
- Store records digitally or on paper — both satisfy the Fair Work Act
- Records must be in English and producible on request
- Penalties reach up to $93,900 per contravention for corporations
- Casuals require additional records of hours worked each pay period
- Set retention reminders per record date, not per employee exit date
Generate Audit-Ready Payslips in Minutes
PayslipMate produces compliant Australian payslips with all required fields — automatically archived so your 7-year records look after themselves.
Try PayslipMate FreeShawn Martinez, CPA
Senior Tax Accountant
Shawn Martinez is a Certified Public Accountant with over 12 years of experience in Australian taxation and payroll compliance. He specializes in PAYG withholding, superannuation regulations, and ATO compliance for small to medium businesses.
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