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EmployeesCommonwealthMinimum retention

Employee pay records

How long should Australian employers keep employee pay records, and when does the clock start?

Keep for7 years
Clock startsNot stated in the Act
Applies toNational system employersMost private-sector employers

General information, not legal advice or permission to destroy a record. Coverage may be incomplete or out of date. Check the official text, other applicable obligations and any investigations, disputes or legal holds before disposal. Get advice for your situation. Terms of use.

Under the Fair Work Act 2009, national system employers must keep employee pay records for at least 7 years. Clock starts: not stated in the Act.

Pay records: rates of pay, gross and net amounts paid, deductions, and any loadings, allowances, penalty rates, incentive payments and bonuses.

2 provisions in 2 laws apply to these records. Each one is set out below with its own period and start date.

The terms

s 535(1)Fair Work Act 2009
7 years
Start not stated
r 3.33(1)–(3)Fair Work Regulations 2009
No period stated
Start not stated

What records are included Legal requirement

Pay records show how each employee was paid. They include:

  • the rate of pay
  • gross and net amounts paid
  • any deductions from the amount paid
  • where they apply, loadings, allowances, penalty rates, incentive payments and bonuses

Hours and overtime, leave, superannuation and termination information are separate prescribed records. See related records.

Conditions and exceptions Caution

Neither the Fair Work Act nor the Regulations say when the 7 years starts.

Employers outside the national system, such as some state public-sector employers, are covered by state law instead.

From the provisions:

  • The record must be of a kind prescribed by the regulations
  • Additional content requirements apply if the employee is casual/irregular part-time paid by time worked, or entitled to incentive payments, bonuses, loadings, penalty rates or other allowances/entitlements

The law

Fair Work Act 2009, s 535(1) · Employer obligations in relation to employee recordsOfficial text ↗
An employer must make, and keep for 7 years, employee records of the kind prescribed by the regulations in relation to each of its employees.
Text as at 7 July 2026
Fair Work Regulations 2009, r 3.33(1)–(3) · Records—payOfficial text ↗
For subsection 535(1) of the Act, a kind of employee record that an employer must make and keep is a record that specifies: (a) the rate of remuneration paid to the employee; and (b) the gross and net amounts paid to the employee; and (c) any deductions made from the gross amount paid to the employee.
Text as at 20 June 2026
Fair Work Act 2009s 535(1) · Federal Register of Legislation
Legislation ↗
Fair Work Regulations 2009r 3.33(1)–(3) · Federal Register of Legislation
Legislation ↗
Fair Work OmbudsmanOfficial guidance
Guidance ↗

Other terms that apply to these records

This page covers employee pay records on their own. The same file is often caught by other laws as well, with different periods and start dates. See why a legal term is not a schedule.

4 records. 4 sets of rules. They don't agree.

One business file can hold all of these at once.

Employee pay records7yFair Work Act 2009, s 535(1) · not stated in the Act
Business tax records5yIncome Tax Assessment Act 1936, s 262A(1), (4) · later of preparation or the transaction
Superannuation guarantee records5–7ySuperannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992, s 79(4) · later of preparation or the transaction (SG)
Personal information no longer neededDestroyPrivacy Act 1988, Schedule 1, APP 11.2, APP 4.3 · no longer needed for any permitted purpose

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