Private sector employers and employees
Telephone: 1300 655 266
Mailing address
Locked Bag 100
East Perth WA 6892
This information is only relevant to employers and employees in the WA state industrial relations system – sole traders, unincorporated partnerships, unincorporated trusts and some incorporated or not for profit organisations. Find out more on the Guide to who is in the WA state system page.
If you operate or are employed by a Pty Ltd business – you can find information on this topic on the Fair Work Ombudsman website.
Learn more at Upcoming changes to state employment laws in Western Australia.
All state system employers are legally required to keep employment records.
Employment records can be written or electronic as long as they are in a form that can be printed. The records must be in English. Time and wage books can be used to keep employment records, however, it is the employer's responsibility to ensure the time and wage book includes all of the required information. Employers must keep all employment records for at least seven years after they are made for both current and past employees. Records relating to long service leave must be kept during the period of employment and for seven years from the date employment ends.
It is the employer who is legally required to keep the correct employment records. If the employer uses a third party (such as a book keeper) to manage payroll, the legal responsibility is still on the employer to ensure that the required information is collected and maintained.
Employers can be fined up to $5,000 by the Industrial Magistrates Court for not keeping employment records or for keeping inadequate or fraudulent records. A common requirement that employers fail to observe is a lack of detail in keeping employment records, particularly for employees covered by a WA award.
Employers can also be fined for not providing employment records to Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety Industrial Inspectors. Industrial inspectors have statutory powers to investigate complaints from employees where appropriate and employers are obliged to provide records when required to do so.
It is compulsory for employers to keep employment records for all employees detailing:
If an employee is covered by a WA award, the employer must record the following additional information:
For information on who can access employment records, visit the Access to employment records page
Wageline has two employment record obligation publications to help state system employers keep correct employment records.
The two publications each feature helpful step by step guides to record keeping and Wageline’s new look record keeping templates.
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