What time records does Fair Work require from Australian trade businesses?

If you employ people in Australia, keeping proper time and wages records is a legal requirement. Trade businesses get caught out less from bad intent than from habits that made sense with two people and a ute: day rates, end-of-week timesheets written from memory, and records scattered across a diary and a phone.

This guide sets out what the Fair Work Ombudsman says you must keep, what happens when records are missing, and how to make good records a by-product of running jobs. It is general information. For your own situation, check the Fair Work Ombudsman or your payroll adviser.

What time and wages records does Fair Work require?

Employers must keep time and wages records for every employee, covering the pay rate, the hours worked for casual and irregular part-time staff, overtime hours with start and finish times, and leave taken and owing. The Fair Work Ombudsman says the records must be legible, in English and readily accessible to a Fair Work Inspector.

The Fair Work Ombudsman’s record-keeping page sets out the full list. For a typical landscaping, concreting or building crew, the items that matter day to day are:

• The pay rate paid to each employee.
• For casual and irregular part-time employees, the hours they work.
• Overtime hours, including start and finish times.
• Leave taken, and how much leave each employee has.

How long do you have to keep time and wages records?

Seven years. The Fair Work Ombudsman states that employers have to keep time and wages records for seven years, and that applies to former employees as well as current ones. A labourer who worked for you in 2020 can still raise a claim that your records need to answer.

If you also operate in New Zealand, the rule is different: NZ employers must keep wage and time records for six years, including the hours worked each day in a pay period.

When do pay slips have to be issued?

Within one working day of payday. The Fair Work Ombudsman’s pay slip rules say pay slips have to be given to an employee within one working day of pay day, even when the employee is on leave. Most payroll software can issue them automatically.

Is paying a day rate enough?

A day rate does not remove the need to record hours. The minimum pay, overtime and allowances an employee is entitled to come from the relevant award, and if the hours actually worked turn a day rate into less than the award requires, the shortfall is owed regardless of what was agreed.

Most outdoor construction employees are covered by an award such as the Gardening and Landscaping Services Award 2020 or the Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020. Recording real start and finish times is the only way to show a day rate stays above the award once overtime and allowances are counted.

Do casuals and apprentices need records too?

Yes. Casual employees need the same time and wages records, and the Fair Work Ombudsman specifically requires a record of the hours worked by casual and irregular part-time employees. Apprentices need accurate records because their minimum pay changes as their apprenticeship progresses.

The Fair Work Ombudsman explains that apprentice pay rates depend on how long the apprenticeship is and how much training has been completed, with progression that can be time-based or competency-based. Without good records it is easy to miss a pay increase an apprentice has earned.

What happens if your records are missing or wrong?

Missing or poor records expose you twice: to penalties for the record-keeping breach itself, and to wage claims you cannot defend. The Fair Work Ombudsman can issue infringement notices, and in court the burden can shift to the employer to disprove a wage claim when required records were not kept.

Infringement notices for record-keeping and pay slip breaches are listed by the Fair Work Ombudsman at up to 6 penalty units per breach for an individual and up to 30 for a corporation. The dollar value of a penalty unit is indexed each July, so check the page for current amounts. Courts can also impose penalties.

The bigger risk is often the claim itself. The Fair Work Ombudsman’s record-keeping fact sheet explains that where an employer has not kept or provided required records, the employer will be required to disprove the wage-related allegation in court, unless they had a reasonable excuse. Without records, you may end up paying a claim you believe is wrong.

How do you make record keeping part of the job?

Record time where the work happens, against the job, on the phone the crew already carries. When time is captured on site and flows into payroll and job costing, compliant records become a by-product of running jobs, and nobody fills in timesheets from memory on a Friday afternoon.

• Capture time on site. In Fergus, staff can add time to jobs in the Fergus Go app.
• Approve weekly. Review and approve timesheets every week, while people still remember the details.
• Record overtime properly. Start and finish times, not just totals.
• Keep it digital and backed up. Seven years is a long time for a paper timesheet in a ute.
• Check quarterly. Ten minutes each quarter to confirm every employee’s records are complete.

How does WorkArc use the hours your crew records?

WorkArc does not run payroll or give compliance advice. What it does is put the hours your crew already logs in Fergus to work: ArcPulse compares the labour booked to each job against what was quoted, so a job running over on hours shows up while it can still be managed.

Good time records protect you if a question is ever asked, and they also tell you what each job really cost. Capture them once, properly, and both jobs are done.