Which records must be kept?
The Fair Work Act 2009 and the Fair Work Regulations set the record-keeping obligations that underpin Payday Super. The records most relevant to getting super right are:
- Hours worked, where pay depends on them — start, finish and unpaid breaks for casual or irregular work, or where penalties, overtime or loadings apply.
- Pay records — pay rate, gross and net amounts, and any deductions or loadings.
- Superannuation records — contributions made, including amounts and fund.
- Records kept for seven years, legible, in English, and unaltered except to fix a genuine error.
What Payday Super changes about timing
The obligations above are not new; the cadence is. Super is now paid every run and must be received by the fund within 7 business days of payday, so an error in the hours flows into the super that same week. Under the quarterly system you had up to a quarter to catch it. Under Payday Super you have days.
Get the hours right before they reach payroll
The records obligation is easiest to meet when the hours are correct before they enter payroll. A worked-hour record that is captured at the source and cannot be quietly altered is one you do not have to reconstruct under a seven-day clock.
That is what the Workforce Ledger Evidentiary Standard (WLES) describes: hours verified on site, approved by the supervisor, and sealed into a tamper-evident record before payroll. Flostruction does not calculate wages, award entitlements, tax, or superannuation — your payroll and super systems do, starting from records that are not in dispute.
Payday Super record-keeping: FAQ
What records do I need for Payday Super?
Payday Super does not create a separate record set. You must still keep the time and wages and superannuation records required under the Fair Work Act and Fair Work Regulations — pay rates, amounts paid, hours worked where pay varies, and superannuation contributions. What changes is timing: those records must be correct every pay run, because super is now paid every run.
How long must super and pay records be kept?
Seven years under the Fair Work Regulations. Records must be accurate, legible, in English, and not altered except to correct a genuine error, and they must be able to be produced if a Fair Work Inspector asks.
Why does record-keeping matter more under Payday Super?
Because the window to fix an error shrinks from a quarter to days. Super is calculated on paid earnings, which come from worked hours; if the hours are wrong the super is wrong, and you now find out — and must correct it — every pay run rather than once a quarter.
What happens if records are missing or wrong?
If an employee makes an underpayment claim and the employer has not kept the records it was required to keep, the Fair Work Act places the burden on the employer to disprove the claim. Underpaid super can also trigger the Super Guarantee Charge, which is not tax deductible.
Sources: Australian Taxation Office, Payday Super; Fair Work Ombudsman, Record-keeping and pay slips.