Pay Slip Requirements

Employers have to give all employees a pay slip within 1 working day of their pay day, even when they’re on leave.

Pay slips need to have certain information on them - employers can use our pay slip templates to make sure they are meeting their obligations.

Pay slips should be issued electronically or on paper.

It's best practice for them to be written in plain and simple English.

What information must be on the pay slip?

Pay slips have to include:

• the employer’s name (e.g. XYZ Pty Ltd trading as XYZ Pie Shop)
• the employer’s Australian Business Number (if applicable)
• the employee’s name
• the date of payment
• the pay period (the period that the payment is for eg. 24/3/12 to 30/3/12)
• the gross pay and net pay
• loadings, allowances, bonuses, incentive-based payments, penalty rates or other paid entitlements that can be singled out
• if the employee is paid an hourly rate:
  • the ordinary hourly rate
  • the number of hours worked at that rate
  • the amount of pay at that rate
• if the employee is paid an annual rate (salary), the rate as at the last day in the pay period
• any deductions from the employee's pay, including:
  • the amount and details of each deduction
  • the name and number of the fund / account the deduction was paid into
• any superannuation contributions paid for the employee’s benefit, including:
  • the amount of contributions made during the pay period (or the amount of contributions that need to be made)
  • the name and number of the superannuation fund the contributions were made to.

Note: employers who pay a defined benefit interest into a defined benefit fund don’t have to include these contributions in the pay slip.

Should leave balances be on pay slips?

While it is best practice to show  employee’s leave balances on their pay slip, it’s not a requirement. Employers need to tell employees their leave balance if  they ask for it. See Time and wages records for more information.

Deductions

Employers  can only deduct money from an employee's pay in certain circumstances. See the Permitted deductions page for details.

Any permitted deduction will also need to be shown on the employees pay slip and in the employers time and wages records.

What happens if I don’t give my employees pay slips?

Fair Work Inspectors can give employers a fine (penalty infringement notice) for not giving employees proper pay slips or keeping the right records. Fair Work Inspectors can also take employers to court if their failure to meet the requirements is serious, wilful or repetitive.

Electronic pay slips

Electronic pay slips must have the same information as paper pay slips. They need to be given to each employee by email or into a personal account. They cannot just be stored on a database.