Timesheets: Boring Until the Day They Save You
Under the Fair Work Act, you have to keep employee records (hours, pay, leave, super) for seven years. That is longer than most gym memberships and New Year’s resolutions combined. And “about eight hours, give or take” doesn’t cut it. For anyone on overtime, penalty rates, or paid by the hour (your casuals and irregular part-timers), the law wants real start and finish times, breaks and all. If it ever comes down to “he said, she said”, you want receipts, not a vague recollection from a Tuesday in March.
The fix:
- Log real times, not guesses
- Record it as the shift happens, day by day, not when payday panic sets in
- Keep it for the full seven years, somewhere safe and somewhere you’ll remember exists
- Write it down. Memory is not a legal document. If your records are missing and someone claims they were underpaid, the burden flips onto you. No records means you have to prove you paid correctly, not the other way around.
Since January 2025, deliberate underpayment can be a criminal offence. Honest mistakes are not, but good records provide the best protection.