A business is required to keep records and issue payslips to all staff, including friends and family members.

Employers who don’t keep proper records or issue payslips and find themselves in a situation where an employee makes a claim of underpayment regarding entitlements will be required to disprove any underpayment in court.

If no records or payslips have been kept then the court will assume the employees’ allegations are correct. The onus is on the employer to prove they have met their obligations. This is called reverse onus of proof and is part of the Fair Work Act.

And things can change over time which may affect your obligations as an employer. eg. on 26th March 2021, sections of the Fair Work Act relating to casual employees were amended.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has developed a series of online learning courses to assist businesses and employees to understand obligations and rights within the workplace. The courses are free and interactive and take around 20–40 minutes to complete.

For more information on the courses offered by the FWO please see link: FWO – Online Learning Centre