Q. Since paid personal/carer’s leave is a minimum entitlement under the Fair Work Act, should we provide employees with their leave balance details?

A. It would seem there is no obligation on an employer to provide employee’s leave balances (including personal/carer’s leave) on an employee’s payslip, but there is a statutory obligation in relation to time and wages records.

In regard to records relating to leave, the Fair Work Regulation 2009 provides as follows: 
 

Time and wages records

Leave records

If an employee is entitled to leave:

  • any leave that the employee takes

  • the balance (if any) of the employee’s entitlement to that leave from time to time.


Payslips

A payslip must specify:

  • an employer’s name

  • an employee’s name

  • the period to which the pay slip relates

  • the date on which the payment was made

  • the gross amount of payment

  • the net amount of payment

  • any amount paid to the employee that is a bonus, loading, allowance, penalty rate, incentive-based payment, or other separately identifiable entitlement, and the Australian Business Number (if any) of the employer.

The Regulation does not provide for leave balances to be provided on an employee’s payslip. The Fair Work Ombudsman’s website states that “while it is best practice to show employee’s leave balances on their payslip, it’s not a requirement. Employees do need to be told their leave balances if they ask for it.”


The bottom line

While an employer is not obliged to divulge an employee’s personal/carer’s leave balance on payslips, it is considered by the Fair Work Ombudsman to be best practice to do so. An employer tells employees their current balance of accrued leave when requested.