How long do businesses have to keep employee records in Australia?
How long a business should hold on to private information?
Most Australian employers must keep employee records for at least seven years after the records are created or after employment ends, depending on the type of record.
These records include:
- Employee details
- Pay records
- Hours worked
- Leave records
- Superannuation records
- Termination records
Once the legal retention period has expired, confidential records should be securely destroyed rather than simply placed in recycling or general waste. If you're concerned about how long you should be retaining certain records, you can always check on business.gov.au.
When these documents are
destroyed (correctly) you can greatly impact the risk to the business that becomes evident when personal information falls into the wrong hands. Protect your business, employees and anyone else impacted by your strategies but engaging with an accredited NAID.
This article was first published in July 2027
