Final pay time limit: when your employer must pay you
Most awards give the employer seven days to pay everything owed. Enter your salary and service to see what that payment should contain.
In Australia the deadline for final pay comes from the award or agreement that covers the job. Most modern awards require the employer to pay all wages and entitlements no later than 7 days after the day on which employment ends. Where no award or enterprise agreement applies, the Fair Work Act sets no specific time limit and the Fair Work Ombudsman recommends payment on the last day or within 7 days. Final pay must include outstanding wages, accrued annual leave with loading where applicable, payment in lieu of notice if notice is not worked, redundancy pay where it is owed and long service leave under state law. For an employee on $85,000 with three years of service who is dismissed with 10 days of leave owing, notice and leave alone come to $6,538 before tax. A payslip must follow within one working day of payment.
What your final pay should contain
Notice and leave owed, gross
$6,538
| Notice in lieu | $3,269 |
| 10 days of annual leave | $3,269 |
| Due within | 7 days under most awards |
Updated on · Radif Partners · Editorial policy
What final pay must include
| Component | When it is owed |
|---|---|
| Wages to the last day, with any penalty rates and allowances | Always |
| Accrued annual leave | Always |
| Annual leave loading | If it would have been paid on leave taken |
| Payment in lieu of notice | If notice is not worked |
| Redundancy pay | On a genuine redundancy, after 12 months of service |
| Long service leave | According to the state or territory Act |
| Time off in lieu not yet taken | At the overtime rate, under most awards |
| Personal (sick) leave | Not paid unless an agreement provides it |
The amounts are worked out to the last day of employment. Where notice is paid in lieu, that day is the day of payment; where notice is worked, it is the last day worked, and leave continues to accrue until then.
Where the seven days come from
The Fair Work Commission inserted a standard clause into nearly all modern awards in 2018: the employer must pay wages due for work up to termination, and all other amounts due under the award and the National Employment Standards, no later than seven days after the day employment terminates. The clause replaced a patchwork in which some awards required payment on the last day and others were silent. Enterprise agreements have their own clauses, often “on the next normal pay day”. For award-free and agreement-free employees the contract governs, and if it is silent, payment falls due within a reasonable time.
Counting the days
Day one is the day after employment ends. If you are paid in lieu of notice, employment ends on the day you are told and the seven days run from then. If you work out your notice, they run from your last day. Weekends and public holidays count, since the clause refers to days, not business days. An employer whose pay run falls outside the period must make a separate payment.
If the pay is short rather than late
Shortfalls are more common than outright non-payment. The usual ones are leave paid at the base rate without loading, notice in lieu paid without the allowances and penalties that would have been earned, redundancy pay calculated on the wrong length of service, and long service leave left out because the employer applied the wrong state rule. Compare the payslip line by line with the final pay calculator, then raise any difference in writing with the figures.
Tax and super on a final pay
Tax is withheld at the time of payment, by different methods for each component: ordinary withholding on wages, the lump sum rules on leave, and the employment termination payment table on notice in lieu and the taxable part of redundancy. Superannuation is due on the wages and on payment in lieu of notice, and from 1 July 2026 it must be paid at the same time as the pay rather than at the end of the quarter. The guide to super on termination pay lists which lines count.
Recovering unpaid entitlements
The Fair Work Ombudsman can investigate, issue a compliance notice and, in serious cases, take the employer to court. You can also sue directly. The small claims procedure, in the Federal Circuit and Family Court or a state magistrates court, handles claims up to $100,000, is informal, and normally does not allow lawyers without leave. Interest can be awarded. Since 1 January 2025, intentional underpayment of wages and entitlements is a criminal offence for the employer.
When the employer is insolvent
If the business has gone into liquidation or bankruptcy and cannot pay, the Fair Entitlements Guarantee, run by the Australian Government, covers unpaid wages up to 13 weeks, annual leave, long service leave, payment in lieu of notice up to five weeks and redundancy pay up to four weeks per year of service, each subject to a maximum weekly wage. A claim must be lodged within 12 months of the end of employment or of the insolvency, whichever is later. Unpaid super is not covered and is pursued through the ATO.