The Fair Work Agency (FWA) comes to life 7 April 2026. A government body that will have the power to enforce employment rights including statutory pay and leave. How you manage your employment record keeping is going to be your greatest protection against any concerns that they may raise.

The FWA will have to power to investigate concerns that your business may not be complying with the law and will even be able to bring a claim on behalf of your employees to tribunal.

Sounds scary right? BUT if you are already doing things the right way then it needn’t be. And your biggest defence will be your employment record keeping.
✅ Log ALL absences, the ‘type’ of absence it is and how long it lasts.
✅Make sure that for sickness all self-certificates and fitness to work notes are kept securely, records should also show where there are linked absences.
✅Ensure you are keeping the records for the correct amount of time including the payroll information for statutory payments (this should be in your Privacy Notice already)

Specific employment record keeping requirements under ERA25 includes holiday and holiday pay, records that demonstrate compliance with the working time regulations and records related to dismissal and redundancy.

Holiday wall charts and endless spreadsheets just aren’t sufficient anymore.

To make sure you are logging all the information you to need too, that it is secure and compliant with GDPR and that you can access it in seconds, if you aren’t using a HRIS yet you really should be thinking about implementing one.

We partner with Breathe a system that once set up will give you the peace of mind that your record keeping and reporting are on track, let us know if you’d like any more information on Breathe or what else you need to be aware of as the ERA25 rolls out.