Final Pay Checklist
Work through this checklist in order before you accept a final payment. A final pay is not one payment — it is several payments, each with its own rule and its own tax. Tick each item off against your own figures, using the calculator linked at each step.
Rules checked October 2026 (FY2026-27 figures) · No signup — nothing you enter in a calculator leaves your browser.
1. Unpaid wages owed
Check: every ordinary hour you worked but have not yet been paid for, up to your last day. This is the simplest item and the easiest to overlook in a lump sum.
Tool: Final Pay Calculator — enter your unpaid wages there and they flow into the whole-pay total.
2. Notice period, or pay in lieu of notice
Check: whether you worked your notice, were paid in lieu of it, or a mix of both. The NES minimum notice for an employer ending permanent employment is:
| Continuous service | Minimum notice |
|---|---|
| 1 year or less | 1 week |
| More than 1 year, up to 3 years | 2 weeks |
| More than 3 years, up to 5 years | 3 weeks |
| More than 5 years | 4 weeks |
An employee over 45 years old with at least 2 years of continuous service gets one extra week of notice. Your award, agreement or contract may require more — it cannot require less. Casual employees are generally not entitled to NES notice, and dismissal for serious misconduct generally carries no notice. Pay in lieu of notice is generally not super-bearing (see item 8).
Tool: Final Pay Calculator (notice is part of the bundle).
3. Unused annual leave, plus loading
Check: your accrued but untaken annual leave balance, in weeks. It must be paid out at your base rate for the ordinary hours of the leave. Leave loading — usually 17.5% — is paid on the payout only if your award, agreement or contract would have paid it when you took the leave. Loading applies to annual leave only, never to long service leave.
Worked example: a New South Wales employee resigning after 10 years, on $1,520 a week, with 4 weeks of unused annual leave including loading: 4 × $1,520 × 1.175 = $7,144.00.
Tools: Annual Leave Calculator for the balance, Leave Payout Calculator for the payout figure. Background: Leave Payout on Termination.
4. Long service leave
Check: your state, your years of service, and why your employment ended — all three decide whether anything is payable. The full entitlement applies from 10 years in most states and 7 years in Victoria and the ACT. Below that, pro-rata payment from 5 or 7 years depends on the state and the reason: an ordinary resignation between 5 and 7 years in the ACT pays $0, and dismissal for serious or wilful misconduct pays $0 in the pro-rata window in every state. At or above the full mark, payment applies whatever the reason.
State calculators: New South Wales · Victoria · Queensland · Western Australia · South Australia · Australian Capital Territory. Combined leave figure: Leave Payout Calculator.
5. Redundancy pay
Check: whether your job was genuinely made redundant, and whether your employer is a small business (fewer than 15 employees) — NES redundancy pay generally does not apply to small business employers, though an award or agreement may still require it. The NES redundancy scale is worked out by the Redundancy Pay Calculator. For a genuine redundancy, the first $13,598 plus $6,801 per completed year of service (FY2026-27) is tax-free; anything above that is dealt with as an employment termination payment (see item 9).
Background: Redundancy Tax-Free Limit.
6. Personal leave: $0 on termination
Check: that no personal leave amount has been promised or assumed in your final pay. Unused personal and carer's leave is not paid out on termination, unless your award, agreement or contract provides otherwise. Its value is the leave you could have taken while employed — use the Personal Leave Calculator for that balance, and expect $0 for it in your final pay. Background: Personal Leave Explained.
7. If you are a casual: the loading, not a leave payout
Check: that you are not expecting a paid-leave payout. Casual employees are paid a loading — 25% under most modern awards, though some awards and agreements set a different figure — in lieu of paid annual leave, paid personal and carer's leave, notice of termination and redundancy pay. The loading is the compensation; there is no separate paid-leave payout on top of it.
Tool: Casual Loading Calculator. Background: Casual Loading Explained.
8. Superannuation: what it is — and is not — paid on
Check: that super has been paid on the ordinary-time earnings components of your final pay, and that you are not expecting it where it is not payable. No superannuation is payable on redundancy pay, on unused annual or long service leave payouts, or on pay in lieu of notice. (This is the rule applied in the site's Final Pay Calculator.) If super looks short, check it component by component rather than against the lump sum.
9. Tax: two different treatments, do not mix them up
Check: that leave and redundancy amounts have been taxed under the right schedule:
- Unused leave — ATO Schedule 7. Post-17 August 1993 leave is taxed at marginal rates by stacking it on your income so far this financial year. For a genuine redundancy, the tax on post-1993 leave is capped at 32% of that leave. Pre-1993 leave has its own flat treatments — see the Leave Payout Calculator.
- ETP amounts — ATO Schedule 11. Amounts above the genuine-redundancy tax-free limit are employment termination payments: 32% below preservation age, 17% at or above it, and 47% above the $270,000 ETP cap, including Medicare. The whole-of-income cap of $180,000 can also apply to non-excluded ETP amounts. See the ETP Tax Calculator. Background: ETP Tax Explained.
Unused leave is never part of the redundancy tax-free limit, and it is not an ETP.
10. Paperwork to check before you sign anything
Check these five things, and keep copies of all of them:
- Your final payslip, showing each component separately — not one unexplained total.
- Your income statement, showing how each amount was reported.
- Your leave balances — annual leave and long service leave — as at your last day.
- Any redundancy calculation in writing, showing the service years and rate used.
- Your due date. The Fair Work Act itself sets no single deadline. Most modern awards require final pay no later than 7 days after the day employment ends — check your award or agreement, because that is the date that binds your employer. Do not assume a date, and do not sign anything that says you accept the payment as full settlement until every item above checks out.
11. If something is missing
Raise it with your employer in writing first, showing your calculation for each component and keeping a copy. If that does not resolve it, contact the Fair Work Ombudsman or the Fair Work Commission. Do not let a missing component go because the lump sum "looks about right" — a missing loading, a wrong state rule or a misapplied tax cap is exactly how final pays come up short.
Work it out in one place
Run your own figures through the Final Pay Calculator for the whole payment, the Leave Payout Calculator for leave only, and the ETP Tax Calculator for redundancy excess. Background reading: Final Pay Guide.
Frequently asked questions
What is in a final pay?
Unpaid wages, pay in lieu of notice if you do not work your notice, unused annual leave with loading if your award, agreement or contract provides it, long service leave if your state's rules are met, and redundancy pay if your job was genuinely made redundant. Personal leave is not paid out. Each part has its own rule and its own tax treatment, so check them one by one rather than accepting a single lump sum.
Is unused annual leave always paid out when I leave?
Yes. Accrued but untaken annual leave must be paid out when employment ends, at your base rate for the ordinary hours of the leave. Leave loading is paid on the payout only if your award, agreement or contract would have paid it when you took the leave — most awards pay 17.5%, but check yours.
Is personal (sick and carer's) leave paid out on termination?
No. Unused personal and carer's leave is not paid out on termination, unless your award, agreement or contract provides otherwise. Its value is the leave you could have taken while employed, not a cash payout — which is why this checklist shows it as $0.
When is long service leave paid out?
It depends on your state. The full entitlement applies from 10 years in most states and 7 years in Victoria and the ACT. Below that, pro-rata payment from 5 or 7 years depends on your state and on why your employment ended — for example, an ordinary resignation between 5 and 7 years in the ACT pays $0, and dismissal for serious or wilful misconduct pays $0 in the pro-rata window in every state.
Is super paid on my final pay?
Superannuation is payable on ordinary-time earnings components of your final pay. No superannuation is payable on redundancy pay, on unused annual or long service leave payouts, or on pay in lieu of notice.
How is final pay taxed?
It is not taxed as one amount. Unused annual and long service leave are taxed under ATO Schedule 7: at marginal rates by stacking the payout on your income so far this financial year, capped at 32% of post-17 August 1993 leave for a genuine redundancy. Amounts above the genuine-redundancy tax-free limit are employment termination payments, taxed at 32% below preservation age, 17% at or above it, and 47% above the $270,000 ETP cap, including Medicare. The whole-of-income cap of $180,000 can also apply to non-excluded ETP amounts.
When must my final pay be paid?
The Fair Work Act itself sets no single deadline. Most modern awards require final pay no later than 7 days after the day employment ends — check your award or agreement, because that is the date that binds your employer.
What if my employer underpays my final pay?
Raise it with your employer in writing first, showing your calculation for each component and keeping a copy. If that does not resolve it, contact the Fair Work Ombudsman or the Fair Work Commission. Do not sign anything that says you accept the payment as full settlement until you have checked every item on this page.
What paperwork should I keep?
Keep your final payslip, your income statement, your leave balances, any redundancy calculation in writing, and every letter or email about your ending date, notice and reason for leaving. Keep them until your tax return for that financial year is lodged and assessed.
Sources
- Fair Work Ombudsman — Dismissal and minimum notice periods
- Fair Work Ombudsman — Ending employment
- Fair Work Ombudsman — Casual employees (named, no link: see the Fair Work Ombudsman site's casual employees page)
- Australian Taxation Office — genuine redundancy payments, Schedule 7 (unused leave payments on termination) and Schedule 11 (employment termination payments) (named, no link)
- Fair Work Act 2009 — National Employment Standards, including notice of termination and redundancy pay
Related tools
- Final Pay Calculator
- Leave Payout Calculator
- ETP Tax Calculator
- Annual Leave Calculator
- Personal Leave Calculator
- Redundancy Pay Calculator
- Casual Loading Calculator
Related guides
- Final Pay Guide
- Redundancy Tax-Free Limit
- Leave Payout on Termination
- ETP Tax Explained
- Personal Leave Explained
- Casual Loading Explained
- All guides
LeavePayout gives general information and estimates only. It is not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm your entitlement with your employer, your award or agreement, your state regulator, the Fair Work Ombudsman or the Australian Taxation Office.