s117: s 117 Give written notice of termination, or pay in lieu, for the minimum period
An employer does not terminate an employee's employment without first giving written notice of the day of termination and either allowing at least the minimum notice period (1 week for up to 1 year of continuous service, 2 weeks for 1 to 3 years, 3 weeks for 3 to 5 years, 4 weeks over 5 years, plus 1 week if the employee is over 45 with at least 2 years' service) or paying in lieu at the full rate of pay for the hours the employee would have worked. Excluded: fixed period, task or season employees, serious misconduct, casuals, certain trainees, daily hire construction and meat workers and others listed in s 123.
Our statement of the clause of Australia Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), held and verified: cite it as s117. The instrument verbatim is not quoted here; the held framework carries the reading.
The evidence this duty asks you to hold
Written termination letters stating the termination date; Notice period calculation for each termination based on continuous service and age; Payment in lieu calculations at the full rate of pay
What usually goes missing
Oral terminations with no written notice; Over-45 additional week omitted; Payment in lieu at base rate excluding regular allowances
Where this lands in an audit
In Equal Pay Auditor this control informs the same-work screen, the category figures and the remediation steps, which carry their article citations on the result.