Employment Separation Certificates for employers

We may ask you to complete an Employment Separation Certificate (ESC) when either of the following applies:

• someone stops working for you
• your employee decreases their working hours or changes from full time to casual work.

An employee or former employee can also ask for an ESC.

You must provide an ESC if we, an employee, or former employee request one. We encourage you to provide a printed copy of the information to your former employee, for their own records.

Ways to submit the certificate

You can submit an ESC online through Business Hub or by paper form. But you can’t submit a certificate using STP. If you report via STP, we get certain cessation information automatically. This has reduced the number of separation certificate requests for employers.

You must supply a separation certificate if your former employee requests one.

We’re working on changes that will reduce the number of requests even further.

Business Hub

The easiest way to complete and submit an ESC online through Business Hub.

Register for Business Hub services

To submit ESCs, register your business in Business Hub. You don’t have to register again if you already registered for the Paid Parental Leave scheme.

If you need help with registration, read how to access Business Hub.

For more information, or if you don’t have an Australian Business Number (ABN), please call us on 131 158.

How to submit an ESC online

Follow these steps to submit an ESC using Business Hub:

1. Register for Provider Digital Access (PRODA) if you don’t have a PRODA account.
2. You’ll need to register for Business Hub. Use the Registration Authority (RA) number from your PRODA account to register for Business Hub.
3. To provide an ESC to us, select the Employment Separation Certificate tile on the Business Hub homepage.
4. Enter the details of your employee, including dates and reason for termination and any termination payment.
5. Review the details you entered. To change any details select Edit.
6. To submit the ESC, tick the I accept this declaration box, then select Submit.
7. Save the receipt number for future reference on the Confirmation page.

Technical difficulties

Contact our National Business Gateway helpdesk if you experience technical difficulties.

If you need urgent help, you can call the helpdesk on 131 158.

For help with Provider Digital Access (PRODA), please call or email the PRODA team.

Paper form

If you can't use Business Hub, you can download, print and fill out the Employment Separation Certificate form. You can then hand it back to the employee, or fax it to us on 132 115.

You can also provide the information on your business letterhead. You, or a pay officer you have authorised, should sign the certificate and keep a copy for your own records.

Circumstances other than termination of employment

You may need to complete a certificate in circumstances other than termination of employment. Use the Reason for separation section to provide more information.

For example, you can provide more detail about a decrease in working hours or a change from full time to casual work.

Freedom of Information and the certificate

We may release all the information contained in or attached to the certificate to any person under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

If you want any of this information treated in confidence, please attach a statement indicating which information, and give your reasons. We will consider it if you make a request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.