On 1 November 2018, changes to Long Service Leave entitlements in Victoria will come into effect. The Long Service Leave Act 2018 (Vic) received Royal Assent on 15 May 2018 and will replace the Long Service Leave Act 1992 (1992 Act). It will Impact all employees in Victoria, unless they are specifically excluded from the operation of the Act. The act changes the ways in which employees accrue and take long service leave in Victoria. As a managed payroll service, PaysOnline can give you the peace of mind you need when changes like these take place, with access to expert advice and a number of beneficial tools.

For more information regarding the changed in the act – see below.

Taking Long Service Leave

• Employees will be entitled to take long service leave after seven years of continuous employment with an employer (instead of after 10 years)
• Employees will be entitled to take single day periods of long service leave (instead of being required to take long service leave in one period)
• Employers must not refuse an employee’s request to take long service leave unless it is on reasonable business grounds; and
• Long service leave will continue to be paid based on an employee’s ‘ordinary time rate of pay’ and their ‘normal weekly hours’. However, if either of these are not fixed in an employee’s contract of employment (or in the latter case if their weekly hours have changed in the last two years), then they must be determined as follows:
  • The greater of the employee’s average weekly rate of pay over the last 12 months, five years or their entire period of employment; and
  • The greater of the employee’s average number of hours worked over the last 12 months, five years or their entire period of employment.

Accruing long service leave

• The absences that will not break an employee’s “continuous” period of service have been expanded to include:
  • For permanent employees: any periods of paid or unpaid parental leave (no longer limited to twelve months);
  • For casual or seasonal employees: periods of paid or unpaid parental leave that are not longer than 104 weeks;
  • Carer’s leave;
  • Leave taken on account of illness or injury;
  • Any other forms of leave that are provided for under relevant employment agreements;
  • If the employee is re-employed within 12 weeks of their dismissal or resignation (instead of after dismissal only); and
  • Any period of stand-down.

The absences that will count towards an employee’s period of continuous employment have been clarified and, in some cases, expanded, to include:

• All periods of paid leave;
• If a period of unpaid leave is 52 weeks or less: the whole period;
• If a period of unpaid leave is more than 52 weeks: the first 52 weeks ; and
• If a period of unpaid leave is more than 52 weeks and it is taken to be a period of employment in accordance with the relevant employment agreement, or by written agreement, or it is taken on account of illness or injury: the whole period.

In relation to a transfer of business, new employers must recognise any long service leave entitlements accrued by employees in the previous employment, including when assets (now including both tangible and intangible assets) are transferred to another employer and the employee performs duties in connection with those assets.

Other changes

• Employers must not refuse a request by an employee (or their representative) to provide long service leave records; and
• There are now adverse action provisions in the new Act which prohibit an employer from taking adverse action against an employee because that employee is entitled to long service leave or any other entitlement under the act.
• The definition of adverse action reflects that which is provided in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) but has been expanded to include action taken against an employee if the employer knowingly or recklessly makes a false representation about the employee’s long service leave entitlements.

Our Managed Payroll Service Can Help

It is extremely important for business’ in Victoria to review and update their payroll systems to ensure that these new entitlements will be correctly administered to employees. As a managed payroll service, PaysOnline will have you remaining compliant.

Contact us today to see how a managed payroll service can change your business for the better.

Business Victoria

Source – Smart Company

On Friday 1 June 2018, the Fair Work Commission increased the national minimum wage by 3.5 per cent from $694.90 to $719.20 per week. The change applies to employees that get their pay rates from the national minimum wage, a modern award or in some cases a registered agreement. If you’re not sure which award applies to your employees you can use Find my award on the Fair Work website. PaysOnline’s managed payroll solution can help mitigate compliance issues, keep reading to find out how we can assist you.

The increased pay rate will apply to base rates of pay from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2018. Once Fair Work releases the new rates for each award we will update them in the PaysOnline system.

PaysOnline managed payroll can assist in ensuring that you correctly pay your employees against their respective award classification. To easily manage the increase in employee wages, PaysOnline have two tools available for you to use – Pay Rate Admin and the Pay Rate Validation. Both tools allow you to see what rates you’re currently paying and whether any changes should be applied.

Applying the new pay rates is easy and there is no need to update employees individually. PaysOnline’s pay tools allow you to perform bulk updates for employees with just a few clicks, freeing up time for you to spend on more important things. Users simply choose the award and classification and apply the prescribed rates to each employee.

PaysOnline managed payroll solution helps take the stress out of payroll. Contact PaysOnline today for a customised solution!

Source

On the May 24 2018, Kelly O’Dwyer, the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services announced the commencement of a 12 month Superannuation Guarantee Amnesty (the Amnesty).

This is a one-off opportunity for employers to correct past super guarantee non-compliance without facing penalty.

Subject to the passage of legislation, the amnesty will run for twelve months from 24 May 2018.

Any employer who voluntarily discloses their previously undeclared Superannuation Guarantee (SG) shortfalls during the Amnesty and before the commencement of an audit of their SG will:

• Not be liable for the administration component and penalties that may otherwise apply to late SG payments, and
• Be able to claim a deduction for catch-up payments made in the 12 month period.

Employers must pay all employee entitlements, including the unpaid SG amounts owed to employees and the nominal interest, as well as any associated general interest charge (GIC). Outsourcing to a managed payroll provider such as ours means you will remain compliant against your obligations.

The Amnesty applies to previously undeclared SG shortfalls for any period from 1 July 1992 up to 31 March 2018. The Amnesty does not apply to the period starting on 1 April 2018 or subsequent periods.

Any employer who is not up-to-date with their superannuation guarantee payment obligations to their employees and who don’t come forward during this Amnesty may be subject to higher penalties in the future – generally, a minimum of 50% on top of the SG charged owed, O’Dwyer said. As a managed payroll service, we provide the option of paying super to your employees – correct and on-time, every time.

If you can pay the full SG amount directly to your employees’ super fund(s) then you can complete a payment form and submit to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) through their electronic business portal.

If you find that you are unable to pay the full amount, then you can complete and lodge a payment form wherein the ATO will contact you to discuss a payment plan. You can start payment before the ATO contacts you and this will reduce the GIC you would have to pay.

For more information visit the ATO’s website – https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Super-for-employers/Superannuation-Guarantee-Amnesty/

In an age where we rely heavily on the internet for personal and professional use it should come as no surprise that we are beginning to experience an increase in digital crime and internet fraud.  This is particularly important to us as outsourced payroll providers. With most standard security features requiring only a simple username and password combination, it has become increasingly easy for criminals to gain access to private data and maliciously use the information for personal gain. 

As an outsourced payroll provider, we’re constantly working towards better information handling and data storage security. In order to validate that you are ‘authentically’ you, we have introduced Two Factor Authentication (2FA) into our platform.  As Digital Service Providers for the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) we’re required to follow certain rules and regulations regarding securing data and sensitive information. The ATO have made this implementation of Two Factor Authentication a mandatory requirement for PaysOnline and all other Digital Service Providers. 

2FA increases the security of your account by requiring a second factor of authentication (something you have) in addition to your password (something you know).  This ‘something you have‘ must be something you actually posses and is specifically unique to only you. If you think about it, it is much harder for hackers to ‘prove’ that they have something that is unique to yourself.

PaysOnline have implemented and integrated the Google Authenticator desktop and phone application for use as our second factor. Google Authenticator generates one-time access codes. The number generated by the app will change every 30 seconds and is completely unique to your phone and account. The only entities who will know the code will be the app and the application in which it links to. This provides a more robust security system and one we’re confident will help keep your data even more secure.

See an example of the 2FA registration process.

We have created a page with instructions of the 2FA registration process for PaysOnline users.

How do I install the authentication app?

We’ve created an information page here.

Still have more questions?

We’ve created a list of question and answers here.

Considering outsourced payroll? Contact us today!

Single Touch Payroll – PaysOnline are ready, is your business?

Single Touch Payroll (STP) is the new payroll reporting system that will be compulsory for all businesses employing 20 or more staff from 1 July 2018, or 1 July 2019 if you employ less than 20 staff. With the date fast approaching, it is important that your business is taking the steps to become STP compliant. A Managed Payroll solution, such as PaysOnline, can help make this transition a little easier for your business.

Single Touch Payroll changes the way you report Pay as you Go (PAYG) and Superannuation information to the Australian Taxation Office. The Australian Taxation Office are introducing STP in the hope it provides real time visibility over the accuracy and timeliness of an organisation’s payroll processes, and aims to knuckle down on employers not complying with their superannuation contribution obligations.

As of 1 July 2018, employers are required to report PAYG and super after every payroll process rather than reporting monthly or quarterly.

You don’t need to worry about whether STP will change the way you process your payroll, you can still do it weekly, fortnightly, or monthly. STP simply changes what your payroll process reports to the ATO.

PaysOnline is STP Ready

PaysOnline has finalised its STP capabilities and have rolled have rolled them out to clients. Even though lodging of the reports won’t take place until 1 July – we want to  streamline the process by familiarising clients with their additional responsibilities.

By outsourcing your payroll to a managed payroll provider such as PaysOnline, you can ensure you will meet your obligations.

Is your business STP ready? Managed Payroll may be the solution. 

Unlike other managed payroll providers, PaysOnline is ready now to help your business meet its Single Touch Payroll obligations. Request a meeting with us today to discuss a solution tailored to your business.

Outsourcing payroll allows businesses and business owners more time to focus on other productive and value-adding business functions. With regular legislative and regulation changes, doing your payroll ‘in-house’ can be a complicated function of your business. Australia has one of the most complex payroll environments in the world and as a result, requires more than just push-of-a-button-software. Outsourcing your business’ payroll to professionals who are up-to-date with forever changing Government regulations can quickly and effectively save you time, money and a whole lot of heartache. PaysOnline’s Best Practice Solution provides all you need (and more) to efficiently run your payroll.

Benefits of outsourcing your payroll to an Australian company.

1. Spend critical time focusing on your business, rather than on a function of it.
2. Reduce the risks and associated costs of in-house payroll processing.
3. Improve security and increase transparency of the payroll process.
4. Access support and assistance with regulatory and legislative compliance.
5. Access value adding features that offer solutions to your workforce problems.

Time is a Critical Resource

Payroll is critical to business, and as your business grows, “in-house” payroll processing can quickly drain valuable employee resources. It’s easy to understand how time can be saved by outsourcing the payroll function when you consider time spent on compliance issues, Government regulations, staff training and ensuring integrated systems perform correctly. PaysOnline utilises custom-built cloud-based technology and integrated hardware to help your business across key areas such as Talent Management, Rostering, Time and Attendance, Payroll and Business Intelligence. Outsourcing payroll to PaysOnline gives your employees more control through a self-service portal, which allows you to focus your energy on the business rather than on managing data entry.

Reduce Risk and Associated Costs

Hiring a full-time staff member to deal only with the company payroll is a large company expense. Research conducted by PwC has shown that for large organisations, operating payroll internally typically costs $1400 per employee, per year, and nearly $2000 per employee, per year for medium organisations. Costs are affected by factors such as employing an accountant or accounts team, training costs, investing in payroll software and making sure your network and systems are secure.

Payroll is a highly regulated area of business and relying solely on the knowledge of someone who is not experienced in payroll legislation puts your business at risk of severe penalties. Rather than having to pay an “in-house” annual salary, outsourcing payroll to PaysOnline will mean you only pay a low ‘cost per employee’ and receive the knowledge and expertise of an entire Australian-based team.

Improved Security and Increased Transparency

Containing extremely lucrative and sensitive data, payroll has become the target of criminal activity in recent years. The threats to your data are internal and external and include things such as employees accessing personal data to engage in identity theft, tampering with information for personal gain and hackers gaining access through security flaws. Ensuring your data is kept securely is paramount and this kind of environment can prove costly.

PaysOnline’s client data is encrypted both in-transit and while at rest. We utilise top-tier Australian web and data hosting provider Amazon Web Services; the same provider used by the Australian Government. Our system is built to withstand and detect both internal and external attacks. You can trust that your information will be safe with PaysOnline and our payroll specialists.

Access to Compliance Support

Payroll and compliance go hand in hand. Completing your payroll internally requires those in charge to remain up-to-date with ever changing government regulations and legislation. Accidental or not, errors or misjudgements made by payroll staff are subject to substantial Government penalties where the business owner can be personally responsible both legally and financially. Regardless of how many years your pay staff have been running payroll, unless they’re trained professionals you run the risk breaching your compliance obligations. Outsourcing payroll to PaysOnline means a particular focus is  payroll management – we understand the ins-and-outs of payroll and all that comes with it. Our team of payroll specialists can assist you and your business in remaining compliant.

Value Adding Products and Functionality

Outsourcing doesn’t only mean payroll. PaysOnline offers much more than just payroll services. We’ve been refining our Best Practice Solution for more than two decades and have developed a solution for your business across areas such as Talent Management, Time and Attendance, Rostering, Payroll, and Business Intelligence. By outsourcing your business’ payroll to PaysOnline, you can also take advantage of our total workforce management options.

PaysOnline’s Best Practice Solution provides you peace of mind and guarantees to make payroll stresses a thing of the past.

Request a meeting with us today to discuss a solution tailored to your business.

You may have heard about Single Touch Payroll recently and be wondering what you need to do to get ready for it.  Rest assured PaysOnline have you covered and are currently developing our systems to be ready for the start of Single Touch Payroll from 1 July 2018.

What is Single Touch Payroll?

Single Touch Payroll is a reporting change for employers. It is an initiative being introduced by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to provide real time visibility over the accuracy and timeliness of organisations’ payroll processes.

It means employers will report payments such as salaries and wages, pay as you go (PAYG) withholding and super information to the Australian Taxation Office directly from their payroll solution at the same time they pay their employees.

Ultimately, Single Touch Payroll will enable the ATO to determine whether employers have complied with PAYG withholding and Superannuation Guarantee Charge obligations. It is also likely to increase the amount of compliance activity (particularly for superannuation guarantee charge), as well as the speed at which the commissioner reacts to any breach of the requirements.

When does Single Touch Payroll start?

• For employers with 20 or more employees, Single Touch Payroll reporting starts from 1 July 2018. The first year will be a transition, and penalties will not apply.
• Single Touch Payroll will expand to include employers with 19 or less employees from 1 July 2019.

Features of Single Touch Payroll

• Streamlined reporting – Employers will be able to meet their reporting obligations to the ATO at the same time they pay their employees, instead of running a separate process.
• Pre-filled activity statements – Payments such as salaries and wages and pay as you go (PAYG) withholding amounts reported through Single Touch Payroll will be pre-filled into the employer’s activity statement, so they can easily see what has been reported (W1 and W2 labels).  Employers will still have the ability to adjust or correct information in their activity statement.  Large withholders will no longer have to report PAYG withholding through their activity statement.
• Payment summaries – Employers who report an employee’s payment and withholding details through Single Touch Payroll may not have to provide that employee with a payment summary at the end of the financial year. The ATO will provide this payment and withholding information to employees through myGov.
• View tax and super via MyGov – Employees can access their tax and super information through myGov as their employer transitions to Single Touch Payroll reporting. Over time, this will enable employees to more easily understand and manage their end of year tax position.

How does Single Touch Payroll benefit employers?

The main benefits for employers with single touch payroll are that it will streamline the process of reporting to the ATO by being able to submit payroll information at the completion of each payroll. By doing this, the ATO will be able to prefill the BAS (W1 and W2) for employers, eliminating potential errors and double handling.

How will this affect my payroll? 

Nothing will change in how you process your payroll. The only thing that is tweaked is that after each “payroll event” your payroll provider will need to send some additional reporting information to the ATO.

If you’re not outsourcing your payroll to PaysOnline and need to be STP compliant, make sure to ask your vendor what steps they’re taking to update your products.

Want to know more?

The Australian Tax Office has also released a statement to clarify further details about Single Touch Payroll which you can find here – Setting the record straight on Single Touch Payroll.

PaysOnline will also keep you up-to-date as changes happen so be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn for further updates.

Are you here to read about the changes for 2018? See this article.

Penalty rate changes from 1 July 2017

In February, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) agreed to cut the Sunday penalty rate and Public Holiday rates affecting retail, fast food, hospitality and pharmacy workers.

After reviewing submissions from various industry groups and unions, it has been decided that Sunday penalty rates will be transitioned in over 3-4 years with changes starting from 1 July 2017.

There will be no transition period for Public Holiday or Late Night penalty rates however, and the full changes for these will take effect from 1 July 2017.

Who is affected?

Employees working under the following awards will be affected:

• Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2010 – MA000009
• Registered and Licensed Clubs Award 2010 – MA000058
• Restaurant Industry Award 2010 – MA000119
• Fast Food Industry Award 2010 – MA000003
• General Retail Industry Award 2010 – MA000004
• Pharmacy Industry Award 2010 – MA000012

How are the rates changing?

What do you need to do next?

• Determine if the above awards apply to any of your employees.
• Review the setup of your current Sunday, Public Holiday and Late penalty rates and ensure they are updated in your payroll system if you will be applying the reduction.
• If your payroll is processed by PaysOnline, simply notify us prior to 1 July 2017 and we’ll update for you.
• NOTE: you can choose to continue paying your employees the higher rates if you wish. 

To keep up-to-date as changes happen be sure to follow PaysOnline on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn as well.

Payroll can be daunting, especially when processed in-house with the constant stress of knowing whether or not you are meeting all your obligations as an employer. PaysOnline is a managed payroll service backed by a team of local experts full of knowledge to help when you need it the most.  By using an outsourced payroll provider such as PaysOnline, you can do away with payroll stresses and focus on your core focus – your business.

Know which award your employees are covered by

Recently Fair Work issued a compliance notice on a religious organisation in Melbourne, which was found to have underpaid an overseas worker almost $80,000.

The case involves an Indian man, aged in his 40s, who was sponsored by the Hindu Society of Victoria on a 428 religious worker visa to come to Australia to work at its Melbourne temple, located at Carrum Downs.

And while the Hindu Society of Victoria submitted that the Fair Work Ombudsman’s assessment was wrong and the Restaurant Industry Award did not apply – Judge Riethmuller has now dismissed the argument, which means the Hindu Society of Victoria must now back-pay the employee according to the Compliance Notice.

What are awards?

Awards (modern awards) are legal documents that outline the minimum pay rates and conditions of employment.

There are 122 industry or occupation awards that cover most people who work in Australia.

Outsourced payroll provider PaysOnline, uses award rate validation tools to help you understand whether you are paying your employees the correct rates of pay.

Who do awards cover?

Awards apply to businesses and employees depending on the industry they work in and the type of job worked. Every award has information about who it covers. To work out which award applies, read:

• the coverage clause (usually clause 4)
• the job classifications (usually in the pay clause or a schedule).

Awards don’t apply when a business has a registered agreement in place. If your workplace has a registered agreement, go to Fair Work’s Agreements page for more information.

Can a business be covered by more than one award?

A business can be covered by more than one award depending on the jobs the employees do.

Award & agreement free wages & conditions

Most employees are covered by an award or registered agreement, but a few jobs and industries are not.

When an employee is not covered by an award or agreement they are considered to be award and agreement free. Award and agreement free employees may have an employment contract. They are also entitled to at least the:

• national minimum wage
• National Employment Standards (NES).

High income employees

Awards don’t apply to high income employees. A high income employee is an employee who:

• has accepted a written guarantee of annual earnings
• is guaranteed to earn an annual amount which is more than the high income threshold. The high income threshold changes each year as a result of the Fair Work Commission’s annual wage reviews.  From 1 July 2016, it is $138,900.

A guarantee of annual earnings can be accepted before an employee starts with an employer.

To calculate an employee’s earnings to see if they meet the threshold, include:

• the employee’s wages
• the agreed value of non-monetary benefits.

When calculating an employee’s earnings to see if they meet the threshold don’t include:

• payments which can’t be calculated in advance such as:
  • commissions
  • incentive-based payments and bonuses
  • overtime (unless the overtime is guaranteed)
• reimbursements
• statutory superannuation contributions.

By using an outsourced payroll provider such as PaysOnline you can rest assured that your employees will be paid correct and on-time each pay period. The award validation tools available on PaysOnline is only one of the many tools that can be used to make your life a little easier.

Find out which award applies to your employees

Fair Work provides a three-step questionnaire to help you find which award applies to your employees.  Click here to find an award.

Alternatively you can browse Fair Work’ list of awards.

PaysOnline outsourced payroll is here to help.  Contact us today to find out how.