New Financial Year
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26/06/2019
As 30 June looms ever closer many businesses both large and small, start to think about the complexities of closing off one financial year and preparing for the next. For many businesses this is the time of year where we turn to our accountant or accounting providers to guide us through the legal maze that is 30 June.
Outside of PAYG’s, P&L’s and Balance Sheets there are other legal factors you as a business owner or manager need to make yourself aware of during the lead up to 30 June and what your legal HR requirements are.
The Fair Work Commission last week announced a 3% increase to the minimum wage.
This means that the new national minimum wage is $740.80 per week or $19.49 per hour. Effectively come 1 July 2019, if you have any current staff earning less than $38,521.60 per annum you are in breach of the new minimum wage standards.
What you may not be aware of is the impact that this increase will also have on some workers penalty rates following on from the Commission’s decision in 2017.
Another large impact for many businesses is increases to multiple modern awards. There are 122 Industry or Occupation Awards that cover most people working in Australia, the exception is those covered under an Enterprise Bargaining Agreement. Modern Awards cover provisions including wage, hours of work, flexible working arrangement, meal and rest breaks, employment classification, allowances, leave loading and redundancy. 1 July each year marks the date in which many of the 122 awards will be subject to pay increase along with other changes to provisions in the relevant award.
DID YOU KNOW?
As of 1 December 2018
Modern Awards include new riles about requests for flexible work arrangements. So, what is a flexible working arrangement and what are my responsibilities?
A flexible working arrangement includes changes to:
- Hours of work (e.g. changes in start and finish times)
- Patterns of work (e.g. split shifts or job sharing)
- Location of work (e.g. working from home)
As an employer what are my obligations?
Before responding to a request from an eligible employee, you must first discuss the request with the employee and try to reach an agreement about a change in their working arrangements. Request can only be refused on reasonable business grounds, if you refuse a request you musty provide the employee with a written response.
As of 12 December 2018
The Fair Work Amendment Act 2018 took place- with it came the Family and Domestic Violence Leave Policy. What is this new policy and what are my employees’ entitlements?
Your employees are entitled too:
- 5 days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave each year
You as an employer need to ensure that you have a policy in place to guide your employees in relation to accessing their 5 days of unpaid leave per year.
ARE YOU providing all employees with a copy of the Fair Work Statement?
ARE YOU aware that by law and under the National Employment Standards (NES) you must provide all employees with a copy whether that be, in person, by mail, by email, by email link or by fax?
ARE YOU aware that the fine for an employer is upwards of $10,000 per individual for failing to provide the Fair Work Statement.
ARE YOU keeping record of providing these statements?
If you thought 30 June was all about the financials of your business, then think again. The HR legislative landscape is ever changing and as business owners and managers, it is your responsibility to ensure you are up to date with the most recent changes impacting your employees. However, don’t fear this is where the team at KLC can assist you and your business to ensure you are compliant on all things Human Resources!
If you would like to speak to KLC today about how we can help you and your business, please call us directly on 03 9857 6756
Sources: https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us/news-and-media-releases/website-news/new-family-and-domestic-violence-leave-entitlement https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us/news-and-media-releases/website-news/get-set-for-a-3-0-wage-increase-2019-annual-wage-review https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us/news-and-media-releases/website-news/flexible-working-arrangements-can-benefit-both-employers-and-employees
