A recent court ruling saw VicRoads win the largest Chain of Responsibility fatigue case to date with a trucking company from Gippsland fined $95,000.
As reported in the latest edition of the Logistics Magazine, VicRoads spent six months investigating this case and found that the company was allowing its drivers to exceed safe working hours and possessed false driving records.
Don Hogben, Director for Vehicle Management and Safety, said that “the outcome of this investigation sends a clear message that if heavy vehicle operators do not comply with the Heavy Vehicle Driver Fatigue laws, they will be caught and prosecuted.”
The Australian Transport Council reports that, "Australia has the highest proportion of single heavy vehicle fatal crashes compared with five other OECD nations". The majority of these incidents are likely to be associated with fatigue.
While VicRoads advises that driving while tired amounts to around 20% of all road deaths, making it one of the biggest killers on Australian roads and as dangerous as drink driving.
In an effort to combat this trend, the Heavy Vehicle Driver Fatigue reform was introduced back in September 2008, and aims to ensure heavy vehicle drivers are not behind the wheel for long stretches and are getting adequate rest between shifts.
This legislation now holds all parties within the ‘Chain of Responsibility’ liable for any breaches of the legislation.
Workplace fatigue is not isolated to the transport and logistics industry. At Mitrefinch we understand that not matter what sector you operate in fatigue can significantly affect a worker’s ability to operate effectively, with side effects including reduced performance and productivity, and greater potential for workplace accidents.
For the past 30 years our Time and Attendance system has been assisting organisations with effective fatigue management, enabling them to proactively monitor staff work and break hours.
Mitrefinch Time and Attendance enables employees to clock in/out or on/off jobs via wall mounted devices at the depot, head office or manufacturing plant, or via the Internet and mobile or wireless devices for remote staff. This attendance data is recorded and Supervisors and HR are sent an alert when an employee is approaching their work hour limit, enabling them to adjust rosters and shifts accordingly.
The Mitrefinch system supports current workplace legislation and modern awards, as well as any organisation-specific work rules, and can easily accommodate any new legislative changes. This ensures that your staff are only permitted to work if they satisfy all the associated rules, providing you with ‘peace of mind’ that they are alert to perform their duties in a safe manner.
In addition, by automating annual reporting and maintaining a complete audit trail, Mitrefinch Time and Attendance arms you with all the information needed in the unfortunate event of legal action.
Ask yourself, how does your fatigue management plan stack up? If you haven't got the processes in place maybe it's time you took a look at a system that will help safeguard your business.
Contact Mitrefinch on 1300 884 831 or sales@mitrefinch.com.au to find out more.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Extra Christmas Holiday? Penalty Rate confusion continues...
Political pressure to protect Christmas Day penalty rates continues to mount amid confusion over different approaches adopted by the states.
Previously when Christmas Day has fallen on a weekend, workers received penalty rates on substitute public holidays the following week.
Governments in NSW, Queensland, Western Australia, NT and Tasmania have already moved to pay workers Christmas Day penalty rates in addition to penalty rates for working on Monday, December 27. While the ACT, South Australian and Victorian governments have so far refused.
Confused yet? You’re not the only one!
The Australian Industry (Ai) Group told a Fair Work Australia hearing in Melbourne, on Wednesday, that there was potential for "public holiday chaos", with six states adopting five different approaches. Chief executive Heather Ridout said in a statement the submission was made to "avoid unnecessary cost and confusion".
The Ai Group argues that penalty rates should be paid on substitute public holidays and not on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day and Australia Day when they fall on weekends.
However, the Australian Greens have pushed the Federal Parliament to introduce a common standard across the country, whereby public holiday penalty rates are paid to all workers rostered to work on Christmas Day, regardless what day of the week it falls on.
Greens leader Bob Brown said it was unfair that workers in some areas be penalised just because their state hasn't set up fair treatment on penalty rates.
"People need fair compensation for giving up time with family and friends at Christmas," Senator Brown said.
From a business perspective, the continuing chaos over Christmas holiday trading leaves employers with a staff rostering nightmare. “Employers, struggling to manage Christmas and New Year rosters don’t know when penalty rates would apply, either for the weekend itself, or the substitute day, or for both”, advised Senator Abetz, Opposition Leader of the Senate.
For retailers the costs are significant, with Coles Supermarkets warning the NSW Government that it will lose $15 million in sales due to the current structure of the state's public holiday schedule, which will prohibit it from opening on Boxing Day.
The Ai Group's application, if successful, would offset any legislation passed by state governments.
Read more:
News.com.au, Smart Company, Herald Sun
Whatever the decision, Mitrefinch's Time Management System (TMS) takes the stress out of employee allowances and entitlement calculations via an in-built, fully customisable Award Interpreter. Easily calculate base and overtime pay, weekend and public holiday penalties, as well as leave loading and shift penalties, ensuring consistent application of your business rules. A direct interface to your external payroll application further reduces payroll administration and the potential for costly payroll errors.
For more information contact Mitrefinch Sales on 1300 884 831 or visit Mitrefinch Online
Previously when Christmas Day has fallen on a weekend, workers received penalty rates on substitute public holidays the following week.
Governments in NSW, Queensland, Western Australia, NT and Tasmania have already moved to pay workers Christmas Day penalty rates in addition to penalty rates for working on Monday, December 27. While the ACT, South Australian and Victorian governments have so far refused.
Confused yet? You’re not the only one!
The Australian Industry (Ai) Group told a Fair Work Australia hearing in Melbourne, on Wednesday, that there was potential for "public holiday chaos", with six states adopting five different approaches. Chief executive Heather Ridout said in a statement the submission was made to "avoid unnecessary cost and confusion".
The Ai Group argues that penalty rates should be paid on substitute public holidays and not on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day and Australia Day when they fall on weekends.
However, the Australian Greens have pushed the Federal Parliament to introduce a common standard across the country, whereby public holiday penalty rates are paid to all workers rostered to work on Christmas Day, regardless what day of the week it falls on.
Greens leader Bob Brown said it was unfair that workers in some areas be penalised just because their state hasn't set up fair treatment on penalty rates.
"People need fair compensation for giving up time with family and friends at Christmas," Senator Brown said.
From a business perspective, the continuing chaos over Christmas holiday trading leaves employers with a staff rostering nightmare. “Employers, struggling to manage Christmas and New Year rosters don’t know when penalty rates would apply, either for the weekend itself, or the substitute day, or for both”, advised Senator Abetz, Opposition Leader of the Senate.
For retailers the costs are significant, with Coles Supermarkets warning the NSW Government that it will lose $15 million in sales due to the current structure of the state's public holiday schedule, which will prohibit it from opening on Boxing Day.
The Ai Group's application, if successful, would offset any legislation passed by state governments.
Read more:
News.com.au, Smart Company, Herald Sun
Whatever the decision, Mitrefinch's Time Management System (TMS) takes the stress out of employee allowances and entitlement calculations via an in-built, fully customisable Award Interpreter. Easily calculate base and overtime pay, weekend and public holiday penalties, as well as leave loading and shift penalties, ensuring consistent application of your business rules. A direct interface to your external payroll application further reduces payroll administration and the potential for costly payroll errors.
For more information contact Mitrefinch Sales on 1300 884 831 or visit Mitrefinch Online
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Payroll Professionals call for accurate workforce management information
Absence management is still a major priority for payroll professionals, according to the results of Cybershift's 2010 APA Trendline Survey, "It's About Time". This admission comes as little suprise with recent industry research revealing that up to 6 billion man hours are lost to employee absence across Europe alone each year.
The Cybershift survey was conducted among attendees at the American Payroll Association (APA) and Canadian Payroll Association (CPA) conferences earlier this year, and covered a range of employee management topics; from current time and attendance challenges to the use of a contingent workforce and proposed new workplace legislation.
Results reveal that almost one-quarter of payroll professionals believe accurate employee time tracking information would make their jobs easier. In addition, nearly half of the respondents admitted that they find it difficult to capture accurate, real time data for absence, annual leave, sickness and payroll adjustments.
"It may surprise people, but many businesses are still using laborious manual processes to schedule, deploy and track the time and attendance of their workforce. Not only is manual tracking cumbersome and time consuming, but it also can impede decisions regarding workforce deployment and lead to compromised payroll accuracy,” stated Morné P. Swart, CyberShift's VP of Product Management.
The 1,088 APA and CPA members who responded to the survey represented organisations of varying sizes and across a broad range of industries.
For more information on the Cybershift Survey click here.
The Cybershift survey was conducted among attendees at the American Payroll Association (APA) and Canadian Payroll Association (CPA) conferences earlier this year, and covered a range of employee management topics; from current time and attendance challenges to the use of a contingent workforce and proposed new workplace legislation.
Results reveal that almost one-quarter of payroll professionals believe accurate employee time tracking information would make their jobs easier. In addition, nearly half of the respondents admitted that they find it difficult to capture accurate, real time data for absence, annual leave, sickness and payroll adjustments.
"It may surprise people, but many businesses are still using laborious manual processes to schedule, deploy and track the time and attendance of their workforce. Not only is manual tracking cumbersome and time consuming, but it also can impede decisions regarding workforce deployment and lead to compromised payroll accuracy,” stated Morné P. Swart, CyberShift's VP of Product Management.
The 1,088 APA and CPA members who responded to the survey represented organisations of varying sizes and across a broad range of industries.
For more information on the Cybershift Survey click here.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Gummi Bear Proof Biometric Time and Attendance Systems
A recent article on ZDnet.com.au (Sweet bypass for student finger scanner) suggests that students at a NSW high school may be able to cheat the school’s new biometric attendance system using lunch box lollies.
Henry Kendall High School, on the NSW Central Coast, recently made the decision to replace the school's manual sign-in system with biometric fingerprint scanners to accurately record senior student attendance.
School Principal, Bob Cox, told the ABC that the biometric system was preferred over swipe cards, which students can abuse by signing-in for each other.
But biometric systems are not without their own flaws, and as Darren Pauli from ZDnet advises “a litany of fingerprint scanners have fallen victim to bypass methods, many of which are explained publicly in detail on the internet”. He adds that, “the hacks could potentially be used by students to make replicas of their own fingerprints, or lift those of others from imprints left on the reader".
To add further fuel to the fire, Pauli refers to Tsutomu Matsumoto, a Japanese cryptographer who, “used gelatine, the ingredient in Gummi Bears, to forge a replica finger that fooled 11 fingerprint scanners during tests in 2002. Gelatine has virtually the same capacitance as a finger's skin, meaning it can fool scanners designed to detect electrical charges within the human body”.
However, while it has been proven that conventional biometric readers can be circumvented, there have been some serious advancements in biometric technology since Matsumoto’s 2002 tests.
Multi-spectral imaging sets the new benchmark in Biometrics. Pioneered by Lumidigm, multi-spectral imaging technology was developed to overcome the fingerprint capture problems conventional imaging systems have in less-than-ideal conditions.
By measuring fingerprint characteristics that are at and beneath the surface of the skin, this enhanced data capture mitigates traditional system vulnerabilities and flaws, eliminating common real world performance problems that occur when users can’t enrol on standard fingerprint devices, which often leads to user frustration, an increase in system costs, lower productivity and can breed resistance to universal biometric technology adoption.
Mitrefinch Australia have recently partnered with Lumidigm, and are now integrating their superior imaging technology into all their biometric time and attendance systems.
"The integration of Lumidigm technology greatly enhances the overall application of Mitrefinch's biometric time and attendance solutions", said Allan Murdoch, Mitrefinch Australia Business Development Director. “The robustness of the Lumidigm sensor allows our customers to have a biometric solution in environments where standard fingerprint readers were not previously feasible.”
Commenting on the partnership, Lumidigm’s Director of Business Development, Seth Miller, said, “Mitrefinch was quick to understand the value of Lumidigm technology and incorporate it into their advanced customer solutions. Time and attendance is an important market for Lumidigm and Mitrefinch is an excellent partner in that space”.
For more information on this new wave of biometric time and attendance technology contact Mitrefinch Australia on 1300 884 831 or visit www.mitrefinch.com.au
Henry Kendall High School, on the NSW Central Coast, recently made the decision to replace the school's manual sign-in system with biometric fingerprint scanners to accurately record senior student attendance.
School Principal, Bob Cox, told the ABC that the biometric system was preferred over swipe cards, which students can abuse by signing-in for each other.
But biometric systems are not without their own flaws, and as Darren Pauli from ZDnet advises “a litany of fingerprint scanners have fallen victim to bypass methods, many of which are explained publicly in detail on the internet”. He adds that, “the hacks could potentially be used by students to make replicas of their own fingerprints, or lift those of others from imprints left on the reader".
To add further fuel to the fire, Pauli refers to Tsutomu Matsumoto, a Japanese cryptographer who, “used gelatine, the ingredient in Gummi Bears, to forge a replica finger that fooled 11 fingerprint scanners during tests in 2002. Gelatine has virtually the same capacitance as a finger's skin, meaning it can fool scanners designed to detect electrical charges within the human body”.
However, while it has been proven that conventional biometric readers can be circumvented, there have been some serious advancements in biometric technology since Matsumoto’s 2002 tests.
Multi-spectral imaging sets the new benchmark in Biometrics. Pioneered by Lumidigm, multi-spectral imaging technology was developed to overcome the fingerprint capture problems conventional imaging systems have in less-than-ideal conditions.
By measuring fingerprint characteristics that are at and beneath the surface of the skin, this enhanced data capture mitigates traditional system vulnerabilities and flaws, eliminating common real world performance problems that occur when users can’t enrol on standard fingerprint devices, which often leads to user frustration, an increase in system costs, lower productivity and can breed resistance to universal biometric technology adoption.
Mitrefinch Australia have recently partnered with Lumidigm, and are now integrating their superior imaging technology into all their biometric time and attendance systems.
"The integration of Lumidigm technology greatly enhances the overall application of Mitrefinch's biometric time and attendance solutions", said Allan Murdoch, Mitrefinch Australia Business Development Director. “The robustness of the Lumidigm sensor allows our customers to have a biometric solution in environments where standard fingerprint readers were not previously feasible.”
Commenting on the partnership, Lumidigm’s Director of Business Development, Seth Miller, said, “Mitrefinch was quick to understand the value of Lumidigm technology and incorporate it into their advanced customer solutions. Time and attendance is an important market for Lumidigm and Mitrefinch is an excellent partner in that space”.
For more information on this new wave of biometric time and attendance technology contact Mitrefinch Australia on 1300 884 831 or visit www.mitrefinch.com.au
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