Effective Easter Holiday Planning with an automated Workforce Management System

Each year, the Easter holiday period raises a number of different workforce and payroll issues for organisations, representing a demanding time for HR and Payroll professionals across the country. 

Happy Easter from the team at Mitrefinch!

Common issues range from an increase in levels of absenteeism, a rise in the number of annual leave applications, and questions regarding the day or days that have been declared a public holiday by the respective state or territory government. 

As an employee or employer, you need to know your entitlements and obligations for public holidays during the Easter holidays. 

This year the following days are public holidays under the National Employment Standards: 

Friday 29 March 2013 (Good Friday) and Monday 1 April 2013 (Easter Monday) 
*Note: Saturday 30 March and Sunday 31 March are also public holidays in some states and territories in Australia. 

In relation to pay rates, casual employees aren’t entitled to be paid for a day off for a public holiday. Part-time and full-time employees who get the public holiday off are generally entitled to be paid their base rate of pay for the hours they would have ordinarily worked. 

Some employees are entitled to be paid a higher rate (penalty rates) when they work on a public holiday. Whether or not an employee is entitled to penalty rates depends on a number of things, including the industry and the job. 

Visit Fair Work Australia online for more detailed information. 

For Mitrefinch Time and Attendance System users we help reduce the extra pressure normally suffered by HR and Payroll professionals around the Easter holiday period with the following functionality: 

Award Interpretation: Automate all your payroll calculations, manage different pay and penalty rates associated with the holiday period, and import this information direct to payroll – reducing data entry, saving you time and reducing the potential for payroll error. 

Self Service Tools: Employees can check their Annual Leave Balances and Request Annual Leave, while Supervisors can check off anomalies and approve/reject Leave Requests via the web or a web-enabled mobile device. 

Leave Slots: Supervisors can limit the number of employees that can be off on a given day; employees cannot request Annual Leave once the limit has been reached. This feature is particularly useful in times of high demand for holidays like Easter or in the run up to and during the Christmas Break, as well as times of heightened production/activity. 

Group Absentee Profile: Allows employees to view Leave Slots and whether the allocated limit has already been reached, preventing them from generating requests for leave. Managers can also enforce minimum notice periods for absence, and set minimum or maximum length for leave. 

With all your workforce management needs automatically taken care of, all you need to do is sit back, relax and enjoy all those Hot Cross Buns and chocolate treats!

Avoid a HR Nightmare over the Easter and Anzac Day Holiday Period

Before the majority of us clock off on Thursday afternoon to enjoy the extra long holiday weekend spare a thought for your frazzled colleagues in HR and Payroll!

Chocolate and Hot Cross buns aside, the Easter holiday period can raise a number of different workforce management issues for HR and Payroll departments across the country – particularly for those who manage employees across different states.

Avoid a HR Nightmare over the Easter and Anzac Day Holiday Period

Common issues they must contend with include; a spike in the number of annual leave applications, increased absenteeism and lost productivity in the days leading up to and after the long weekend, a bombardment of enquiries regarding the day or days that have been declared a public holiday, as well as trying to manage all the associated entitlements and awards.

To help minimise some of the confusion around penalties and public holidays the NSW Business Chamber has put together the following information:

Public Holidays

In summary, the National Employment Standards (NES) entitle employees to take declared public holidays and to be paid their base rate for the ordinary hours they would have worked on the day. The NES also entitle employees to reasonably refuse to work on a public holiday.

Easter Public holidays for each State and Territory are as follows:

NSW 
Friday, 6 April 2012 (Good Friday)
Saturday, 7 April 2012 (Easter Saturday)
Sunday, 8 April 2012 (Easter Sunday)
Monday, 9 April 2012 (Easter Monday)

QLD, VIC, SA, NT and ACT
Friday, 6 April 2012 (Good Friday)
Saturday, 7 April 2012 (Easter Saturday)
Monday, 9 April 2012 (Easter Monday)

WA and TAS
Friday, 6 April 2012 (Good Friday)
Monday, 9 April 2012 (Easter Monday)

ANZAC day is a national public holiday and is observed on Wednesday 25 April 2012.

Penalty Rates

The applicable penalty rate for an employee undertaking work on a public holiday will be derived from the relevant industrial instrument. Where an employee is covered by a modern award, the transitional penalty rate should be applied, where applicable. Some modern awards also have additional provisions about public holidays.

Local Arrangements

A common provision in modern awards allows the employer and majority of employees to agree to substitute another day for a public holiday. This means that the substitute day is the public holiday for both the NES and the award’s penalties, but there may be special provisions in the award for specific public holidays.

How might a Time and Attendance System help?

Ensuring that you are compliant with penalty rates and modern awards can represent a major headache for many organisations, particularly those that operate nationally.

Here’s just some of the ways a Time and Attendance System can take the stress out of payroll processing, HR management, and entitlement calculations in the run up to the Easter break:

Award Interpretation: 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 and compliance with workplace legislation.

A direct interface to your external payroll application further reduces payroll administration and the potential for costly payroll errors.

Empower Employees: Employee Self Service functionality enables employees to check their own leave entitlements and request leave (subject to supervisor approval) without having to converse with HR directly.

Employee Scheduling: Ensure you have sufficient staff on board to cover the holiday period by limiting how many employees can be off on a given day or time period. Once the limit has been reached no further employees can request leave. This feature is particularly useful in times of high demand for holidays, as well as heightened production or activity i.e. January Sales for Retail

In addition, you can assign resources based on predefined budgets, keeping operating costs as low as possible.

Comprehensive Reporting: Real-time reports allow you to analyse any particular attendance trends or unplanned absences, as well as the commercial impact of schedules, overtime and absence. Armed with this invaluable information, management can plan appropriate action before your bottom line is affected.

So with an automated Time and Attendance System looking after all the complicated stuff, all that’s left for you to do now is enjoy some of that Easter Chocolate!

If you’d like to find out more about how a Time and Attendance System can assist with Award Interpretation and Absence Management contact Mitrefinch Employee Management today on 1300 884 831 (Australia) or 09 363 9557 (NZ).

Easter Holiday woes for HR and the Payroll Office

Each year, the Easter holiday period raises a number of different employment issues for employers and represents a demanding time for HR and Payroll departments across the country.

Common issues experienced range from an increase in levels of absenteeism among employees, a spike in the number of annual leave applications as this period coincides with the school holiday break, and questions regarding the day or days that have been declared a public holiday by the respective state or territory government.

And as if things weren't complicated enough, this year Easter Monday and Anzac Day both fall on the same day (Monday, 25 April). Nevermind the current NAB problems that may also be reeking havoc with your payroll payments!

According to the NSW Business Chamber, an employee’s entitlement to a public holiday is derived from the Fair Work Act 2009, the relevant state or territory public holiday legislation, the applicable modern award or enterprise agreement, or the employee’s contract of employment.

Easter Public Holidays

To help clear up the confusion below are the days listed by the Act as public holidays for this Easter period, as well as the public holiday declared by the relevant state and territory government as a public holiday for that particular state or territory:

*Good Friday, 22 April - all states and territories

*Easter Saturday, 23 April – all states and territories (except South Australia and Western Australia)

*Easter Sunday, 24 April – New South Wales only

* Anzac Day, Monday, 25 April – all states and territories (except Victoria – observed on Tuesday, 26 April)

* Tuesday, 26 April (Easter Monday) – all states and territories (except Tasmania)

Easter School Holidays

In addition, the following are the listed school holidays over the Easter period in each state and territory

New South Wales and Victoria: Saturday, 9 April – Tuesday, 26 April

Queensland, South Australia and ACT: Saturday, 16 April – Sunday, 1 May

Western Australia: Wednesday, 20 April – Wednesday, 4 May

Tasmania: Friday, 22 April – Sunday, 1 May

Northern Territory: Friday, 22 April – Tuesday, 26 April

Thankfully help is at hand!

For our Mitrefinch Time and Attendance System users we can help reduce the extra pressure normally suffered by the HR and Payroll Office around this period with the following functionality:

Employee Self Service: Employees can check their Annual Leave Balances and Request Annual Leave without having to annoy the HR department

Leave Slots: Allows management to limit how many employees can be off in one day, employees cannot request Annual Leave once the limit has been reached. This feature is particularly useful in times of high demand for holidays like Easter or in the run up to and during the Christmas Break, as well as times of heightened production/activity i.e. January Sales for Retail

Group Absentee Profile: Allows employees to view Leave Slots and whether the limit has already been reached, stopping them from generating requests for leave

Absence Profile: Allows Management/supervisors to enforce minimum notice for absence, and enforce minimum or maximum length for absence

In addition, our powerful Time and Attendance system automates all the payroll calculations , managing all the different pay and penalty rates associated with the holiday period, this information can then be imported to your payroll system – reducing data entry, saving you time and reducing the potential for payroll error.

All you need to do now, is sit back, relax and enjoy all that Easter chocolate!