Festive Workforce Management: Managing your Casuals

Hasn't December just crept up on us once again! But alas before we can kick back and enjoy the festive season many of us are already feeling the effects of increased pressure as we count down to the holidays.

If you work in Operations or HR you are more than likely facing numerous scheduling and rostering challenges, while trying to manage multiple requests for annual leave, in addition to a possible increase in unplanned absence (with some staff possibly chucking a suspicious sickie to get some last minute Christmas shopping out of the way or recover from the staff party!)

Meanwhile, our friends in the Pay office will be busy calculating award entitlements, and allowing for the various public holidays and penalty rates (which can differ from state to state) - ensuring we all get paid correctly, and in time to spend it just as quick!

Our next three blog posts will look at different festive-related workforce scenarios and how an effective Workforce Management System might provide a hassle free run up to the holidays!

First up....Managing Casuals

Similar to Santa and his elves, many organisations (particularly in Retail and Hospitability) rely heavily on casuals to provide the extra manpower required to operate effectively over the holiday period.

A casual workforce needs to be closely monitored to ensure they are serving their purpose. If they are consistently late, taking long breaks or failing to come into work, you run the risk of having to pay your permanent employees or contract staff overtime to cover particular shifts.

Within a Workforce Management System, time and attendance tracking provides supervisors with a real-time report on a casual workers working time. In addition, when linked with project information or cost centres you can easily identify how they are performing against specific tasks, and address any issues before productivity is affected.

Scheduling or rostering capabilities allow you to create groups or pools of available workers to help with scheduling multiple sites, departments or stores. Casuals or agency staff can nominate themselves as being available to work for certain times of the week, and can be rostered on accordingly by supervisors to assist with filling positions or vacant shifts.

Mobile messaging functionality can send an automated SMS text message direct to the employee so they are aware that they have been included in the shift. Likewise if a shift becomes available a SMS message can be sent out to the entire group to see if anyone is available to work.

I bet you can feel your festive headache easing already!

If you’d like to find out more about how Workforce Management tools like Employee Time and Attendance, Labour Tracking and Rostering can help you manage your casual workforce visit Mitrefinch online or call us on 1300 884 831 (+61 2 8762 7888 if outside Australia)

Minimising the Festive Frenzy with a Time Management System (Part 2)

In the second instalment of our three-part series looking at how a Time Management System can help ease your festive stress, we reveal how you can effectively manage public holidays and holiday pay rates.

In Australia, each State and Territory has slightly different arrangements for public holidays over Christmas and New Year, which can result in much confusion, particularly for companies with numerous sites across the nation. As a result, Fair Work Australia (FWA) have put together a list of the public holidays for each specific State and Territory for the 2011/12 holiday Christmas period – view list here.

So now you know the public holiday dates what pay are your staff entitled to?

According to FWA, if a full-time or part-time employee’s ordinary hours of work fall on a public holiday, and the employee does not work on the day, the employee is entitled to their base rate of pay for their usual hours of work on the day.

If the employee does not usually work on the public holiday, the employee is not entitled to payment.

If the request is reasonable, an employer may ask their employees to work on a public holiday. If the employee is required to work on a public holiday, their entitlement to penalty rates is determined by their modern award, industrial agreement or contract of employment.

In addition to the specified national public holidays, State and Territory governments can also specify other public holidays. These can apply throughout the State or Territory, or only in a specific region e.g. Melbourne Cup Day.

A State or Territory government can also substitute another day for the public holiday. For example if a public holiday falls on a weekend, a State or Territory government may either declare a ‘substitute day’ for the public holiday, or declare an ‘additional day’ to the public holiday.

Regardless of the State or Territory you operate in, 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 (+61 2 8762 7888) or visit Mitrefinch Online

Sources: Fair Work Australia

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