Safeguarding your business from an underpayment law suit with better workforce management

Yet another company is in the Fair Work Ombudsman’s sights for underpayment with SmartCompany reporting that an Adelaide windscreen company is set to appear in court over allegedly underpaying seven employees more than $100,000 over a period of four years.

In this case, the FWO argues the employees were paid flat hourly rates ranging from $12.50 to $21.62, "resulting in the employees variously being underpaid their minimum hourly rates, casual loadings and penalty rates”.

Employees were also allegedly instructed to work through lunch periods without a break, and then weren't paid for that time. One employee has also accused the company of underpaying annual and personal leave entitlements.

The FWO has been eagerly chasing businesses accused of underpaying workers, especially workers from other countries. However, business groups have complained the wage system is too hard to understand, with businesses likely to make mistakes because of the complexity of different awards and rates.

Safeguard your business from a potential Fair Work Ombudsman investigation

An automated time and attendance system can assist organisations with better workforce management by accurately capturing and recording employees’ work time and attendance information.

With this information a time and attendance system can easily calculate base and overtime pay, weekend and public holiday penalties, as well as leave loading and shift penalties and modern awards. This ensures consistent application of your business rules and compliance with federal and state workplace legislation.

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

For more information download our White Paper "Howto choose the right Time and Attendance System for your Business".

Festive Workforce Management: Managing Public Holidays

While Christmas is generally regarded as a holiday for most, there are a number of industries that will require staff to work across some or all of the public holidays. 

Image courtesy of Fair Work Australia

Managing public holidays and associated pay rates over the festive period can be quite confusing – in particular for organisations who operate nationally – as some Australian States and Territories adopt slightly different arrangements. For example, in South Australia, part-day public holidays have been declared from 7pm - midnight on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. 

Employees also have workplace entitlements on public holidays, regardless of whether they work or not. Fair Work Australia advises that minimum wages for working on public holidays depend on a number of things, including the industry you work in and the work you do. 

Under many awards and agreements, an employee who works on a public holiday may receive a penalty rate or loading for the hours worked, be provided with time off instead of payment of penalty rates, or receive equivalent time added to their annual leave balance. 

Fair Work also advise that an employee's roster can't be changed to avoid the payment for a public holiday if the employee doesn't work. 

Useful Links: 

• What Employees Get on Public Holidays 
• Christmas and New Year Public Holiday FAQs
• Annual Shut Down FAQs

Regardless of the State or Territory you operate in, a Time and Attendance system can take the stress out of employee allowances and entitlement calculations via inbuilt Award Interpretation functionality. 

Award Interpretation enables you to 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. 

Current Mitrefinch TMS users can easily configure their Time Management System (TMS) to process Public Holidays – for assistance contact Mitrefinch Support. 

If you are still processing your payroll manually and would like to put improved Workforce Management and automated Award Interpretation on your Christmas Wish List contact us via email (sales@mitrefinch.co.au) or call +61 2 8762 7888.

Fair Work Australia announce Annual Wage Review decision - what does it mean for your business?

The national minimum wage for Australia's 1.4 million lowest paid workers should be raised by $17.10 a week, Fair Work Australia has said.

Under the review, the adult National Minimum Wage will increase by 2.9% ($17.10) to $606.40 per week and to $15.96 per hour (equating to a rise of $0.45 per hour). 

So what does this mean for your business? 

The NSW Business Chamber have summarised the main points for us as follows: 

• All Modern Award rates of pay are increased by 2.9% effective from the first full pay period commencing on or after 1 July 2012.  
• This increase can be absorbed into any existing over award payments. You will need to check the absorption clause in your Modern Awards.  
• If you are transitioning rates of pay to the Modern Award, an employee’s new minimum rate is his/her new Modern Award rate plus or minus 40% of the transitional amount.  
• For award free casual employees – the default casual loading has increased from 22% to 23% effective from the first full pay period commencing on or after 1 July 2012. 

For full details of the Annual Wage Review Decision see the Fair Work Australia website: http://www.fwa.gov.au/sites/wagereview2012/decisions/2012fwafb5000.pdf 

Do you find it difficult to comply with Modern Awards and related changes? 

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

An electronic Time and Attendance system takes the stress out of Award Interpretation and safeguards your organisation from potential legal action, by automating compliance with workplace legislation and your business’ work rules. 

A Time and Attendance system allows you to quickly and easily modify base and overtime pay rates, weekend and public holiday penalties, leave loading and shift penalties, as well as Modern Award rates as needed. 

To find out more about effective Award Interpretation contact Mitrefinch today on 1300 884 831 (+61 2 8762 7888 if outside Australia) or sales@mitrefinch.com.au

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).

Confident that your staff are being paid correctly?

Maybe it's time you checked your payroll reports as yet another company has been caught out for allegedly underpaying it's employees.

This time, the operator of a Gold Coast pizza shop is being prosecuted by the Fair Work Ombudsman for allegedly underpaying 27 employees almost $20,000.

The employees in question were aged from 20 to 37 and several are from non-English-speaking backgrounds, employed as cooks, kitchen-hands, customer service attendants and delivery drivers.

The workers were allegedly underpaid their minimum hourly rates, overtime rates and weekend penalty rates, with one staff member allegedly underpaid evening work allowances.

It is also alleged that the outlet owner, Mr Murphy, failed to comply with a Notice to Produce documents issued by Fair Work inspectors during their investigation.

Under the Fair Work Act, employers must comply with requests from the FairWork Ombudsman to provide employment records relating to employees and former employees.

Fair Work Ombudsman Nicholas Wilson said the decision to prosecute was made because of the involvement of vulnerable workers and the employer's failure to rectify the matter.

Read the full article online at Payroll News

How can you safeguard your organisation from a potential Fair Work investigation?

Ensuring that you are compliant with different pay scales, penalty rates and modern awards can represent a major headache for many organisations, with other recent workplace cases such as Toys 'R' Us, highlighting the importance of effective Award Interpretation and Time Management processes.

An automated Employee Time Management System 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.

Reports and Employment Records can also be generated quickly and easily should you be asked to produce them as evidence by the Fair Work Ombudsman.

If you would like discover how your organisation can benefit from more efficient Award Interpretation and effective Employee Time Management contact Mitrefinch today on 1300 884 931 or email sales@mitrefinch.com.au

Businesses fear a mass sick day this Friday after Australia Day

Apparently our National Day is not an excuse for a hangover at work or “chucking a sickie” this Friday - how very unAustralian I hear some of you say! 

But, with hangovers costing businesses $5.6 billion a year, maybe it's time we had a rethink about overindulging during Australia Day festivities. 

NSW Business Chamber Executive Officer, Stephen Cartwright, urged revellers not to get carried away when they still had to put in a full day’s work before the weekend. 

“While Thursday will be a day off for many Australians to celebrate their national holiday, Friday is a normal working day, and employees will be expected to show up to the workplace ‘bright eyed and bushy tailed’”. 

Mr Cartwright said employees who planned to take a ‘sickie’ on Friday should be warned that they will be fooling no one. 

“Anybody who takes a ‘sickie’ on the Friday after Australia Day is not going to go unnoticed by their employer or their colleagues and it is likely to damage their professional reputation”. 

Employees who are planning an extra-long weekend have been urged to use their annual leave or talk to their employers to come up with alternative arrangements. 

“The impact of staff taking a ‘mass sick day’ on a business is significant in financial costs and lost productivity.” 

Read the full article on the NSW Business Chamber website here  

Leave Slots are an innovative holiday planning feature now available in the latest release of Mitrefinch’s Time Management System. 

This new functionality enables managers and supervisors to limit how many employees can be off on a given day or time period e.g. this Friday following Australia Day - averting potential staffing shortfalls and ensuring you have sufficient staff on hand to meet demand. 

Employees can view available Leave Slots online and they will be unable to request leave once the limit has been reached – hence HR won’t need to deal with multiple requests from staff on what days are available etc... 

In addition, Absence Profiling, allows you to see who took a sick day, when, and if any particular pattern is forming. For example, you could check back to last year and see if there was a spike in sick days taken the day after Australia Day or other popular public holidays – and take appropriate action. 

If you happen to work in an industry where staff are required to work on Australia Day, an automated Time and Attendance Software System can also take the stress out of payroll processing – by easily calculate overtime pay and public holiday penalties, and exporting this information direct to your external payroll application. 

Now all you have to worry about is how you are going to celebrate Australia Day! 

To find out more about Leave Management, Absence Profiling or Employee Time Management contact Mitrefinch today on 1300 884 831 or email sales@mitrefinch.com.au 

Hungry Jack's to back pay staff more than $104,000

(Source Payroll News) A Hungry Jack’s fast food outlet in central Victoria has been penalised for underpaying its staff for more than four years. 

The Federal Magistrates Court ordered the operator of the Bendigo outlet to pay a penalty of $46,200, after the company volunteered to pay back more than $104,000 it owed to its staff, who were mostly junior employees. 

The Fair Work Ombudsman said most of the underpayments resulted from the company failing to upgrade wage rates as required for the employees’ length of service. This resulted in underpayments of the minimum hourly rate, overtime and public holiday rates. 

The company also underpaid or failed to pay annual leave entitlements and a laundry allowance. 

The Fair Work Ombudsman said as well as repaying its workers, the company had appointed a new payroll adviser. 

The ruling comes in the wake of an official audit revealing a quarter of Australian employers in the $240 billion retail industry were underpaying staff or failing to record work times and wages properly. 

The Fair Work Ombudsman's random inspection of almost 1900 businesses found 26 per cent were breaking workplace laws or regulations - many unwittingly.
 

The findings have retailers fearing a huge bill, with sector's peak body, the Australian Retailers Association, warning there could be millions more owed in back pay because many of the 140,000 businesses were confused about their new obligations under the changed industrial relations regime and the change to a federal system. 

An automated Time and Attendance Software System can take the stress out of payroll processing, award and entitlement calculations. 

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. 

If you would like discover how your organisation can benefit from more efficient Award Interpretation and effective Employee Time Management contact Mitrefinch today on 1300 884 831 or email sales@mitrefinch.com.au

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

Aussie cleaners share in back pay pay out - how can you safeguard your business from an underpayment case?

Hundreds of cleaners across Australia are sharing in a $242,000 pay out after investigations by the Fair Work Ombudsman found they were being underpaid, reports the Canberra Times.

A total of 621 cleaners in Australia were rewarded back pay after Fair Work investigators looked into 315 companies as part of a nationwide campaign.

Of those 315 companies, 117 were found to have breached workplace law, with the most common breaches being underpayment of penalty rates and inadequate record-keeping practices.

United Voice branch secretary, Lyndal Ryan commended Fair Work Australia but said the issue went beyond the 11 employees.

''The problem of underpayment is probably not reflected in the figures because it is more widespread,'' she said.

Fair Work Ombudsman Nicholas Wilson advised that they were alerted to a potential issue within cleaning services when records between March 2006 and April 2010 showed it was generating the fourth-highest number of complaints.

So how can you safeguard your organisation from a potential underpayment case?

Ensuring that you are compliant with penalty rates and modern awards can represent a major headache for many organisations, with recent workplace cases such as Toys 'R' Us having to pay back up to $1 million to more than 1000 young employees, highlighting the importance of effective Award Interpretation and Time Management processes.

An automated Time and Attendance System can take 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.

Visit our website to find out more about effective Award Interpretation and automated Time and Attendance Systems or feel free to call us on 1300 884 831 (Aus) or 09 363 9557 (NZ).

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook, or join our Linkedin group for updates on employee time management solutions.

Can you afford not to?

Are your Payroll and HR Departments ready for the New Financial Year?

As businesses around the country prepare for the end of the financial year, experts are warning organisations they need to be aware of the legislative changes that will come into effect on July 1.

A raft of new legislation including paid parental leave, unfair dismissal thresholds, new minimum wage requirements and award increases will be introduced on Friday, and according to industry experts many companies aren't prepared.

Speaking to SmartCompany, Alison Baker, Partner at Hall & Wilcox advises, “Many employers will need to get cracking and get the right advice about the paid parental leave obligations. There's not much time left."

Here are some of the new legislative requirements businesses will face:

Minimum Wage Increase The $19.40 per week increase on the minimum wage comes into effect from July 1. Employers need to ensure they meet all necessary pay requirements and update their payroll schedules to ensure employees are not underpaid.

Modern Award Increases The recent 3.4% increase in modern award wages, handed down by Fair Work Australia (FWA) will take effect from the first pay period to start on or after July 1. Revised modern awards which include the increased wages will be available on the FWA website.

National Paid Parental Leave Scheme While the Paid Parental Leave (PPL) Scheme was introduced at the beginning of this year, this was only the first stage of a two-phase introduction.

Government processing of the Scheme expires on June 30, so from July 1 employers will be responsible for processing the payments (18 weeks' pay at the national minimum wage to eligible employees who have or adopt a child from that date).

Under the Scheme, employees are obligated to request the benefit from the Family Assistance Office (FAO). Once the FAO is satisfied the employee is eligible for the benefit, it contacts the employer to say the employee has submitted an application, met the criteria, identified them as their employer. If the employer agrees with the application, they then need to provide the FAO with their bank and pay cycle details. The FAO then makes the payment to the employer, who passes it onto the employee.

Baker advises employers to ensure they have processes in place for dealing with the PPL scheme and to be aware that any existing parental schemes they have will also need to be paid.

Still confused? Centrelink have compiled a Paid Parental Leave Toolkit designed to assist employers and HR staff in preparing for their role in providing PPL to their eligible employees. You can download it by clicking here.

Reducing End of Financial Year Stress
Did you know that an effective Time and Attendance System can help reduce the workload associated with the transition to a new financial year?

Here's how:

• Minimise risk by automating compliance with Modern Awards and work rules
• Ensure consistent application of pay rules, policies and workplace legislation
• Cut Payroll Costs by reducing costly payroll errors and inflation
• Reduce Payroll Processing time by automating the transfer of hours direct to your payroll system
• Safeguard you and your business with a complete Audit Trail

Sound like the answer to all your prayers?
If you would like to find out more about automated Time and Attendance Systems and how they can help you manage your end of financial year payroll woes contact Mitrefinch today on 1300 884 831 (Australia) or 09 363 9557 (NZ). Alternatively visit us online

A typical day in the life of a HR Professional

Just another day at the office....

You arrive at work, full of a positive energy after the extra long Easter Break - you’re focused, motivated, and ready for today’s challenges.

So far, so good!

8:52am You’ve just opened your inbox – 52 emails, most of them flagged as ‘urgent’ – better get some caffeine into your system.

9:07am Brett from one of the Production Lines has rung in sick. That’s the 5th time within the past 3 months. His Supervisor believes he is deliberately “chucking sickies”, particularly as it’s the day after a public holiday weekend, and wants to start an investigation. He has asked for your advice and Brett’s absence data for the past year.

9:20am You begin researching Brett’s absence documentation. There is a mountain of files and archived emails to go through.

9:45am John from Sales sends you an email, he wants to know his Annual Leave Balance and would like to request a day off on May 2nd.

10:00am You’ve just received an email from a Forklift Operator who hasn’t been paid for his overtime last month.

10:20am A phone call from Jane in Sales enquiring about her Paid Parental Leave entitlements. It's a compulsory obligation for employers to process these payments from 1 July 2011. Need to make sure we fully understand our obligations to both employees and Government.

10:30am Kate from Finance has just handed in her notice, she’s off on a round the world trip and hopes to settle in the UK for a few months. Need to start recruiting ASAP and organise a reference letter for Kate.

11:00am You finally get around to making a start on this month’s payroll which needs to be complete by Friday.

11:15am You can’t focus on payroll as you’ve just had a phone call from a Production Manager informing you that three staff from his department were late today causing a significant delay in an order delivery. Need to look at revising corporate procedures for dealing with lateness.

12:00noon No time for a full lunch break, as you still need to check all your files to find Brett’s absence documentation.

1:00pm Still searching! More new emails and requests to deal with and you’ve had to answer at least 5 phone calls from recruitment agencies.

2:00pm Eventually you get around to the payroll run again. Only 2.5 days left and a number of spreadsheets to go through, as well as taking account of all the Public Holiday penalty rates.

It looks like it's going to be another late evening…

Sound familiar? Then stop pulling your hair out and think about a solution!

A robust Time and Attendance and HR system supports hardworking HR professionals, like you, by monitoring the working time of your employees and automate time consuming administrative tasks, in turn enhancing productivity and providing necessary up-to-the-minute information and reports on employee absence, annual leave entitlements, attendance records etc...

In addition, by eliminating the manual calculation of working hours, an effective Time and Attendance System will greatly minimise the administrative workload involved with payroll processing and help you gain peace of mind regarding compliance with workforce regulations and award entitlements.

An Employee Self Service module would allow your staff to manage their own attendance and holiday information in a controlled, accessible and efficient way. Employees could simply access the system online to view remaining leave, entitlements, and request updates to their personal records without having to bother you or your team.

In addition, all your employee data, files and correspondence are centrally stored, making the filing and retrieving of vital information quick and easy to manage. This information can in turn be used to run reports on past and present data, such as training and development requirements.

Want to find out more?

Stop sacrificing your lunch break to deal with HR issues, download our Free Guide on how to choose the right Time and Attendance System today.

Or feel free to call us on 1300 884 831 or email sales@mitrefinch.com.au to discuss your particular needs in more detail.

Employers shirk employee obligations with Sham Contracts

As per an article in the latest online edition of the HR Leader, a Brisbane call centre has been ordered to pay a total of $214,500 after being found guilty of underpaying its staff by using “sham contracts”.

Contracting Plus Pty Ltd was found guilty of violating workplace laws by paying its workers less than the minimum hourly rate of pay, amounting to $46,000.

The former Brisbane CBD call centre attempted to classify workers as “independent contractors” rather than employees, and therefore avoided mandatory requirements relating to salary and benefits.

At the ruling, Federal Magistrate Michael Burnett said that, “Sham contracting is a serious matter because if workers are incorrectly classified as independent contractors, they can miss out on fundamental entitlements such as minimum pay rates, penalty rates and annual leave.”

Burnett ordered that the fines should go towards reimbursing the employees of Contracting Plus Pty Ltd, a large number of whom were under the age of 21.

“To purposely deny vulnerable and low-skilled workers these important employment entitlements by disguising them as contractors is particularly reprehensible,” he added. “As such, it is important that my agency mark its disapproval of such behaviour and deter others from doing the same.”

Michael Campbell, Fair Work Ombudsman Executive Director, praised the decision, advising that it sent out a very clear warning to other would-be employers looking to evade workplace legislation and their obligations to employees.

The HR Leader reports that the trend of so-called sham contracting appears to have spread into several sectors, with a recent investigation led by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) halting hundreds of illegal contracts at construction sites across Australia. Nationwide audits look set to continue, with well-known multi-nationals such as Bovis Lend Lease and Multiplex construction being questioned by the CFMEU.

Construction workers have teamed up with the union to create the ‘Stop the Sham’ campaign, in an effort to voice their anger against the growing practice of sham-contracting. They are also calling for co-ordinated Federal Government action.

CFMEU Construction National Secretary Dave Noonan said that he blamed authorities for turning a blind eye to the practice, and as well as treating workers unfairly, the organisations responsible were also evading business taxes.

“These companies are taking lucrative Federal Government construction contracts with one hand, and undermining Australia’s tax base with the other,” he said.

To read the full article see: http://www.humanresourcesmagazine.com.au/articles/27/0C06F927.asp

There is an easier way to comply with penalty rates and workplace legislation without resorting to Sham Contracts

Ensuring that you are compliant with penalty rates and modern awards can represent a major headache for many organisations, but you don't need to evade the law to elevate the stress of effective Award Interpretation and Time Management processes.

Mitrefinch's Employee Time Management System (TMS) can do all the hard work for you via an in-built, fully customisable Award Interpreter.

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.

If you would like discover how your organisation can benefit from more efficient Award Interpretation and effective Employee Time Management contact Mitrefinch today on 1300 884 931 or email sales@mitrefinch.com.au

You can't afford not to.

(Source: HR Leader)

Toys 'R' Us ordered to pay back up to $1 million to more than 1000 young employees

In one of the biggest cases of underpayment uncovered by the Fair Work Ombudsman, Australia’s largest toy retailer was found to have underpaid more than 1000 young employees a total of almost $1 million.

Illustrating the importance of effective award interpretation, the investigation found that Toys 'R' Us staff in stores across a number of states had been underpaid their minimum hourly rates and shift penalty rates between 2007 and 2009.

Fair Work Ombudsman Executive Director, Michael Campbell, said the scale of the underpayments was one of the largest his team had encountered.

"An extraordinary number of young and vulnerable employees were underpaid a large amount of money. We accept the contraventions were inadvertent and not deliberate," he said. It was reported that one employee was just 14 years old.

The investigation resulted in an enforceable deal with the company, ending the need for any further prosecution. Toys 'R' Us has been ordered to pay back all employees what they are owed and as part of the deal.

Toys 'R' Us has also agreed to donate $300,000 towards the cost of educating and training young workers and protecting their rights at work.

The settlement with the Fair Work Ombudsman also saw the toy giant agree to:
• SET UP a whistleblower hotline for its staff
• APOLOGISE in writing to all current and past employees;
• APPOINT external professional service providers to audit its pay and conditions, record-keeping and staff complaint procedures within three months and again within 18 months;
• SEND its payroll and/or human resources staff to accredited training courses for the next three years;
• ENSURE compliance with federal workplace relations laws and co-operate with the Fair Work Ombudsman in any future investigations; and
• POST a copy of the agreement and a signed copy of its letter of apology on its website.

In a letter to staff, Toys 'R' Us expressed its "sincere regret" and said the underpayments were a result of "inadequate processes".

A Toys 'R' Us spokeswoman advised that all employees affected by the pay discrepancies had received "complete restitution", and pledged it would not happen again.

So how can you safeguard your organisation from potential underpayment cases?

Ensuring that you are compliant with penalty rates and modern awards can represent a major headache for many organisations, with recent workplace cases such as Toys 'R' Us and South Australia's Irvine Transport, highlighting the importance of effective Award Interpretation and Time Management processes.

Mitrefinch's Employee 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.

If you would like discover how your organisation can benefit from more efficient Award Interpretation and effective Employee Time Management contact Mitrefinch today on 1300 884 931 or email sales@mitrefinch.com.au

You can't afford not to.

(Source: Herald Sun and Payroll News)

Growing demand for HR and IR Specialists

Melbourne based recruitment agency, IPA recruitment, has found that nationwide job vacancies increased for the first time in three months in July.

Job vacancies increased 13.9 per cent in July, the first increase in jobs on offer since March this year.

IPA’s General Manager of Sales and Marketing, Darrell Hewton, said the data showed employers were relaxed about the result of the federal election.

"Business hates political uncertainty, especially around the future of industrial relations laws...however, with few policy differences distinguishing the parties and the prospect of a settled IR landscape for the next few years regardless of who wins, employers are relatively relaxed about the result" said Mr Hewton in a report released on Thursday.

Mr Hewton said employers who had held off hiring for the last few months were entering the market and were confident enough about the 12-month outlook to make the commitment to expand their teams.

Demand for human resources and industrial relation specialists also rose. "With the introduction of modern awards in July, we are seeing increasing need for HR and IR staff across the board," he said.

Mitrefinch’s Time and Attendance System, TMS, can help take the stress out of complex award administration. Our specially designed “award interpreter” ensures consistent application of business rules and award payments across your organisation.

For more information contact Mitrefinch Australia on 1300 884 831 or email sales@mitrefinch.com.au