Celebrating all things Payroll with National Payroll Week and the launch of The Payroll Revolution

As a leading provider of Workforce Management and Time and Attendance Software, Mitrefinch is pleased to once again support National Payroll Week in Australia.

Running from March 18th to March 22nd, National Payroll Week aims to boost the profile of the payroll function within organisations across the country.

National Payroll Week in Australia runs from March 18-22

“During National Payroll Week we are delighted to acknowledge the important role that the pay office plays in every business”, said Jamie Fitzsimons, Mitrefinch Marketing Manager.

Payroll professionals are tasked with managing one of the largest costs a business has, ensuring all legislative requirements are being met and keeping up with award and entitlement changes, while developing processes and practices to ensure employees are paid accurately, and on time, every pay run.

“We enjoy working closely with the payroll community to develop user-friendly time and attendance management systems, that help automate payroll processing, and ensure compliance with entitlements, ultimately making life in the pay office a little easier.”

As part of the week’s festivities, The Association of Payroll Specialists (TAPS) in conjunction with ADP, are searching for Australia's Best Payroll Ambassador.

TAPS have also distributed posters promoting the payroll function to all their members, and will run their popular payroll photo competition with 10 $300 pay cheques up for grabs.

For more information on National Payroll Week or to nominate you or your team as a Payroll Ambassador visit TAPS online. 

In keeping with the Payroll theme, Mitrefinch also attended the official book launch of "The Payroll Revolution" in Sydney last week.

The book, written by Tracy Angwin from the Australian Payroll Association, provides practical advice for those working in payroll on how they can ensure they are highly valued in their organisation and be accepted as a professional in their field.

The Payroll Revolution is now available to buy online at www.thepayrollrevolution.com.au

Allan Murdoch (Mitrefinch Sales Manager), Tracy Angwin (The Payroll Revolution), and Jamie Fitzsimons (Mitrefinch Marketing Manager) at The Payroll Revolution Book Launch in Sydney last week

 

Show your Payroll People some Love this Week

Many of us don't give payroll a second thought - that is until something goes wrong somewhere and we get paid incorrectly, but for the large part all we are concerned with - is how we are going to spend it come pay day!

Regardless of company size or industry, payroll professionals are tasked with managing one of the largest costs a business has, ensuring all legislative requirements are being met and keeping up with the changes, developing processes to ensure we are paid on time and correctly, as well as providing a wealth of employee information for the business to use in effectively managing its employees.

This week, it's National Payroll Week (NPW) in NZ, which aims to raise awareness of the importance of the payroll function within a business and how those professionals in the Pay Office manage to get our wages processed on time, every pay run.

As part of the week’s festivities, the New Zealand Payroll Practitioners’ Association (NZPPA) in conjunction with HAYS, are hosting a number of free* breakfast briefing sessions throughout the week in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Each session will have three speakers and morning tea available while giving attendees the opportunity to network with industry peers. 

In addition, NZPPA are distributing posters and postcards which promote the payroll profession to organizations all over New Zealand, they are also running a “Best Payroll Team” photo competition with $500 in prize money on offer. 

Organisations are encouraged to get involved in NPW by hosting their own morning tea or lunch with the payroll team, or simply just take the time this week to drop by your Pay Office and thank your payroll person for a job well done!

For more information on National Payroll Week please visit the NZPPA website: www.nzppa.co.nz

Here at Mitrefinch we are proud sponsors of NPW. Our Time and Attendance System (Mitrefinch TMS) aims to make life in the pay office a little less stressful come pay day by  automating the transfer of hours and rates to their payroll system, ensuring compliance with entitlements, and improving overall productivity and efficiency.

*Free for NZPPA members, for non-members a $12 fee will be payable.

Mitrefinch are Auckland bound for the NZPPA Payroll Expo

Are you a New Zealand based Payroll Professional? or do you need to process pay for NZ staff from your Australian office?

If so, mark Thursday 21st and Friday 22nd June in your diary for the New Zealand Payroll Practitioners' Association (NZPPA) Annual Conference and Payroll Expo at the Crowne Plaza in Auckland!

Now in its fifth year, the NZPPA Conference is the largest payroll event in New Zealand, and Mitrefinch are once again delighted to be involved as a corporate sponsor.

The theme of this year's event will resonate with many a Payroll Professional - “Become a Payroll Whiz – Calculations, Calculations, Calculations" and will focus on all things calculations related to help ensure payroll is compliant - from the Holidays Act, Parental Leave, KiwiSaver, Superannuation, Salary Packaging, Extra Pays, ACC, and Payroll Giving, to understanding Taxable and Non-Taxable allowances. 

Determined not to be a talkfest, the NZPPA also aims to make the conference as interactive as possible over both days - with round table discussion, multi stream workshops, and real-world case studies from payroll practitioners making up a large part of the programme. 

The Payroll Expo will run in conjunction with the conference, allowing attendees to meet with vendors and learn more about the latest developments in payroll technology and available services. 

The Mitrefinch team will be on hand to demonstrate our Workforce Management solutions and data capture options for effective time and attendance management of all staff, whether they are on the factory floor, at a remote site or working from home - so drop by Booth 11 to find out more!

To register or to find out more about the NZPPA Annual Conference and Payroll Expo visit www.nzppa.co.nz 

Alternatively contact Mitrefinch directly on +64 9 363 9557 or marketing@mitrefinch.co.nz if you would like to attend the NZPPA Conference at the discounted NZPPA member rate!

Celebrating all things Payroll this March

With the launch of the National Payroll Awards and National Payroll Week (NPW) just around the corner, March has well and truly become Payroll Month!

For the majority of us, we don’t think twice when our wages are lodged into our bank account or we receive of pay slip at the end of the week or month, and rarely do we need to converse with the Payroll department.

While Payroll is often overlooked, it is one of the most highly regulated functions within a business. Compliance with complex Federal and State legislation, terms and conditions of employment and business policy is critical, and if that’s not enough Payroll Officers are often asked on a regular basis to pick up other roles. 

Yet, despite all these challenges, the Payroll team must remain focused and accurately process our pay on time, every pay run.  

However, during NPW it is Payroll’s time to shine! All over Australia, Payroll staff are encouraged to celebrate their profession and spread the word about the important role Payroll plays in their organisation.

As part of the week’s festivities, the Association of Payroll Specialists (TAPS) are running a Poster Campaign and Photo Competition. In addition, the Payroll Ambassador Award ($1,000 prize from ADP) is up for grabs.

For full details see: http://www.payroll.com.au/npw.html

But wait, there's more! Entries for the Inaugural National Payroll Awards are also open up until 23 March. Prizes include $2,500 for the 2012 Payroll Professional of the Year and a prize pool of up to $3,000 for the 2012 Payroll Team of the Year.

To enter, CLICK HERE or visit the Australian Payroll Association online for more info.

“At Mitrefinch we are big supporters of National Payroll Week, and are delighted to acknowledge the fundamental role that payroll plays in every business”, said Jamie Fitzsimons, Mitrefinch Marketing Manager. 

“Payroll is an extremely important component of every worker's life. Yet, the challenges involved with processing our pay is something that many of us take for granted.”

"Having qualified payroll personnel as well as a user-friendly system to help automate payroll processing can significantly reduce error, offering huge cost savings".

Mitrefinch’s Time Management Solution, TMS, is used on a daily basis by payroll teams and HR professionals. TMS can automate the calculation of hours, rates, awards and entitlements and this data can be easily passed through to the organisation’s payroll or accounting system – cutting payroll processing time and costly errors.

To find out how Mitrefinch Time and Attendance Solutions can make your job a whole lot easier contact us today on 1300 884 831 or 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

Happy National Payroll Week - celebrating the contribution of Kiwi Payroll Professionals

Mitrefinch are pleased to support National Payroll Week, a new initiative from The New Zealand Payroll Practitioners’ Association (NZPPA)

National Payroll Week - supporting NZ Payroll Professionals

Running from November 7th to November 11th, National Payroll Week aims to acknowledge the contribution of hard working Payroll Professionals, and raise awareness of the important role payroll plays in the everyday lives of the NZ workforce, economy and the wider community.

Payroll is one of the most highly regulated functions within any business. Compliance with complex legislation, terms and conditions of employment and business policy is critical, yet despite these challenges, payroll officers still manage to calculate employee’s pay accurately and on time, every pay run.

As part of National Payroll Week, NZPPA are running a Poster Campaign which encourages payroll people to celebrate their profession and spread the word about the important role they play within their organisation. In addition, NZPPA members are encouraged to write an article on “Why Payroll is a Profession”, and the winning submission will be the feature article for the first issue of NZPPA’s new “Pay And You – PAY” publication.

“During National Payroll Week we are delighted to acknowledge the essential role that payroll personnel play in every business”, said Jamie Fitzsimons, Mitrefinch Marketing Manager. “Payroll is an extremely important component of every worker's life. Yet, the challenges involved with processing our pay is something that many of us take for granted.”

“Payroll error rates can account for up to 1.2% of total payroll costs, amounting to millions of dollars in overhead costs for many NZ businesses”, said Allan Murdoch, Mitrefinch NZ Business Development. “Having qualified payroll personnel as well as a user-friendly system to help automate payroll processing can significantly reduce error, offering huge cost savings”.

Mitrefinch’s Time Management Solution, TMS, is used on a daily basis by payroll professionals, helping them automate the transfer of hours and rates to their payroll system, improving productivity and efficiency.

For more information or to get involved with National Payroll Week please visit: www.nzppa.com.au