2013 Australian Payroll Benchmarking Report

The 2013 Australian Payroll Association Benchmarking Survey is now open and we encourage all our readers to get involved.

By collecting and analysing payroll data and publishing benchmarks, the survey and subsequent report aims to assist participants in understanding how they compare with other businesses within their particular industry, as well as across many other sectors, whether they are top performers and where improvements might be found.

All participants will receive a complimentary copy of the report when it is launched in January 2014.

The report is unique as it is the only survey of its kind in Australia that specifically relates to the costs and efficiencies of the payroll operation.

Complete the survey here before 22 November.

In addition, feel free to pass on to other colleagues or peers that may be interested in getting involved.

2013 Australian Payroll Association Benchmarking Survey is now open

Mitrefinch to focus on new Trends in Time and Attendance at TAPS Workplace Review

The Association of Payroll Specialists’ (TAPS) are hosting their annual Workplace Review Conference in both Melbourne and Sydney this month. The event is Australia’s longest running payroll conference and this year’s theme is “Give your Payroll a Workout".

Give your payroll a workout at the TAPS Workplace Review and Payroll Expo

The conference will feature an impressive line-up of educational sessions with a strong emphasis on recent changes to legislation, as well as popular pay and HR related topics such as long service leave, super reforms, expats, payroll fraud, workplace health and safety, salary packaging and fringe benefits tax. 

The team from Mitrefinch will be on hand to present an informative session on “Trends in Time and Attendance”, focusing on new advancements in workforce management, incorporating leading-edge biometric and mobile technology, as well as the different ways in which employee time and attendance information can be effectively utilised across other areas of the business, outside of payroll processing and HR management. 

The Payroll Expo will run in conjuction with the Workplace Review, providing attendees with an opportunity to learn more about the latest payroll and HR technology and tools to implement best practices, operational efficiencies and cost savings. 

“We are pleased to be associated with TAPS and the Payroll Expo once again, and are especially looking forward to presenting as part of the educational sessions”, said Jamie Fitzsimons, Mitrefinch Marketing Manager. 

“As well as advising attendees on new trends in workforce management, we will also demonstrate how up-to-the-minute time and attendance data can be used for effective labour costing, fatigue management, mobile workforce tracking, and staff and production scheduling.” 

The Conference will take place at the Bayview Eden in Melbourne on October 17/18 and at Luna Park in Sydney on October 24/25. 

For more information contact Mitrefinch direct on 1300 884 831 or visit the event website. 

Workforce Time and Attendance Management for Manufacturing

The manufacturing industry is subject to rapid changes in supply and demand, often as a result of seasonal changes, special promotions or new product launches and changes in the economy.

Improve the efficiency of your production staff with specialised Workforce Time and Attendance Software

To remain productive and profitable, manufacturers must respond to these fluctuations by ensuring that their workforce matches the supply and demand situation. 

By achieving this balance, they can avoid problems related to over or understaffing such as increased labour costs, decreased productivity or poor product quality. 

With an automated Time and Attendance System, supervisors and managers can easily assign employees to pre-defined work shifts and rosters, and schedule staff across a multitude of production sites. 

A good time and attendance application should also be able to accommodate complex award entitlements, rosters and work schedules, ensuring you have the appropriate number of staff, with the required skills, available for each shift.

How you capture your employee's time and attendance data is also important. Time clocks and terminals need to suit the environment. Will the area be hosed down? Are staff required to wear latex gloves? Do employees work with different oils or lubricants? Is the area refrigerated or chilled?   

Data capture options can include; biometric fingerscan technology, touch screen kiosks, durable proximity fob and swipe card terminals, or mobile applications. 

Working with some of the world's leading manufacturers, Mitrefinch's Time and Attendance system provides manufacturers with the tools to: 

• Accurately track employee time and attendance, reduce absenteeism, and improve productivity 
• Plan for future work and cover with our budget costing and time allocation tools 
• Easily track expenses against revenue 
• Automate compliance with work rules and industry award entitlements 
• Ensure shifts align with machine time, in order to maximise productivity 
• Manage overtime planning and allocation 
• Increase site safety with integrated Access Control, Fire Evacuation and Fatigue Management Reporting 
• Access real-time information on overtime, absences, and productivity and use this data to make important strategic decisions
• Capture employee time and attendance information from a range of sources

For more information on Workforce Management for Manufacturing visit Mitrefinch online or call 1300 884 831

Employees crying sick after Anzac Day to cost Aussie Business at least $36 million

The NSW Business Chamber predicts that about 173,000 Australians will pull a "well-known and obvious scam" by taking this Friday off after the Anzac Day holiday. 

Australia celebrates Anzac Day on Thursday April 25th

"It's amazing how many people get 'sick' on a Friday after a public holiday so they can create a long weekend," CEO Stephen Cartwright said in a statement on Friday. His advice to employees who want some extra time off is to plan ahead and talk to their supervisor or manager about booking annual leave*.


In dealing with unplanned absence, it is important for organisations to establish an absenteeism policy and make all employees aware of its content. A company can also gain significant insight into their operation by examining their workforce’s attendance and absenteeism information. 

If the business is small in size they may be able to track employee absenteeism manually. For larger companies this may not be an option, therefore they need to ensure that they implement a time and attendance tracking system that can: 

• Keep an accurate count of individual employee absences 
• Tabulate all employee absenteeism totals 
• Calculate the financial impact that these absences have on the business 
• Detect patterns where absences are particularly high 
• Differentiate between various types of absences 

The Mitrefinch Time and Attendance system can report on an unlimited number of absence codes. Each code represents a type of absence such as annual leave, personal day, sick certified, sick uncertified and bereavement, amongst others.

In addition, managers can keep a check on the percentage of absenteeism by employee, site, location, department and company on a whole, and then determine if an employee is above or below a plant or department average of absenteeism – and take appropriate action. 

The Mitrefinch Time and Attendance system includes a host of other features to assist with absence management and holiday planning including Leave Slots and Self Service tools. 

Leave Slots enable you to limit the number of staff that can book leave on a particular day, ensuring you have the right staffing levels to meet customer or production demands. Web-based Self Service tools make it easy for employees to view their leave balances and book time off, while supervisors can quickly approve or deny requests. 

Continue to our website to find out more information about automated time and attendance systems and absence management. 

*Read the full article on news.com.au

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)