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. 

Alcohol and drug use costing Australian businesses $5.2 billion a year in lost productivity and absenteeism

A new academic paper written for the Australian Drug Foundation has found that alcohol and drug use is costing Australian businesses $5.2 billion a year in hidden lost productivity and absenteeism.

The paper entitled, “Workplace Alcohol and other Drug Programs: What is Good Practice?” estimates the annual cost of absenteeism due to alcohol alone to be close to $1.2 billion.

Australian Drug Foundation Head of Workplace Services, Phillip Collins, explains; “The costs of lost productivity or absenteeism due to alcohol and other drugs are well hidden in most businesses.” “Employers and HR departments simply don’t have enough information to attribute the days of work their staff are missing as being due to drug and alcohol use.

“With access to real-time information on absenteeism, employers can quickly identify; how often a worker is absent, how much working time has been lost, if there is a particular pattern forming, and in which area of the business absenteeism occurs most” advises Jamie Fitzsimons, Marketing Manager at Mitrefinch Workforce Management. 

Workforce time and attendance management systems specialise in recording unplanned absences and leave, producing a complete Absence Profile for an individual employee, group of employees, or department. Armed with this information management can determine how absence impacts the organisation's overall productivity and address potential issues before they get out of hand.

For more information on preventive alcohol and drug workplace programs and how they can help your business become healthier, happier and more productive visit the Australian Drug Foundation website: www.adf.org.au/programs-services/workplace-services.

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".