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

Do falling staff sickness levels signal rise in presenteeism?

In the UK, employees are now taking fewer sick days off work than at any time since records began, new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed.

However, while absenteeism rates appear to be falling, experts have warned that this could be creating another workforce management problem for employers - a rise in presenteeism – where staff come in to work even when they in ill health, which can ultimately affect their own and their organisation's performance. 

In Australia, the latest estimates put the price of absenteeism at $6bn annually, while the cost of presenteeism could be as high as $34bn, according to a new report by Medibank.

"Sickness absence is in the spotlight because it is something management can measure, putting individual managers under pressure to reduce the level of absenteeism among staff - but it leads to increased presenteeism, especially during a recession," Ksenia Zheltoukhova, a spokesperson for the Work Foundation, told the UK’s Guardian newspaper.

“Employers have the ability to reduce presenteeism rates, thereby improving productivity and, in the long-term, generate a positive impact on their business bottom line,” Dr Matthew Cullen from Medibank Health Solutions said. 

As such, to minimise negative effects to businesses, employers should take steps to make staff feel comfortable about taking time off when they are ill as part of their absence management strategies.

Medibank advise that investments need to be made in the health of staff, so that employers can reduce presenteeism rates, productivity and, in the long term, generate an overall positive impact on business.

For more info see “Time to get serious about presenteeism, it’s costing you $34bn” on HC Online.

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!

Feeling the worse for wear after Anzac Day?

Receive any unconvincing sick calls this morning? Tempted to chuck a sickie yourself?

While Anzac Day is a day off for many Australians to celebrate the national holiday and raise a glass to those who serve, Thursday is unfortunately a normal working day, and employees are expected to show up to work ready for action.

Sounds good in theory, but when a public holiday falls in the middle of the week, it deosn't take an expert to predict there will generally be an increase in people not turning up for work.

However, chucking a ‘sickie’ the day after a public holiday fools no one, and does not go unnoticed by employers or colleagues – which can prove damaging to your professional reputation.

In addition, as the NSW Business Chamber advise, the impact of staff taking a ‘mass sick day’ can significantly harm a business, both in terms of financial costs and lost productivity. 

Employees who do plan on extending a mid week day off into an extra-long weekend are urged to use their annual leave or talk to their employers to come up with alternative arrangements. 

With an automated Time and Attendance Software System, Absence Profiling and Reporting, 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 Anzac 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 public holidays, an automated Time and Attendance Software System can also take the stress out of payroll processing – by easily calculating overtime pay and public holiday penalties, and exporting this information direct to your external payroll application. 

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. the Thursday after Anzac 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... 

If you don’t have an automated Time and Attendance Software System, maybe it’s something you need to plan on putting in place now to be ready for next year!

For more information contact Mitrefinch on +61 2 8762 7888, email sales@mitrefinch.com.au or visit us online 

Fatigue amounts to billions in lost productivity for Aussie Businesses

Yawning while reading this? Need to reach for the coffee for an extra boost? 

If you are, it seems you aren’t alone, as Australia’s largest-ever sleep census, conducted by bed manufacturer Sealy and CQUniversity, reveals some alarming data on the economic impact of sleepless nights. 

38 per cent of Aussies admit to falling asleep at work or in meetings

The Sealy Sleep Census polled over 13,000 respondents from across Australia and found that 96 per cent are waking up tired each morning, with only four per cent saying they feel refreshed. 

The survey concluded that this is having a serious impact on the nation’s businesses, with sick days, lost man hours, and reduced productivity, all contributing to a combined loss of millions of dollars in lost productivity every year. Not forgetting the increased potential for workplace injuries and safety concerns. 

According to the poll: 

• A third of Australians have called in sick to work due to lack of sleep; 
• 70 per cent of Aussies admit their professional productivity is negatively impacted from feeling tired; and 
• At least 167,000,000 man hours are lost every year as a result, equating to almost $5 billion in lost productivity. 

“The study gives us valuable insight not only into the sleeping habits of Australians but how sleep issues can impact directly on Australian commerce, with some alarming findings,” Sealy’s spokesperson Ross Gage says. 

Perhaps the most shocking result from the Sealy Sleep Census is that 38 per cent of respondents said they have fallen asleep at work or during a work meeting. 

If you are experiencing excessive tiredness at work it is important to identify the factors that are contributing to the fatigue (e.g. workload, roster, personal circumstances), discuss these issues with your employer, make changes as required, and seek professional help if necessary. 

An automated time management system can also assist organisations in implementing an effective Fatigue Management plan. 

By tracking and monitoring employee time and attendance data, a time management system allows you to analyse the amount of time your staff are spending at work, overtime hours, and associated productivity levels. Alerts can be set to notify Supervisors or HR when a particular employee is approaching their work hour limit, enabling them to adjust rosters and shifts accordingly. 

A time management system also automates compliance with current workplace legislation and modern awards, as well as any organisation-specific work rules, and can easily accommodate any new changes. This ensures that employees are only permitted to work if they satisfy all the associated rules, providing you with ‘peace of mind’ that they are alert to perform their duties in a safe manner. 

In addition, by automating annual reporting and maintaining a complete audit trail, a time management system ensures you have all the required information to hand in the unfortunate event of an accident and subsequent legal action. 

For more information on how an automated time management system can assist with effective fatigue management contact Mitrefinch today on 1300 884 831 (+61 2 8672 7888 outside Australia), email sales@mitrefinch.com.au or visit us online. 

Source: My Business: "Lack of sleep costing business millions in lost productivity"

Click here for more information on the Sealy Sleep Census