Monday 24 April - Creating Confidence In How People Are Paid

Newsbite: Changes to Australia’s paid parental leave

The Paid Parental Leave scheme is changing from 1 July 2023. If the employees’ child’s birth or entry into care is on or after the 1 July 2023, these changes will affect the employee. If the employee is a birth mother or the first adoptive parent they can claim up to 3 months before their child’s birth or adoption. However, other parents must wait until 1 July 2023 to claim under these changes.

On 1 July 2023, Parental Leave Pay and Dad and Partner Pay are combining into one payment. It will increase from 90 days (18 weeks) to 100 days (20 weeks). The government will introduce a combined family income limit. If the employee doesn’t meet the individual income limit of $156,647, the government will apply the combined family income limit of $350,000 instead. This will happen even if the employee is single or partnered.

Parents can use Parental Leave Pay until a child turns 2. Parents can share their Parental Leave Pay with each other and they can even take days at the same time. This can be at the same time as paid leave, and between periods of paid work. The birth mother or first adoptive parent must give approval to share any Parental Leave Pay days.

Part of Parental Leave Pay will also be reserved for each parent to use. Any unused portions of Parental Leave Pay days will be lost if not used before a child turns 2. This is to encourage both parents to access the payment. Single parents will be able to get the full amount of Parental Leave Pay.

There are more proposed changes to Parental Leave Pay which are subject to legislation passing. The proposed changes include the total Parental Leave Pay available to families increasing to 26 weeks by 2026.

For more information - Click Here.

Free Webinar - 2023 Australian Payroll Survey Results Unpacked

Join?Tracy Angwin?for an exclusive presentation on the latest payroll survey results.

This free informative session will provide invaluable insights into the trends and challenges currently facing payroll professionals in Australia.

Key topics we will cover in the 40 minute live webinar include:

?? Insights into the biggest challenges facing payroll professionals today

?? Growing workloads and complexities and the challenge they present

?? Professional development, salary trends and retention

?? The landscape of payroll solutions and service providers

Date: Thursday 4 May 2023

Time: 10:00AM AEDT

Duration: 40 minutes including Q&A

Cost: FREE

To register for the webinar click here:?https://lnkd.in/g8EMkjgn

Payroll Compliance – Superannuation

Do you ever get mixed up with the maximum super contribution base ($60,220) and the employee concessional contribution cap ($27,500)?

MSCB - This is the sum, set by the Federal Government each year, which is the maximum limit on an employee's earnings base for each quarter of a financial year. For 2022/23 the maximum superannuation contribution base is $60,220 per quarter.

An employer does not have to pay super guarantee for the part of earnings above this limit if they do not want to. This means that the maximum super guarantee amount an employer is required to contribute is the equivalent of 10.5% of $60,220 per quarter (equivalent to $240,880 for the year), which works out to be a contribution of $6,323.10 per quarter.

Action: The business needs to work out if they will pay super to this base or continue to pay 10.5% on all their employees ordinary time earnings.

Concessional contribution cap - There is a limit to the amount an employee can contribute to super from their before-tax income in order to benefit from the concessional tax rate. The cap – which includes contributions made by the employer under the Super Guarantee scheme – is set at $27,500 p.a. (2022/23 figure).

If total after-tax contributions exceed the cap, the employee will be required to pay a higher tax rate on the excess amount and they may have to pay an excess charge as well. This cap is between the employee and their super fund, not the employer.

Payroll can action a salary sacrifice for an employee that wishes to contribute super to the $27,500.00, however the employee needs to advise in writing the amount that they wish to salary sacrifice. Example $100.00 per pay Pre-tax salary sacrifice. Payroll should refer the employee to their super fund to determine how much has already been contributed into their fund for the financial year so far.

Newsbite: David Jones, Politix underpay 7000 employees

“Insufficient annualised salaries have become a persistent problem in many Australian workplaces, and breaches – if not quickly found and fixed – can lead to a substantial back-payment bill.”

FWO’s Sandra Parker

Australian retailers David Jones and men’s fashion company Cicero Clothing (trading as Politix) are set to pay $1.9 million and $2.1 million respectively to 7000 underpaid employees.

The issue was first reported to Fairwork Ombudsman (FWO) in September 2020 when failures in manual payroll processes resulted in the underpayment of minimum wages, evening, weekend and public holiday penalties, overtime rates and other entitlements.

Between November 2016 and December 2020, Politix underpaid about 850 employees with around $2.06 million in wages, plus $45,000 in superannuation.

David Jones underpaid 2800 employees $480,000 in wages and $1.4 million in superannuation between April 2014 and September 2020.

Individual wage underpayments were up to $22,956 at Politix and $12,576 at David Jones.

At Politix, underpaid staff worked in all Australian states and territories in a range of roles including as managers and retail workers, while at David Jones the impacted workers were in women’s apparel roles, online sales, management and logistics.

Although a large majority of back payments have been made, the retailers have each signed an Enforceable Undertaking (EU) with FWO.

FWO’s Sandra Parker said the EUs were “appropriate” as the retailers had displayed a “firm commitment” to rectifying all underpayments and changing their practices.

“This matter is another reminder to employers to place a high priority on ensuring their staff receive all their lawful entitlements.

“Insufficient annualised salaries have become a persistent problem in many Australian workplaces, and breaches – if not quickly found and fixed – can lead to a substantial back-payment bill.”

The EU also includes interest of around $60,000 for David Jones and $409,000 for Politix, which is to be met by April this year.

Widespread underpayments, though of lesser amounts, have been uncovered in other Country Road Group brands such as Trenery, Witchery Fashions, Country Road, Mimco and CRG Logistics.

Payroll Training Events - End of Year 2023

As the year draws to a close, it's crucial to stay up-to-date with the latest payroll legislation. That's why we're thrilled to invite you to a packed learning session featuring our returning guest speaker? Chontelle Weyman ?from the? Australian Taxation Office .

Our Virtual Classroom will not only cover all the usual content, but also address new and proposed legislation that will impact payroll. As a participant in this Virtual Classroom, you'll have the opportunity to ask questions as we work through the material. We'll cover a range of topics, including EOY reporting requirements for STP, key rates and threshold changes for the 2023-24 year, and a comprehensive review of changes that occurred during the 2022-23 FY.

Take advantage of the?early bird discount available until 30th April 2023?to secure your spot and stay ahead of the game. Don't miss this opportunity to learn from the experts and stay up-to-date with the latest payroll legislation.

Virtual classes are scheduled for either?8 June?or?13 June?from?10am to 2pm AEST - BOOK NOW

Available training in May:

4 MAY - Virtual Terminations?Masterclass: Book Now

5 MAY - Virtual Long Service Leave?Masterclass: Book Now

10 MAY - Virtual Understanding the SCHADS award: Book Now

16 MAY - Virtual Payroll Tax Masterclass: SOLD OUT

18 MAY - Virtual FBT & Salary Packaging for Payroll: Book Now

19?MAY - Virtual Understanding Modern Awards: Book Now

24 MAY - Virtual Superannuation Masterclass: Book Now

25?MAY - Virtual Payroll Essentials: Book Now

26 MAY - Virtual Advanced Payroll: Book Now

26?MAY - Virtual Understanding the SCHADS award: Book Now

Payroll Jobs

For view the very latest payroll jobs - Click Here.