Posts Categorized: Employment matters

JobKeeper payment

The JobKeeper scheme was announced late yesterday.  It provides for government funded fortnightly payments of $1,500 to eligible employees.

You can read more by clicking on the following link to access the Treasury fact sheet:-

https://tinyurl.com/vouhffq

Important points to notify are:-

How do you qualify?

A small business will qualify if turnover has fallen by more than 30% compared to the same month last year.

What do you need to do now

Register which you can do at:-

https://www.ato.gov.au/general/gen/JobKeeper-payment/

What you will need to do going forward

  • Supply to the ATO employee details as at 1st March 2020.

  • Notify all employees

Fine detail

A number of questions arise such as:-

  • What is the position for employees of a new business?

  • What if the first half of March was OK? 

The fine details will come so please return to read updates.

 

New employer stimulus

Another stimulus is currently being announced!  The Prime Minister and Treasurer are currently answering questions on a new employer stimulus package.

Please return to this page for further details as they are revealed.

It is also pleasing to her that the Centrelink partner income threshold to be increased from $48,000 to $79,000.

 

Frustration over unresolved PAYG WH concession frustration

It all sounded so simple.  Small business which employ would receive at least $20,000 and as much as $100,000.  It wasn’t going to solve the lack of revenue and cash, but, in a small way, would partially help employers to keep employing as many as possible.  However, all is not as it seems.  Frustration over the unresolved PAYG WH concession is growing amongst all accountants.

I have just checked an accounting Facebook group and everyone is expressing increasing frustration over the lack of clarity over the PAYG WH concession and unfairness over common situations.  I have spoken with many accounting colleagues and they too are frustrated.

The interaction of the legislation as passed and how the ATO says they are going to interpret it are going to mean many small business owners will receive no relief either due to the timing of remuneration or form of reward. 

It seems that many small business owners who would reasonably understand they would benefit from this PAYG WH concession are going to miss out.

There is much for the government to do at the moment but this major incentive rapidly requires clarification.  If necessary, the legislation as passed earlier in the week needs to be rapidly amendment to avoid many small businesses missing out.

We will keep you posted.

 

Managing your team at their homes

We seemed destined to shortly be working from home.

And with that comes new challenges. 

Some will be challenging, some will be new, others you may not have thought of.

Warren Howard is both a client and trusted support service.  Warren and his team at Howardco specialises in recruitment, HR development and executive coaching.

Warren has kindly allowed me to post his blog on the challenges of managing a team that is working remotely from their own homes.

https://howardco.com.au/blog/working-from-home-were-in-this-together/

I can highly recommend Howardco to you.  Unfortunately the first need for many may to handle standing down or terminating team members.  Terminating an employee is stressful and unpleasant.  Warren is highly skilled in managing the process and making it as seamless as can be.

How to stay fit & healthy when forced to stay at home (PART 1)

It appears at the time of blogging that it is a now a question of when, not if we go into lockdown.

And with that come new experiences and challenges.

Like staying fit and healthy.

A friend of mine Pete Sleight runs a Vision Personal Training studio in South Caulfield. 

Peter has two ways of helping you and says that:-

 

If your fitness centre has closed and you are feeling a little lost when it comes to your health and well-being, then we have the experience and tools in place to help you stay on track towards your fitness goals. 

The ‘HOW‘ may have changed, but the ‘WHY‘ remains the same. 

Our community is more connected than ever with Online 1:1 Personal Training Sessions and Online Group Training now available. That’s right, no need to come to us, we will come to you via your mobile, tablet or computer making it never more easier as to WHY you started in the first place. 

Stay on track and get in touch with Peter at Vision Personal Training Caulfield to book your free online health and fitness consultation. 

I can highly recommend Peter to you and trust this helps many of you to stay fit and healthy.

Peter Sleight
Vision Personal Training Caulfield
Telephone: 04111 77468
Email: psleight@visionpt.com.au
Website: www.visionpt.com.au/studios/caulfield

Are your staff going to work from home?

COVID-19 has changed the way we work.  Are your staff going to work from home?  Or are they already working from home?

If so, then there are number of things to consider.

All employers handle Tax File Number of their employees.  Employers are therefore subject to the provisions of the Privacy Act irrespective of their turnover.  It is beyond the scope of this article to address how you comply with the Privacy Act so we will just address the issue of a breach.  Should there be a privacy breach due to the mishandling of sensitive personal information, it of course must be addressed, be reported to the Privacy Commission and a public statement made.  This could be embarrassing to say the least!  And costly.

The question therefore arises is how secure is your employee access to your data.  You might have all the security in the world employed in the office.  But that means nothing if someone logs in to your server from an insecure home computer with no up to date virus and malware protection.  They may also have an insecure internet connection.  

These are a number of other matters to consider.  We have a client Business Continuity Plan which addresses this and many other matters.  Please ask us if you would like a copy.

With such risks, it is in our opinion essential to have cyber insurance.  Please ask us if you require a referral to an insurance broker who can make sure you get the right cover.

We are also happy to recommend a trusted IT professional to assess your needs.

SG amnesty – prior reported breaches

An employer who is late in paying their super must pay it to the ATO on an SG Super Charge Statement. 

An admin charge and lost earnings component are added to the amount payable.  Worse still, the total amount paid is not tax deductible.  As we always say super liabilities are the liabilities you pay first.

Last week the SG Amnesty laws were passed by Parliament.  This amnesty allows employers to report and pay any underpaid super and do so without the usual penalties. 

What it also enables is those that have previously lodged a SG Super Charge Statement to seek a refund.

We welcome the opportunity to assist you with this and will provide guidance once we have been trained on the amnesty.

 

 

SG super amnesty

The Senate passed the SG super amnesty bill last week.  All that is required now is for it to receive royal asset after which it becomes operational law; that process usually only takes a few days.

This amnesty allows employers to come forward and declare underpaid SG super and do so without the normal (hefty) penalties. 

It has been quite a political journey to finally get to this stage.  The bill was first introduced into Parliament two years ago.  It never received support and lapsed with last year’s election. 

We are pleased that it has been passed as we believe many employees will benefit.  Whilst we are abhorred and disgusted by those employers who don’t pay any of their compulsory super obligation, there are many cases where innocent oversights have resulted in relatively minor under payments.  This amnesty should see a considerable amount of super paid to the benefit of employees.

Full details of this amnesty have yet to be explored and analysed.  We await training on this and look forward to explaining more in due course.

We strongly encourage all employers to not miss this opportunity. 

All employers should review their level of compliance since 1992.  Why 1992?  Well the system was introduced in July 1992 and the ATO can go back audit any period they like.  And one thing about an amnesty; once they are over, the ATO comes out with baseball bats.

We welcome any question you may have but look forward to explaining more shortly.

 

New awards to comply with

Awards set out employment conditions and minimum rates of pay.  Whilst not every occupation is covered by an award, there are over 100 awards that cover most employees.
 
As an employer you must adhere to them.
 
On a rolling four-year basis, the Fair Work Commission reviews awards.  During the week, the Fair Work Commission updated the first of three sets of awards.
 
Whilst the amendments are largely in respect of set out and clarification, there have been some changes to entitlements that an employer must comply with.
 
How do you know if any of your employees are covered by an award?  You can check this at:-

https://www.fairwork.gov.au/awards-and-agreements/awards/find-my-award/
 

How can I claim car travel?

In order to claim car travel in your personal Tax Return:-

  • You must own the car.

  • You must have undertaken a trip for either your business or your employer.

You can claim under two methods:-

  • Log book, or

  • Cents per kilometre

Tip

You can use a log book kept for three months in the current year or in the last four years (provided the pattern of travel hasn’t changed significantly). 

Tip

You must have a properly kept log book.  You can do so by buying one in a stationers or you can access an electronic one form our firms app.

Tip

You can claim 68 cents per kilometre under the cents per kilometre method for up to 5,000 work/business strips.  This means you can still claim 5,000 km where you travel say 5,500km.  Some people choose to do so as it gives them a better claim than under a log book.  All you need is a reliable estimate of all trips undertaken during the year. 

Want to know what works best for you – call us.  We even have a salary sacrifice calculator so we work out the best way to package up a work car and minimise the Fringe Benefits Tax.