Are you considering taking on new staff but not sure if they will be an employee or contractor? Sometimes the decision is not as easy as you first thought. To help you work it out, the ATO developed an Employee/contractor decision tool http://ato.gov.au/Calculators-and-tools/Employee-or-contractor/ Based on your answers to some simple questions, you’ll be provided with … Read more

Question How long can an employee be employed on a casual basis? Answer There is no limit in the Fair Work Act on how long someone can be engaged as a casual employee, but award or industrial agreements may place limits after which the employee must be offered permanent employment. For example, the Private Sector … Read more

Question Can an employee salary sacrifice their annual and/or long service leave upon termination to superannuation? Answer No. To be an effective salary-sacrifice for termination lump sum leave entitlements, a written agreement must be entered into prior to the leave accruing. For example, if an employee is to retire in one year’s time, the employee … Read more

Q/ Our warehouse had its annual stocktake last Thursday and Friday. We required over 30 employees be ‘stood down’ during this time as there was no effective work for them to do. Are we allowed to stand them down without pay? A/ According to the Fair Work Act, a stand down may only happen in … Read more

1. Do I have to show leave balances on the payslip? 2. Do I have to show the Award or classification on the payslip? 3. Do I have to show the date super was paid on the payslip? A/ The answer to all 3 questions is, according to the Fair Work Regulations, currently no. 1 … Read more

The ATO has released its compliance focus for 2013–2014. For employers, it will be focussing on four main areas that can affect payroll staff: correct withholding and reporting of PAYG tax; fringe benefits tax – identifying non-reported fringe benefits; workers incorrectly treated as contractors rather than employees; and payment of superannuation guarantee.