Q/ We are having a Christmas party for our employees and their partners, we may also be giving employees a Christmas gift. Can you tell me the FBT implications. A/ The FBT rules in this area are quite complex and depend on whether or not you are a tax-paying or tax-exempt body. The rules are … Read more

Under the Fair Work Act, certain amounts can be withheld from an employee’s pay providing they meet the requirements of being “permitted deductions”. This part of the law is aimed at deductions like health insurance payments, union fees and similar. Such deductions can occur where the employee has made the request in writing and the … Read more

The Federal Coalition Government has drafted proposed changes to superannuation law which, if passed, will mean that the increase from 9.25% to 9.5% for employee superannuation contributions will be deferred from 1 July 2014 to 1 July 2016. Subsequent increases would be 0.5% each year, reaching 12% for 1 July 2021 onwards. At this stage, … Read more

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