New Employee Guide

Starting Employment

Employee Details required

• Name, address, and mobile number
• Next of kin details for emergencies
• Provide bank details for electronic wage
• Authority to email payslips to employee
• MyGov registration (when required for STP)
• Award/Agreement
• Employee pay rate, employment basis, classification and any allowances „
• Storage of the Award must be easily accessible for employees

Tax File Declaration
The key Tax File Declaration areas to focus on include: „

• Tax File Number
  • Claiming tax-free threshold
  • Claiming tax offset
• Required to pay HELP/HECS
• Is the employee a foreign resident – check visa (type of visa and allowed hours)
• Is the employee a Working Holiday Maker – Visa 462 and 417

Section A of the Tax File Declaration is to be completed by the employee and Section B is to be

completed by the employer.

Super Choice Form
The required details for the Super Choice Form are: „

• Employee details including Tax File Number
• Employer default fund
• Employee’s choice of fund
• Employee’s fund name and membership number
• Employee’s fund USI
• Employee with a self-managed super fund requires an ESA id

It is important to note that the employee’s details used in the super fund must be the same in payroll.

Fair Work Information Statement
The Fair Work Information Statement outlines the 10 NES Standards:

1. Maximum standard working week of 38 hours for full-time employees, plus reasonable additional hours
2. The right to request flexible working arrangements
3. Parental and adoption leave of 12 months (unpaid), with a right to request an additional 12 months
4. Four (4) weeks paid annual leave each year (pro-rata)
5. Ten (10) days paid personal/carers leave each year (pro-rata), two (2) days paid compassionate leave for each permissible occasion, and two (2) days unpaid carers leave for each permissible occasion
6. Community services leave for jury service or activities dealing with certain emergencies or natural disasters. This leave is unpaid except for  jury service
7. Long service leave
8. Public holidays and entitlements to be paid for ordinary hours on those days
9. Notice of termination and redundancy
10. The right for new employees to receive the Fair Work Information Statement

Casual employees only receive NES entitlements related to:

• Unpaid carer’s leave
• Unpaid compassionate leave
• Community service leave
• Fair Work information statement

Employment

Employer Obligations
The employer must:

• Register with the ATO as an employer
• Withhold appropriate PAYG from employees pay
• Choose a ‘My Super Default’ superannuation fund for the business
• Forms to be supplied to employee:
• TFN Declaration
• SGC Standard Choice Form
• Fair Work Information Statement (supplied to all employees)
• Taxes, superannuation, and other deductions must be forwarded by the stipulated dates to the appropriate agency
• Record keeping – FWO is 7 years; ATO is 5 years

Employment Workplace Policy
The workplace policy is designed to provide payroll staff direction on the business rules and regulations for staff and guidance in staff management and operations. Additionally, this policy is to enable staff to promptly find answers to payroll issues regarding pay, leave, employment entitlements and conditions for the workplace.

The policy includes:

• Employee roles and responsibilities
• Employee contracts and Fair Work NES standards
• Payroll administrator tasks
• Assigned HR Expert for the business
• Payroll business guidelines
• New staff guideline
• Payroll process
• Human Resource person/intermediary issues and notes (if applicable)

Payroll Record Keeping
Employers are required to keep time and wages records for 7 years.
The records kept must be: legible, readily accessible to a Fair Work Inspector and„ in English

The records cannot be: changed unless the change is to correct an error „or false or misleading.

Record Keeping Documents:

• Job Classifications – Awards and Agreements „ Pay and entitlements
• Superannuation
• Employer tax obligations
  • PAYG
  • Payroll Tax „ Recordkeeping
• Workplace health and safety „Training
• Discrimination
• Trade union membership

Workers Compensation
Workers’ Compensation/Workcover is an insurance paid by employers to cover: „

• Employees
• Directors (working and non-working)
• Subcontractors, if deemed to be a worker.

The rules and regulations of Workers Compensation are different in each state.