Regardless of whether you manage the payroll in-house or use an external agency, it’s important that you’re aware of some recent changes to payroll as well as those coming up.

In a bid to reduce wage theft and non-compliance with award payments, employers will have a greater responsibility for record keeping and overtime control measures.

Single Touch Payroll STP) will continue to evolve

Payment Summaries?  They’re so last year.  Where does your business sit with Single Touch Payroll?  The ATO states that:

•  Small employers with 19 or less employees – STP reporting started from 1 July 2019.
• Large employers with 20 or more employees – you should already be reporting through STP.

If you need more information on STP, the ATO is your go-to site.

 Changes to Superannuation Guarantee Requirements – Salary Sacrificing

From 1 January 2020, salary sacrifice cannot be used to contribute to mandatory superannuation contributions. Any proportion of an employee’s salary that is ‘salary sacrificed’ cannot be put into a super fund as part of the mandatory 9.5% in super contributions that should be contributed by the employer.

Annualised Salaries in Modern Awards

From 1 March 2020, there are new obligations for employers who pay their employees an annual salary in modern awards.  These changes include payroll but also company culture, processing and systems.  Is your company payroll ready for the changes?

These changes include:

• Employers will need to notify employees in writing of their annualised salary and their maximum ordinary working hours outside of the 38-hour week;
• Annualised salaried employees must keep records of their start, finish and break times;
• Any excess hours worked in each roster or pay period must be paid to the employee as overtime, if their annual salary does not pay them at or above the minimum wage for their total hours.
• If an employer finds that their employee received less pay on their annualised wage agreement than if they were paid under the award, they need to pay the employee the difference. Any shortfalls must be paid to them within 14 days. This process needs to occur every 12 months, even upon the termination of a contract.

Kochie’s Business Builders provides some in-depth information on these changes and how they may affect your business – check them out for further in-depth analysis.

Would you like advice on your business obligations with upcoming changes to payroll?  Speak to the HR Consulting team at Flexi Personnel.  If your business wants to explore alternative staffing arrangements to reduce the impacts of payroll changes, we can explore that as well!