Category: Staff

Are you in the drivers seat with FBT tax?

The Fringe Benefits Tax year ends on 31st March, are you aware what might trigger this extra tax for your business?
A fringe benefit is like a payment to an employee, but in a different form to salary or wages.
Your tax agent can assist with calculations, lodgement, and what exemptions might apply. They may also assist you to make smarter decisions to avoid future lodgements and liabilities.

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Employee Appreciation Day Gifts

How do you show your team that you appreciate them?

If you’re thinking of conveying recognition with a gift – keep the fun business tax (or Fringe Benefits Tax if you want to use the technical term) in mind.
Employee of the month awards and a public pat on the back can also be powerful (and cost effective).

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Work Your Proper Hours Day

Are your team working their proper hours? Do you know what the proper hours are?

Fairwork says:
Maximum weekly hours form part of the National Employment Standards (NES). The NES apply to all employees covered by the national workplace relations system, regardless of any award, agreement or contract.

– maximum ordinary hours that can be worked in a day, week, fortnight or month
– minimum ordinary hours that can be worked in a day
– times of the day that ordinary hours can be worked this is called the spread of hours (for example, between 7am and 7pm).

The ‘spread of hours’ may catch you out if you allow your team to work flexible hours (after they’ve had dinner) – they still need to fit inside the spread of hours or you could be up for overtime rates!

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Employees vs Contractors – ATO update

On 6th December 2023 the ATO released a new Tax Ruling in response to a High Court decision about classifying workers.
We’ve trawled through various ATO pages and summarised it for you with links.

To work out if your worker is an employee or contractor, you need to determine whether your worker is serving in your business or is running their own business. You do this by reviewing the legal rights and obligations in the contract you entered into with your worker.

– Ask for help if you need it!

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Public Holiday for Australia Day

Public holidays – don’t forget your fairwork obligations!
You need to pay all full time and part time staff for the normal hours they would have worked on Australia Day if you close your workplace.
If you open your workplace, all employees have the right to not work. Employers can request employees to work on a public holiday, but the request has to be reasonable. An employee can refuse a request to work if the employee has reasonable grounds to refuse or the request is unreasonable. Check awards for payrates.

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Employee super must be paid on time!

Super payment due dates occur quarterly. If you don’t pay an employee’s super guarantee (SG) amount in full, on time and to the right fund, you must pay the super guarantee charge (SGC).
The SGC is more than the super you would have otherwise paid to the employee’s fund and is not tax deductible.
You will need to complete an SGC statement and submit it to the ATO, this is used to calculate fines and penalties (some to compensate staff for lost earnings, some to punish you for naughtiness).
Hopefully this is a mistake you only make once!

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National Employment Standards Update – Super

Fair Work has updated the National Employment Standards (NES).

FairWork says: From 1 January 2024, the National Employment Standards (NES) includes a right to superannuation contributions. This means that unpaid or underpaid superannuation can be enforced under the Fair Work Act by more employees (as well as by an employee organisation or us).
Make sure you provide new employees with the current version of the National Employment Standards as part of your onboarding process.
Ask us for help if you have no idea about an employee onboarding process – we can help keep you compliant!

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October to December super – authorise now!

If you haven’t already, now is the time to authorise super payments for you employees (this includes you as a director). Funds must reach the employees account by 28th January and it takes a long longer than it ought to be processed, and there is a public holiday this month.
Penalties are harsh for late payment. So sort out your cashflow and pay now!

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