By Kate Renton, Employee Expert
The Fair Work Ombudsman has begun to audit 1000 businesses across Australia, as part of a new campaign to make sure employers have the basics right in their workplaces. Your business could be one of their targets.
The Workplace Basics campaign will see Fair Work Inspectors assist businesses with accessing and navigating the wide range of resources available via Fair Work, and they will also help businesses meet their obligations to pay workers correctly and follow record-keeping and payslip legislation.
Focus will be given to sectors with large numbers of vulnerable workers, such as casuals, migrants and students. One major area of focus will be the fast food, restaurant and café sectors in addition to others such as retail, security and manufacturing. Businesses within the supply chain will also be examined – so it’s important to know that the businesses within your network have their basics right too.
What HR basics should you get right?
- Know the Modern Award that covers your industry and employees
- Pay correctly – know the correct hourly base, overtime and penalty rates for your employees
- Have adequate record-keeping and payslips – employers are obliged to give each employee a payslip at the end of each pay cycle, and are obliged to keep employee records for seven years
What is the impact to your business if you get it wrong?
The Fair Work Act has doubled the maximum penalty for failing to keep employee records or issue payslips, to $63,000 for a company and $12,600 for an individual, and tripled the maximum penalty for knowingly making or keeping false or misleading employee records to $12,600 for an individual.
If your business cannot get the basic HR requirements right now, then this could cause problems for you down the track. Worst case scenario is that you may be issued with an infringement notice from Fair Work, and, subsequently, be taken to court if you do not comply.
How can we help you get your HR basics right?
An Employee Metrics session with one of the Employee Matters team will take your business through the entire Employee Life Cycle. Using this tool, that we designed specifically for Australian businesses of all sizes, you will gain a better understanding of your level of HR compliance risk, the importance of fixing it and a recommendation to show you how.
Book an Employee Metrics Session Now
