Small business platform Xero has recently released new research revealing that payday problems are widespread across Australia, with 43 per cent of workers experiencing issues with their pay, rising to 49 per cent for those employed by small businesses.
The Xero survey of more than 1000 Australian workers, conducted in partnership with Dynata, found that 22 per cent of all respondents had been paid late. This increased to 29 per cent for those employed by small businesses.
Of those who were paid late, 68 per cent reported feeling stressed as a result, and 45 per cent had missed payments for financial commitments such as household bills and mortgage repayments. While slightly more than two in five (43 per cent) felt less engaged and productive at work, and one in three (34 per cent) considered leaving their job as a result of being paid late.
Other key findings from the research included:
- 46 per cent of all workers and 54 per cent of small business employees believe improvements could be made to payment processes.
- The number one improvement sought is to be paid on time (25 per cent).
- The most common payment errors are incorrect salary payments (24 per cent), late salary payments (22 per cent), underpayment of salary (22 per cent), and overpayment of salary (10 per cent).
Matthew Prouse, Head of Industry at Xero Australia said, “There are a number of reasons why employees might be experiencing anomalies with their pay, but the majority of employers try to do the right thing when paying staff. Small businesses can sometimes have issues due to manual payroll processes, where the likelihood of error is much higher.”
Xero’s latest research findings coincide with the looming Single Touch Payroll (STP) deadline. From 1 October 2019, small business employers of all sizes will need to have complied with STP and commence digitally reporting employees’ payroll information to the Australian Taxation Office each time they pay their staff.
“Single Touch Payroll is a new way of working that will help small business owners to streamline their operations. It makes it easier for employers to do the right thing and will be a catalyst for greater accuracy, security and efficiency when paying employees,” Prouse said.
