Payroll teams struggling on shift work and penalty rates

Budget planning concept,Accountant is calculating company’s annual tax.Calendar 2019 and personal income tax forms for those who have income under US law placed on office desk.This is the season to pay taxes.

Recent research has shown almost half of our businesses’ payroll teams are struggling to understand penalty rates and shift work entitlements.

The survey of more than 630 payroll managers, by Australian Payroll Association, revealed that that the building and construction industry struggled the most in understanding shift work entitlements. Almost three-quarters of payroll managers in this sector admitted that they required more knowledge of this entitlement for better job performance. This compared with half the amount (37 per cent) of payroll managers from the professional, scientific and technical services industries.

The data also revealed which other entitlements payroll managers require more knowledge of. Forty-five (45) per cent need more information about general tax requirements across multiple employee payment categories, 40 per cent need more knowledge of long service leave payment rules, and 43 per cent need more information on redundancy pay entitlements.

Payroll managers in smaller companies of under 50 people were much more concerned about redundancy pay, with 59 per cent saying it was something they need more information about. In contrast, only 31 per cent of payroll managers at large companies with more than 5,000 employers felt they needed more information on this entitlement.

“With more and more companies facing Fair Work action as a result of employee underpayments, organisations must minimise the incidence of payroll errors,” Tracy Angwin, CEO and founder of the Australian Payroll Association, said.