Contact Us AU 1300 288 224   NZ 0800 288 224
Attaché Home

Fair Work Australia

  • If the Fair Work Ombudsman's office called you today to perform an audit, would your payroll systems pass?

    The Fair Work Act impacts on far more than your payroll system. However, for your payroll system to be Fair Work compliant, the software, setups and procedures all need to conform. 

    Fair Work reviews conducted by Attaché have found that up to 80% of business payrolls are not fully compliant.

    There are several reasons to ensure your business is Fair Work compliant. Firstly, it is the law. Secondly, fines for non-compliance can run up to $30,000 per instance. For example, a non-complying pay advice is an instance and if you have 100 employees, that’s 100 instances.

    Below are some Fair Work implications for your payroll system.

    Personal/Carer's leave

    • 10 days per year (with accrual) since the introduction of Work Choices in March 2006.

    Since 27 March 2006 employees at most Australian workplaces are entitled to 10 days' paid Personal/Carer’s Leave (sick leave) per year, and any leave that is not taken is carried over into the next year. So if you have an employee who only takes two days' sick leave this year, they are entitled to up to 18 days the next year. If you think your setups might be wrong, we recommend that you contact your Attaché Consultant before altering your software. 

    Pay advices 

    • Must be provided to employees within one business day of payment, even if the employee is on leave or in a remote location.
    • Using Attaché Alex to deliver your pay advices is the simplest way to achieve this.

    Pay advice layouts

    Pay advices MUST have the following information: 

    • Employer’s name and ABN 
    • Where salary applies, the employee’s annual rate of pay 
    • Date paid and pay period covered 
    • Name of superannuation fund and type of superannuation paid 
  • Are your pay advices Fair Work compliant?

    » Are your pay advices Fair Work compliant? (click image to enlarge)

  • Other implications

    • Rates of pay — Groups

      Fair Work has a five year transition period from the old 4000+ state awards to 120 federal awards. This means that, potentially, pay rates could change every year for the next five years. In Attaché Payroll, Groups lets you make one change and have the pay rate for everyone in that group changed. 

    • Record keeping

      The onus of proof has shifted from the employee to the employer. In simple terms, this means that as an employer, if a claim is made against you, you have to prove you have complied with the Fair Work Act. The best way to do this is to keep excellent records. The Payroll Dashboards allow you to attach files and documents to an employee’s record for immediate retrieval if necessary. 

    Free Fair Work review

    Attaché offer a Fair Work review of your payroll system at no charge. If you are currently using Attaché Payroll or just thinking about it, we'd strongly recommend the review as your next step. For more information about an Attaché review click here.

    Important disclaimer: This article has been prepared based on information available from www.fairwork.gov.au. Attaché does not provide legal, accounting or any other professional advice. Before acting on this information, readers should consult their professional advisors as to the suitability of this information for their purposes.