• Blog / Cloud Bookkeeping Blog /

• New Employee Guide: Starting Employment

Hired someone? Now what? All that you need to know when getting a new employee. Payroll record keeping.

Employee Details required

Name, address and mobile number

• Provide bank details for electronic wage
• Authority to email payslips to employee
• MyGov registration (when required for STP)
• Award/Agreement
• Next of kin details for emergencies
• Employee pay rate, employment basis, classification and any allowances
• Storage of the Award must be easily accessible for employees

Tax File Declaration

The key Tax File Declaration areas to focus on include:

Tax File Number (download TFN Declaration here)

• Claiming tax free threshold
  
  • Claiming tax off set
  • Required to pay HELP/HECS
• If the employee a foreign resident – check visa (type of visa and allowed hours)
• If the employee a Working Holiday Maker – Visa 462 and 417

Section A of the Tax File Declaration is to be completed by the employee and Section B is to be completed by the employer.

Super Choice Form

The required details for the Super Choice Form are (download the form here):

• Employee details including Tax File Number
• Employer default fund
• Employee’s choice of fund
• Employee’s fund name and membership number
• Employee’s fund USI
• An employee with a self-managed super fund requires an ESA id

It is important to note that the employee’s details used in the super fund must be the same in payroll.

Fair Work Information Statement

The Fair Work Information Statement outlines the 10 NES Standards:

1. Maximum weekly hours
2. Requests for flexible working arrangements
3. Parental leave and related entitlements
4. Annual leave
5. Personal carers leave
6. Compassionate leave
7. Community service leave
8. Long service leave
9. Public holidays
10. Notice of termination and redundancy

Casual employees only receive NES entitlements related to:

• Unpaid carer’s leave
• Unpaid compassionate leave
• Community service leave
• Fair Work information statement

Employment

Employer Obligations

The employer must:

• Register with the ATO as an employer
• Withhold appropriate PAYG from employees pay
• Choose a ‘My Super Default’ superannuation fund for the business
• Forms to be supplied to employee:
• TFN Declaration
• SGC Standard Choice Form
• Fair Work Information Statement (supplied to all employees)
• Taxes, superannuation and other deductions must be forwarded by the stipulated dates to the appropriate agency
• Record keeping – FWO is 7 years; ATO is 5 years

Employment Workplace Policy

The workplace policy is designed to provide payroll staff direction of the business rules and regulations for staff and guidance in staff management and operations. Additionally, this policy is to enable staff to promptly find answers to payroll issues regarding pay, leave, employment entitlements and conditions for the workplace.

The policy includes:

• Employee roles and responsibilities
• Employee contracts and Fair Work NES standards
• Payroll administrator tasks
• Assigned HR Expert for the business
• Payroll business guidelines
• New staff guideline
• Payroll process
• Human Resource person/intermediary issues and notes (if applicable)

Payroll Record Keeping

Employers are required to keep time and wages records for 7 years. The records kept must be: legible, readily accessible to a Fair Work Inspector and in English

The records cannot be: changed unless the change is to correct an error „or false or misleading.

Record Keeping Documents:

• Job Classifications – Awards and Agreements Pay and entitlements
• Superannuation
• Employer tax obligations
  
  • PAYG
  • Payroll Tax Record keeping
  • Workplace Health and Safety Training
• Discrimination
• Trade union membership

Workers Compensation

Workers’ Compensation/Workcover is an insurance paid by employers to cover: „

• Employees
• Directors (working and non-working)
• Subcontractors, if deemed to be a worker.

The rules and regulations of Workers Compensation are different in each state.

Subscribe by email and instantly get FREE Illustrated eBook. Adequate ‘positive’ cash flow is essential for the survival of any business, yet this is something that over 50% of small business owners struggle to manage.