Tag Archives: government

Hire Staff – hiring the right people

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A business is only as good as the people it employs.  Do they work hard, do they work smart, are they loyal or do they just want that paycheck and be out of there. This guide will look at if you have a need to hire staff, defining the role they will do and the task that must be completed.  Will they be full time, part-time, casual, or a contractor?

The common types of employment are:
full-time: an employee who works 35+ hours per week on an ongoing basis
part-time: an employee who works less than 35 hours per week and has a guaranteed minimum number of working hours
casual: an employee whose work hours may vary each week, depending on the work available
fixed term: an employee who works for a fixed period of time e.g. 3 months
shift workers: an employee who works shifts and gets an extra payment for working shift hours
An employee works in your business and is part of your business. A contractor is running their own business.
contractor can be great for short term projects and can also be paid by the hour without superannuation requirements.

WHY hire staff?

You may not have the skills or the time to do some tasks, or perhaps your time is better spent working on other parts of the business. If so and its time to hire staff assuming their efforts will drive more profit than their salary.

WHAT do I need to understand before you hiring staff?

Ask yourself, what level of skill will this person have and how much will you need to pay to attract the right candidate?  You do need to comply with government legislation in regard to award pay levels which can be found here https://calculate.fairwork.gov.au/findyouraward and discrimination laws here https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/employers/quick-guide-australian-discrimination-laws

HOW to hire staff?

Finding candidates

To find the right candidate, you can either do this yourself or use a recruitment agency.  A recruitment agency will charge you either a set fee or a percentage of the employee’s salary.  If you can afford this it offers a great way to only interview a small number of vetted candidates. If you decide to do this yourself make sure you don’t hire the first person you interview.  Even if they turn out to be the right person you need a point of comparison.  You can find people by word of mouth, an advertisement in your window, the local paper, social media post, or a post on your website or newsletter. A job board like LinkedIn or Seek is handy and with a small fee, it will significantly increase your pool of candidates.

Candidate selection starts before the interview stage where you decide who you will interview.  Many businesses may have 100 applicants for 1 position.  Start by setting the criteria that are most important from a skill perspective to perform the job, for example, must have managed people before.  If the candidate has not they are out of contention.  Seek has a function where you can ask candidates set questions during the submission process. Once this is determined start reducing your list of candidates down to around no more than six people.  Your time is valuable and you cannot interview everyone.  A very important criterion is to ensure the candidates have the right to work in Australia.  There are ways around this but require a significant investment of time and regulation. https://www.business.gov.au/People/Hiring/How-to-hire-an-overseas-worker  Even those with working or student visas have restrictions,  students only being able to work 40 hours in a fortnight and holiday visa workers are not able to work for someone for more than 6 months.

Interview

Now it is time to interview.  Consider where you will interview them, for how long, by whom, and specify if you want them to bring anything. Remember they are interviewing you as well as you interviewing them.  A candidate wants to understand your business, and you as the boss, to decide if they indeed want to work for you.  So some points to consider include what you wear, how you treat them and what questions you ask. You do not want to be a tyrant and you are not their friend so remember to treat them with respect.  A successful practice is to ask each candidate the same questions and to rate them against each other.  That way you have a clear comparison and a method of comparing the person you interviewed today with the one two weeks ago who you can hardly remember. You should take into consideration how each person fits with the skills set you defined earlier, how they will fit into your organisation culture, if they can show you their previous achievements and if they are passionate  (remember a small business is only as good as its people).

In some industries it is common practice to test potential employees through a trial.  We recommend that you pay them and give them a proper opportunity to show their worth.

You have now found the right person but before you hire them on the spot it is a wise idea to check references.  Unfortunately, some people do lie, and the more you are sure about someone the better things will work out.  Okay, all that checks out and the person has great references.  Now it’s time to make them an offer.  The offer needs to be clear around working hours, salary, place of work, anticipated start date, and may include additional items like employee confidentiality or IT policies. A template for an employment offer can be found here. https://www.fairwork.gov.au/how-we-will-help/templates-and-guides/templates

On-boarding

Once they accept, congratulate them and provide them with any further information to ensure they know the next steps, like what time you need them and what the dress code is, etc.  Now comes the hard bit.  Unsuccessful candidates interviewed with you and chances are they put a bunch of effort into that process.  You need to contact them and let them know they were unsuccessful.  Ideally be specific with the reason, for example, they lacked a specific skill, so they can improve next time rather than some generic statement like the other candidate was better.

The big day has now arrived for your new employee. Before they turn up you need to plan to induct them into your business and decide what they need to be taught and by whom.  Chances are it is you and it will take a lot of effort to begin with, but if done well you will have a happy and hardworking employee in no time.

You are now responsible for a new employee both personally and from a legislative perspective. If you don’t already have systems in place you must consider reporting like timesheets, payroll and taxation, superannuation, annual and sick leave, insurance, and workplace health and safety. (Be sure to check out our essential guides on these topics)

HINT

Candidates may attempt to negotiate employment terms such as wages. Always listen but remember it does not mean you have to compromise. 

Additional information can be found here

SUMMARY – Hire the right people

Your people are your business. Having the right employees is critical to your success. To Hire staff can be a rewarding process and will become simpler the more experience you gain.

Payroll – paying employees

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Within your small business, people are your most valuable resource but unless they are a family member they are unlikely going to work for free.  This means that you will need to pay them.  That sounds easy but you have to deduct income tax, pay superannuation, accrue holiday and sick leave and the list goes on. In this guide, we will look at payroll requirements, explain how you pay tax, and look at some of the solutions to make it easier.

There are 10 minimum entitlements you have to provide to all employees called The National Employment Standards (NES). The 10 minimum entitlements of the NES are:
Maximum weekly hours.
Requests for flexible working arrangements.
Parental leave and related entitlements.
Annual leave.
Personal/carer’s leave, compassionate leave, and unpaid family and domestic violence leave.
Community service leave.
Long service leave.
Public holidays.
Notice of termination and redundancy pay.
Fair Work Information Statement.
Note there are some exceptions for casuals. More details can be found on the NES website

WHY should I care about payroll?

The payroll process is important as a small business need to do two things:
  1. Pay employees the right amount at the right time, every time. Fairwork provides a base pay calculator which can be found here. https://calculate.fairwork.gov.au/FindYourAward
  2. Withhold the appropriate amount of tax, provide that to the Australian Tax Office with the required reports, and as part of this keep accurate records.  You also need to provide the employee with a payslip and keep records for 7 years.

WHAT you need to know about Payroll and Tax

Three types of tax must be paid:
  1. PAYG withholding – Pay As You Go tax is the employer assisting the employee meet their end of year tax liability. You must register to start the process, you must ensure the worker is entitled to work in Australia and you must withhold the tax every time you issue payment to your staff. Details on how to pay this tax can be found later in this guide. More details can be found on your obligations here. https://www.ato.gov.au/business/payg-withholding/
  2. Payroll Tax – This is a state-by-state tax and is a tax on your business not the employee. It is calculated as a percentage of your total wage bill once you exceed a certain threshold. Further details can be found here. Threshold and payroll tax rates, as well as payment requirements, can be found here:
    1. ACT Revenue Office
    1. Northern Territory Revenue
    1. NSW Revenue
    1. Business Queensland payroll tax
    1. Revenue SA
    1. State Revenue Office of Tasmania
    1. State Revenue Office Victoria
    1. WA Office of State Revenue
  3. Fringe benefits Tax – FBT is a tax that employers pay when they provide certain benefits to their employees, including their employees’ family or other associates. The benefit may be in addition to, or part of, their salary or wage package. More details and how to pay can be found here https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Fringe-benefits-tax-(FBT)/ A common example of this may be FBT payable on a company car used for work and pleasure.

A further requirement in the payroll process is the payment of Superannuation.  If you pay an employee more than $450 a month then you must contribute a further legislated amount to an employee’s chosen superannuation fund. https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Super-for-employers/

Leave is also an entitlement that must be calculated but is not compulsory on the payslip. The types of leave include:
  • Annual Leave – workers accumulate leave from the day they start at a rate of 4 weeks for every 12 months worked. It does not apply to casuals and should be accrued in your accounts so you know that you have a debt that must be paid at some time.
  • Parental Leave – Also known as Maternity leave, it is an entitlement of leave when a child is born or adopted. To be eligible you must have worked for at least 12 months for your organisation and the leave is up to 12 months unpaid. https://www.fairwork.gov.au/leave/maternity-and-parental-leave
  • Sick and carer’s leave – Full-time and part-time employees can take paid leave to help with personal illness or injury, caring responsibilities, and family emergencies. Employees are entitled to 10 days of sick leave for every year of service. Casuals get none. https://www.fairwork.gov.au/leave/sick-and-carers-leave/paid-sick-and-carers-leave
  • Public, Religious, and cultural holiday – Employees are entitled to paid leave on Public holidays that fall on a normal working day.  Religious and cultural holidays do not have entitled leave however if you do not allow employees to celebrate these it can be discrimination.  A simple solution is to celebrate them together through work events.
  • Long service leave – Employees get long service leave after a long period of working for the same employer. Most employees’ entitlement to long service leave comes from long service leave laws in each state or territory.  https://www.fairwork.gov.au/leave/long-service-leave
    (Casuals are entitled to LSL in some states and territories)

Allowances and deductions may also form part of the payment process with additional funds provided for uniforms or travel, normally the subject of some sort of award.  https://www.fairwork.gov.au/awards-and-agreements/awards  Deductions may include a car lease payment or an extra employee-contributed super payment coming out of their scheduled pay.

HOW do you pay an employee properly?

The more employees you have, the more complex your payroll becomes. You might have a mix of employees on hourly wages and salaries. Throw in some contractors, staff on commission, overtime, expense claims, allowances, and leave entitlements, and your payroll can be different every time you run it. Your options are:

  • By hand: Either on paper or a spreadsheet. Note this may not meet tax office requirements.
  • Payroll software:  Apps can calculate pay and deductions and even fill out tax forms for you. Be sure to read our essential guide on payroll software.
  • Payroll service providers: You can outsource your payroll to experts. Some providers will do absolutely everything for you. Others will help with specific tasks.
  • Accountants and bookkeepers:  You do not have to go to a specialist payroll company. Many accountants and bookkeepers can do payroll for you.

Now that you have managed to work out how to pay your employee you also have to report and pay the Australian Tax Office.  You will have to abide by the Single Touch Payroll reporting guidelines. https://www.ato.gov.au/business/single-touch-payroll/in-detail/single-touch-payroll-employer-reporting-guidelines/  You will report to the ATO every payday how much your employees were paid, how much tax was withheld and what contributions were made to superannuation.

HINTS

Be sure to read our essential guides on Superannuation, roster management, and Payroll software.

SUMMARY – Adhere to Government Regulation around Payroll

Paying an employee is a complicated process with government regulation around conditions, awards, and taxation. It is important that you understand and follow the regulation and ensure your employees are paid the right amount on time every time.

There are lots of great tools and assistance available to help make this process easier.

Roster Management for scheduling staff

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John wants Friday off to go to the dentist, Beth cannot work Fridays and Liam is on holiday.  So, who can work on Friday?  For many small businesses rostering staff is a constant challenge. This guide will help you select a roster management software solution by helping you understand what you should take into account.

Rostering software provides a small business with a simple and intuitive method to manage staff rosters and shift structures. Most modern scheduling software also integrates with a host of other services like POS, accounting, payroll, data storage, HR systems, and more.

WHY do I need Roster Management Software?

WHY do I need Roster Management Software?

When done successfully, productivity is maximised and sales are not overrun by labour costs. Week after week, month after month, this task needs to be repeated again and again. This can become a tedious and error-prone process if done manually or on a spreadsheet.

WHAT are the benefits of scheduling software?

  1. Improving communication. Developing and maintaining a strong line of communication with your staff is one of the most important aspects of running a successful business. Many common staff scheduling miscommunications can be prevented.
  2. Increasing accuracy and efficiency. Quickly create, view, and modify schedules, handle leave requests, and keep in contact with employees about scheduling needs. Some programs include automatically populating fields, which help you spend less time manually entering names and numbers.
  3. Maintaining compliance with government regulation. Scheduling applications can be used to automatically track employee hours to prevent law violations. This feature is especially useful for companies that have employees who can legally only work a certain number of hours, such as minors or people receiving disability pensions.
  4. Monitoring labour costs. Scheduling software makes it easy to record hours and payroll data, providing valuable insight into current and future expenses. This allows you better control over budgeting and overtime costs.

HOW do I select the right Roster management solution?

Cloud-based solutions have made this software accessible and affordable to small business and you should consider the following when selecting a vendor:

  • Support – Services to help get you set up and provide the ongoing support you no matter what time of day.
  • UI – User Interface is how the information is presented. Understand how easy it is to use and its ability to be customised.
  • Job library – Ability to have different job roles and to flag which employees can perform which roles. For example, differentiating between a cook and a server.
  • Locations – If you have multiple locations the ability for an employee to be set to only work at one location or both.
  • Employee onboarding – allows paperless capture of essential contact details, tax file number, and superannuation details for new employees.
  • Shift swapping – Allows employees to swap shifts amongst themselves with or without the manager’s approval.
  • Employee availability – Both the ability to drop a shift an employee cannot make or set rules like I am not available every Friday.
  • Employee rules – Ability to set a rule such as Jane is not to be rostered on with Rudy.
  • Forecasting – The ability to have the right number of staff scheduled for a busy Saturday versus a quiet Monday.
  • Employee portal – The ability of the employee to log on via a PC or smartphone to view or administer their schedule.
  • Access – Ability for manger and workers to adapt to last-minute changes like replacing
  • Smartphone access – Ability for manger and workers to adapt to last-minute changes like replacing a sick employee remotely.
  • Auto schedule – Allows artificial intelligence to recommend the best roster with a single click.
  • Schedule alerts – employees decide how they want to get alerts of schedule updates—either via email, SMS, or simply through in-app messages.
  • Group announcements – share company-wide posts including files.
  • Leave management– keep track of employee leave entitlements.
  • Payroll & accounting integration– Integration with your other software solutions to provide integrated information for simplicity and planning. (See our essential guides on Accounting, Payroll, and POS software)
  • Time Clock – Real-time capture of working hours electronically.
  • Reporting – One area that separates good shift planning platforms from average ones is reporting. When they are forecasting shifts, businesses such as restaurants and retail stores need to know what their labour costs will be and how that relates to sales. When integrated with an accounting or POS solution, rich data can help you better plan for events like Christmas sales.
  • Security – Ensure employees can only log in as themselves and that it is simple and secure.
  • eLearning – Ability to have an online training library to ensure staff have the right skills.

This software solution is usually priced per employee per month.

HINT

Roster management software only makes sense when your staff do not work standard working hours like 9 to 5.  We also see the benefit really kicking in when you are trying to manage a larger workforce.

Various vendors can be found by googling small business roster management Australia.

SUMMARY – Save time and frustration

This software solution will reap more benefits the more complicated your staff rosters are and the higher the number of people.  This is one of those tools that, once you implement, you will not survive without.