Hello all,
Firstly I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and fabulous 2011!
I know I promised to do a piece on toxic employees, and I will do that in January. However, it occurred to me that some business owners and managers, may not be aware of the changes happening at 1 January 2011, so here is an overview.
Paid parental leave -
The government parental pay scheme comes into effect from 1 January 2011. There are a number of things employers need to know. The Paid Parental Leave scheme:
o Government funded at the minimum national wage rate for up to 18 weeks
o Eligible working parents of children born or adopted on or after 1
January 2011
o can be transferred between parents
o can be taken any time within the first year after birth
From 1 October 2010, claims can be lodged by parents (up to three months in advance of the expected birth or adoption) and employers can register to provide Parental Leave Pay (through Centrelink Business Online Services). Payment under the scheme will not be available to employees until 1 January 2011.
Though parental leave pay is funded by the Government, with eligibility determined by the Family Assistance Office, once approved, it is administered by the employer. That means you need to ensure as an employer that: -
o Ensure your parental leave policy is up to date with current
legislation
o Communicate your policy and its requirements to all your staff in a
timely manner
o The employer’s role is being phased in over the first 6 months -
decide whether to commence voluntarily administering payments from
January 2011, or wait till it becomes mandatory in July 2011.
o Ensure you have adequate payroll systems and processes in place to
administer the payments
Key dates for employers:
o 1 October 2010 - you can opt in and pre-register; first Parental
Leave Pay claims for employees can be lodged from this date.
o 1 January 2011 - first payments commence for children who are born or
adopted from this date. You can opt-in to provide Parental Leave Pay
to your eligible long-term employees.
o 1 April 2011 - first claims for Parental Leave Pay can be lodged for
children due to be born or adopted from 1 July 2011. The first
mandatory decisions will be made for you to provide Parental Leave
Pay to your eligible employees from 1 July 2011.
o 1 July 2011 - you are required to provide compulsory Parental Leave
Pay to eligible long-term employees, for babies born or adopted from
1 July 2011.
You can more about the scheme for Parental Leave here
New definition of small business employer:
From 1 January 2011, the definition of small employer will change from a business with less than ‘15 full-time equivalent employees’ to ‘a business with less than 15 employees by head count’. Employees of small employers need to be employed at least 12 months before they can take an unfair dismissal action. This affects organisations that are sole traders, partnerships, other unincorporated entities and non-trading corporations in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania.
As a result of a recent decision of Fair Work Australia, employers who are covered by a Division 2B State Award are required to continue to comply with the terms of the Division 2B State Award (the State awards that covered these employers before 1 January 2010) until the start of the first full pay period to commence on or after 1 February 2011. From 1 February, employees will be covered by the relevant modern award and must receive conditions that are at least equal to or better than the minimum entitlements in the National Employment Standards (NES) and the national minimum wage.
To find out more information about the Small Business Code, click here
Merry Xmas!
MY PERFORMANCE COACH - HR SERVICE
My Performance Coach specialises in assisting small to medium enterprises with their Human Resource and HR issues We ensure you have effective protection whilst ensuring we use pragmatic and straightforward processes. My Performance Coach provides strategic Human Resource service enabling businesses to build a strong, integrated HR strategy giving you a clear competitive advantage over their competitors. We also offer Coaching and training service for Executives/Managers to ensure your business is able to easily and proactively manage their human resources effectively! My Performance Coach is delighted to assist you with implementing your strategy. We will assist you to develop an appropriate policy for your business and conduct training. Contact us to discuss your specific needs.
This article is intended to provide commentary and general information. It should not be relied upon as comprehensive or legal advice. Formal legal advice may be necessary in particular transactions or on matters of interest arising from this article. My Performance Coach is not responsible for the results of any actions taken on the basis of information in this article, nor for any error or omission in this article.
