WAGES PAID TO STAFF

Fair Work Australia is the national workplace relations tribunal. It is an independent body with power to carry out a range of functions relating to:

  • The safety net of minimum wages and employment conditions
  • Enterprise bargaining
  • Industrial action
  • Dispute resolution
  • Termination of employment
  • Other workplace matters.

You are legally required to provide a payslip to an employee within one working day of their pay day, even if they are on leave.  If you do not have a pay advice book, you can purchase one from Rural Enterprises.  Payslips are to include the following information:

  • Employer’s name (e.g. XYZ Pty Ltd trading as XYZ Pie Shop)
  • Employer’s Australian Business Number (if applicable)
  • Employee’s name
  • Date of payment
  • Pay period (the period that the payment is for eg. 01/01/2013 to 31/01/2013)
  • Gross and net pay
  • Loadings, allowances, bonuses, incentive-based payments, penalty rates or other paid entitlements that can be singled out
  • If the employee is paid an hourly rate:
    • Ordinary hourly rate
    • Number of hours worked at that rate
    • Amount of pay at that rate
  • If the employee is paid an annual rate (salary), the rate as at the last day in the pay period
    • Any deductions from the employee’s pay, including:
      • Amount and details of each deduction
      •  Name and number of the fund/account the deduction was paid into
    • Superannuation contributions paid for the employee’s benefit, including:
      • Amount of contributions made during the pay period (or the amount of contributions that need to be made)
      •  Name and number of the superannuation fund the contributions were made to.
      • You will find this information on the Fair Work Commission website.

PAYMENT SUMMARIES

At the end of each financial year, employers have to provide employees with a Pay As You Go (PAYG) payment summary.  This is often called a group certificate.  This is an obligation under tax law, which is enforced by the Australia Taxation Office (ATO). You can find this information here.
 
Another useful website is Department of Commerce.