With the new WorkChoices laws comes increased responsibility for employee record keeping.
There have been two important amendments since the introduction of WorkChoices on 27 March 2006;
1. The extension of the due date for record keeping requirements to 26th March 2007; and 2. The introduction of a salary cap of $55,000 p.a. - please refer to the table below with regard to how the salary cap applies to hours of work records.
What are the record keeping requirements under WorkChoices?
The Company is required to maintain records of:
- Employees' name, date of birth, address, starting date etc;
- Details of the hours worked by each employee each day, including the start and finish times, overtime and length of breaks taken;
- Details of all leave taken including personal carers leave, annual leave, long service leave; such as amount paid, how calculated, date paid and amount of leave entitlement left;
- All details of superannuation payments including amount paid, name of fund, date of payments etc;
- Pay records including rate of pay, any allowances, penalties, loadings, bonuses, incentive payments.
- Details of termination including date terminated, circumstances, persons involved in termination;
- Transmission of business, if one company takes over another, complete records of employees must be transferred to the new company.
Exemptions to hours of work records
Employee Status - Salary less than $55,000 and subject to overtime. Record keeping Requirements - Records of start and finish times each day and the total hours worked.
Employee Status - Salary more than $55,000 and subject to overtime. Record keeping Requirements - Records of the start and finish times each day.
Employee Status - Salary less than $55,000 and not subject to overtime. Record keeping Requirements - Records of the total hours worked each day.
Employee Status - Salary more than $55,000 and not subject to overtime.Record keeping Requirements - No record keeping requirements.
The responsibility is on the Company to maintain clear records of their employees' hours of work. Records can be kept on the computer but they must be able to be printed out upon request by a Workplace Inspector.
Most Companies would be aware that under previous laws, both State and Federal, there were certain requirements about employee record keeping, but WorkChoices laws have expanded the area of record keeping.
Having difficulty deciding how to deal with this? Here are some suggestions:
- A sign-in and out book requiring the employees to sign-in when they arrive at the office and sign out when they leave the office, including for lunch breaks.
- Keep a computer log in and log off record.
- With most office security systems, records can be obtained of the time the employee uses the door pass on entering and departure each day.
It is important you consider how your company will handle the process of record keeping. One obvious difficulty that a company will have with record keeping is collecting the information for their sales representatives, because a majority of them do not attend the office on a regular basis and may regularly travel. One suggestion is that they could send the company an email when they start work at a particular location advising that they have started work and similarly at the end of each day send an email advising they have finished work.
Penalties for non-compliance
Remember that the obligation is on the Company. If you are not vigilant with collecting the information it will be the Company who is fined.
Employees will be liable got fines up to $2,750 for each incomplete employee record or payslip.
If you are unsure whether you are required to comply with the WorkChoices laws, we recommend that you seek advice as soon as possible to ensure that you can meet the record keeping deadline noted above.
