Parliament has been debating the merits of the Wage Theft Bill since April 2023. The Bill progressed to the final stages of the parliamentary review process recently and will now move to its third and final reading before receiving royal assent and being enacted into law. This bill clarifies that it is considered theft when an employer does not pay an employee their full legal entitlements, which may include unpaid… Read more
This year, Christmas Day falls on Wednesday, with Boxing day on Thursday. The same with New Years Day and The Day After New Years Day (they so need a better name for this day!). So no Mondayising of any of these public holidays this Christmas. Here is what you need to know about rights for employees and obligations for employers. Payment for working a public holiday Employees must be paid… Read more
Most people are not aware that technically, legislation says that annual leave payments need to be paid, in full, before an employees leave is taken. Thinking about why this is, takes us back to the days of being paid with a little brown envelope fill of cash, and the fact the employee won’t be here the following pay day to collect that cash. Yes, that legislation is outdated like a… Read more
There is nothing in the Act to determine when a payment must be made when an employee’s employment is terminated. There is so much to do for a final pay, and it can become a rushed activity on the final day of employment with the potential to get it wrong. If agreed between the parties, then it can be paid on the next pay day after termination or on the… Read more
With Christmas coming up fast like a freight train without any brakes and the payroll team are working hard to manage all the extra payroll changes over this time. One of the biggest questions this year is “When do I have to pay my staff?” With Wednesday and Thursday both being public holidays, and popular days for payment of wages, what happens now that we have 24 hour banking? There… Read more
Employees are one of the biggest costs, and the most important asset to a business, and annual holidays are a really important part of your teams health and wellbeing. Ensuring your team are getting what they are entitled to is your responsibility as their employer. If you don’t get it right, it can cause frustration for the employee, friction in the workplace and could land you in hot water with… Read more
Setting the ESCT rate for the next tax year is a 1 April activity that Payroll are responsible for. As part of your payroll checks and balances, you must check your payroll system is doing as expected. If you are processing payroll manually, you will need to set the ESCT yourself. Understanding how ESCT is essential to getting this right for anyone involved in payroll. What is ESCT? ESCT (Employer… Read more
Paying overtime to salaried staff has many consequences that a lot of employers are not aware of. The purpose of a salary is to pay an all-inclusive rate that is a fixed, regular payment to an employee for the work they perform. It allows a business to plan and forecast labour costs on an annual basis and can also provide concise data for business planning over the coming years, as… Read more
Remediation of your payroll system can seem extremely intimidating. There is a lot involved in the process of checking payroll for Holidays Act 2003 compliance. This information comes from the FAQ section of the Labour Inspectorate website so we thought we would share some of this here. How far back should re-calculations go? Once non-compliance with the Holidays Act 2003 is identified, the expectation of the Labour Inspectorate is that… Read more
An employee’s time on parental leave is included as continuous service and taking parental leave does not affect entitlement to annual holidays. Employees who take parental leave will still become entitled to a minimum of four weeks of annual holidays on the anniversary of their employment start date. However payment for annual holidays that an employee becomes entitled to: during parental leave, or during a period of preference after parental… Read more
When you leave your employment for any reason, you may be entitled to get paid for annual holidays, alternative holidays and/or public holidays in your final pay. Public holidays Employees are sometimes entitled to be paid for public holidays that fall after their employment has ended (i.e. after their termination date). This can happen if the employee has unused annual holidays they are entitled to at the time their employment… Read more
This is a question that has come up in our Payroll Essentials Training Course that is currently running. Scenario: An employee comes to work for 2 hours on a public holiday, then has to go home early due to being ill. This is what they would receive for the day 2 hrs at time and half 1 x alternative day IF the day is a otherwise working day for the… Read more
MBIE have approved 5 applications from unions to start bargaining for Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs). If a company employs people in an occupation or industry you are in which is covered by a Fair Pay Agreement where bargaining has started, there are specific actions you need to take – and now. More details are below. The industries and occupations include the following: Early childhood education industry — Public notice… Read more
Your employees who choose to opt into KiwiSaver cannot opt out. Only new employees you are automatically enrolled in KiwiSaver can opt out. Requests to be opted out after 8 weeks (57 days) are LATE OPT OUT REQUESTS. How your employee requests a late opt-out Employees will need to send their KiwiSaver late opt-out request to Inland Revenue. Approving a late opt-out request Inland Revenue must approve the late opt-out… Read more
During and after a disaster or emergency, employers and employees main concern is consideration of issues such as health and safety, emotional wellbeing and payment options for employees. This comes before thinking about the interests of the business or organisation. Employers and employees should remember to keep in regular contact and deal with each other in good faith. If the workplace cannot be accessed, is closed, or is open but… Read more
Depending on the nature of your business, you may have workers who are employees or contractors, or you may have both. Each has their merits, but it’s important to review which are which in order to meet your tax obligations. When you have an employee, you must withhold income tax as well as report on additional benefits. Contractors generally look after their own tax obligations. It’s against the law to… Read more
Christmas is a time of sun, sand, lots of food and family time here in the Southern Hemisphere. Ensuring employees get paid right for the public holidays however can be a challenge for those employing staff. We thought we would put together some examples to help you on with navigating the challenges of the Christmas payroll this year. PUBLIC HOLIDAYS THAT FALL ON A WEEKEND How to work out pay… Read more
The Fair Pay Agreements Act 2022 (FPA Act) has been passed, and will come into effect quickly, on 1 December 2022. The new Act is the biggest change to employment law since the Employment Relations Act 2000. What is a fair pay agreement? A fair pay agreement is an agreement that applies to all workers across entire industries or occupations. It will provide minimum terms and conditions of employment for… Read more
Did you know there are over 27 Legislative Acts involved in payroll – insane right? So, isn’t it interesting to know that most small businesses have an untrained staff member processing payroll for their team? Payroll is not the back-office data entry job that a lot of people think it is. In fact, when you start to understand the rules and regulations around payroll, you may be right in thinking… Read more