Your responsibilities as an employer are multifaceted, and you do not have the time to get stuck among manual or flawed payroll processes that take your time away from other tasks.
I work with various companies, implementing pay calculation solutions to help them streamline their HR processes. So, I understand the complexity of navigating modern awards and performing compliance audits.
How can you navigate your way out of payroll non-compliance?
The answer is simple: automate.
A comprehensive pay calculation engine handles your responsibilities as an employer, including all facets of employee overtime, conditions of employment, hourly rates, and shift penalties.
Where companies go wrong
Payroll is just one facet of WFM, but it requires you to coordinate staff rosters, apply the correct modern awards and ensure all employees are compensated the right amount for their work and overtime hours.
The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) enforces modern awards, which are legal documents that outline the minimum pay rates and conditions of employment. They cover the numerous responsibilities of employers, and because of their complexity, it can be easy to make compliance errors.
The most common mistakes I see are:
- Failing to file appropriate forms on time.
- Assigning the wrong classification or award to an employee.
- Improper maintenance of employee records.
Non-compliance can incur more than fines. If you are stuck in a manual process, redoing paperwork and resolving errors can be time-consuming and exhaustive.
Audit regularly
Maintaining compliance includes implementing a compliance audit procedure, wherein you ensure your systems are performing as they should be and that all your employee information is up to date.
If you are held back by the burden of spreadsheets and paper documents, then you should consider upgrading to an automated system that performs an audit for your HR team. A compliance and payroll audit helps you target issues before they become costly problems. Software – like Tambla PayCE – can provide you with a complete review and comparison of your results, reducing your risk of non-compliance.
Payroll audits help you:
- Confirm that your employee information is accurate and up to date, including the current employment status.
- Ensure you pay your employees the correct amount and provide them with the right allowances.
- Verify pay rates and compare them to time and attendance records.
- Review payroll tax submissions and manage financial information.
You can outsource auditing, or decide to perform the function yourself, but regardless, the process:
- Maintains accuracy and compliance.
- Strengthens your financial control.
- Identifies potential issues or problems.
Every business has different needs, so not all compliance audits look the same. You should prepare a checklist that addresses your company’s specific needs or problems and ensure that you target these.
Consider outsourcing
If you have decided to invest in automated pay calculation, you might be considering whether it is worth outsourcing or keeping it in-house. Many businesses opt for outsourcing, which provides the following benefits:
- You can focus on core business tasks which ultimately affect your bottom line instead of getting involved with pay calculation.
- Reduced costs because you do not need to hire employees with expertise in pay calculation and WFM.
- Avoid painful, and pricey, compliance mistakes. A reputable provider has expert staff dedicated to keeping abreast of changes, ensuring you stay compliant.
- Sophisticated capabilities from vendors that have designed and enhanced their solution to accommodate for federal pay regulations.
You are an expert in your field, which is why you should be focusing on company initiatives instead of worrying about compliance mistakes. With an outsourced professional, you can streamline your process and increase efficiencies.
Tambla and Pay and Allowance Calculation
Our Pay and Allowance Calculation Engine (PayCE) covers pay calculation, schedule variation, and full integration of all employee data. It calculates team member pay and integrates with your existing or third-party solutions. Tambla PayCE includes payroll systems comparison and Better Off Overall Testing (BOOT) to reduce risk and most importantly, compliance, every time.
If you would like to learn how Tambla can help you maintain compliance, please visit our solutions page.
