10 million visits to FWO’s website, record-keeping templates popular
26 November 2013
It's a good thing record-keeping templates were
among the most popular downloads during the 10 million visits to www.fairwork.gov.au
last financial year, according to the Fair Work Ombudsman.
Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James said businesses that fail to keep proper
employment records are at much higher risk of also having more serious
contraventions of workplace laws, including staff underpayments.
"Our Inspectors visit thousands of businesses every year and find that if
businesses aren't keeping proper time-and-wages records and issuing employees
with pay slips, the chances are they will have other serious non-compliance
issues," Ms James said.
"Some employers view compliance with their record-keeping obligations as a
minor issue - but employers that don't have a detailed written record of basic
matters such as employees’ hours of work and how wages have been calculated are
inviting problems."
Under workplace laws, employers must keep prescribed employment records for
employees and former employees and issue employees sufficiently detailed pay
slips within one day of pay day.
Ms James said it was encouraging that templates for
time-and-wages sheets and pay slips were among the most frequently downloaded
items last financial year from the wide range of resources available for
employers at www.fairwork.gov.au.
"Employers should use the free templates available on the website to ensure
their records are accurate and adequately detailed, and to get their business on
the path to compliance," Ms James said.
Last financial year, the Fair Work Ombudsman’s website received 10 million
visits and a range of more than 50 online templates - for matters including
time-and-wages sheets, pay slips, employing and managing staff, managing
probation periods and ending employment - were downloaded 438,000 times.
The 40 fact sheets available on the website, covering issues ranging from
unpaid internships to Defence Reservists, were downloaded 1 million times.
There were also more than 400,000 visits to an 'Industries' section on the
website, which provides extra, specialised information for employers in a range
of industries, including retail, horticulture, road transport, accommodation and
hospitality, cleaning, clerical, vehicle, electrical, fast food, building and
construction, hair and beauty, joinery, metal manufacturing, social and
community services, plumbing and security.
The Fair Work Ombudsman expanded the suite of free tools and resources
available on its website last financial year to assist business operators to
understand their obligations under workplace laws and comply as easily as
possible.
The Fair Work Ombudsman launched the first of a series of online learning
courses to help employers effectively facilitate difficult conversations and
achieve productive results.
The first course, helping make difficult conversations at work
easier, provides practical tips for handling difficult conversations and
allows employers to practice their conversation skills by interacting with an
automated ‘employee’ to address poor workplace behaviour and deliver bad
news.
New courses will be added to the Fair Work Ombudsman's Online Leaning Centre
next year, on topics including hiring staff and managing employee
performance.
MyPortal, a self-service tool launched on the website last financial year,
gives employers easy access to information relevant to their business and
industry.
The portal allows users to ask workplace advisors questions, save the advice
they are given, and bookmark pages of interest on the website.
A bi-monthly eNewsletter, which now has more than 6,000 subscribers, contains
information to help employers stay on top of workplace obligations.
Best Practice Guides, which were downloaded 93,000 times last financial year,
are available on a range of topics, including work and family and employing
young workers.
Employers can use a leave calculator to help them determine how much annual
or personal leave their employees have accumulated.
The PayCheck Plus tool enables employers to calculate the correct wages for
their staff, including minimum hourly rates and penalty rates.
"The Fair Work Ombudsman is always looking for new and innovative ways to
help business owners understand and meet their workplace obligations, and we
will continue to expand and improve our tools and resources to help employers
get it right," Ms James said.
"Our tools and resources have been designed to be as user-friendly as
possible for employers - particularly small business operators who are often
time-poor and don't have the benefit of specialist in-house human resources and
pay roll staff."
Employers and employees seeking advice or
assistance should visit www.fairwork.gov.au or contact the Fair Work
Infoline on 13 13 94. A free interpreter service is available
on 13 14 50.
Media inquiries:
Penny Rowe, Media & Stakeholder
Relations
0457 924 146
penelope.rowe@fwo.gov.au
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