Are you ready for a surprise Fair Work audit?
The Fair Work Ombudsman has been conducting surprise visits to Perth businesses in recent months.
As a part of the spot checks, the Ombudsman reviews workplace records and conducts interviews with staff, managers and business owners. Whilst to date this has largely been focused on the hospitality industry, Aspen Corporate is of the understanding that the Ombudsman's campaign will soon move to other industries. If you are a business that employs staff, you could be audited.
A similar campaign run in the Eastern States found that 72% of the 243 hospitality businesses audited had breached workplace laws and recovering $471,904 for 616 employees. The campaign resulted in 1 Litigation, 63 formal cautions, 71 infringement notices and 7 compliance notices.
The most common breaches included:
- underpayment of base hourly rate;
- poor or a lack of employment records and pay slips;
- not providing breaks;
- incorrectly classifying staff; and
- not paying overtime.
We understand that the Ombudsman has also looked at the fashion and beauty industry, with the former owner of a nail salon in Adelaide receiving a $10,560 penalty for their role in underpaying several employees.
Are you ready to be audited?
If you run a business that employs staff, regardless of industry, it is important to ensure that you:
- have appropriate employment records and pay slips, and
- stay up to date with any changes to legislation.
In our experience the Fair Work Ombudsman is not discriminating by size, number of locations or the amount of staff when determining who they audit.
Aspen Corporate can help you select and set up appropriate accounting and pay software. Additionally, our newsletter is a great source of information to help keep you on top of changes to legislation. You can also use the Fair Work My Account portal to receive and save information for your business.
