Employing Staff - Checklist

The following article outlines your requirements when you employ a new staff member.

Action Items 

1. Determine the award you will employ under and correct rates of pay
2. Prepare an Employment Contract
3. Obtain Employee Details and Tax File Declaration
4. Provide Employee with a copy of the Fair Work Information Statement.
5. Obtain Workers Compensation Insurance
6. Single Touch Payroll 
7. Ongoing 

Once you complete items 2 and 3, forward them to [e-mail] and we will enter these into Xero for you. As always, if you need assistance with any of these items, please contact us.

1. Employment award and rates of pay

Most industries will have an employment award. Awards are enforceable documents containing minimum terms and conditions of employment in addition to any legislated minimum terms and rates of pay.

You should:

1. Find the applicable award for your industry using Fair Work's AwardFinder
2. Determine your employee's classification
3. Find the appropriate rate of pay using Fair Work's Pay Guides

The award and the pay rate will inform the preparation of the employment contract for the employee. 

2. Employment Contract

You should have an appropriate employment contract with your employee that clearly sets out the terms of their employment. This will include the following details:

• Conditions
• Remunerations (hourly rate/annual salary/allowances)
• Pay frequency (weekly, fortnightly, monthly)
• Employee Entitlements (annual leave/personal leave)
• Identification of relevant award if applicable (see above)
• Any other details specific to the role

You may wish to consult a lawyer to have an employment contract prepared. 

There are also a number of websites that offer 'off the shelf' employment contracts. You also might like to consider using the free templates provided by the FairWork Ombudsman's website:

• FairWork Ombudsman

Please contact us should you you require a referral to a recommended professional in this area.

Which ever solution you use it is important that you understand your obligations under the award and/or contracts which you employ. It is also important to remember that you cannot contract out of basic conditions as set out by an award or the National Employment Standards.

3. Employee Details

Have each of your employees complete the following:

• Employee Details Form
• Tax File Number Declaration

4. Fair Work Information Statement

You are required to provide your employees with a Fair Work Information Statement. Please see this link to the current statement on Fair Work's website.

5. Workers Compensation Insurance

• Obtain Workers Compensation Insurance by contacting Allianz or CGU.
• Your insurance provider will require your business details as well as the total number of staff and gross remuneration being paid (including superannuation).
• Xero have partnered with CGU to make it easier for you to provide your employee's details. Please follow the link below if you wish to use this service.
  CGU - Workers Compensation Insurance  

6. Single Touch Payroll
As an employer, you are required to frequently report payroll information to the ATO through a method called Single Touch Payroll (STP). STP works by sending tax and superannuation information to the ATO as you run your payroll. You are not required to make any payment to the ATO at this time. More information regarding STP can be found on the ATO website here.

Reporting STP in Xero
You will be responsible for filing STP reports with the ATO each time you process a payrun in Xero. Failure to file STP reports in a timely manner may result in penalties being issued by the ATO. The filing status of a payrun will be visible once STP is enabled in your Xero file. Once a payrun is posted, you will have the ability to select 'File' and then 'File now' to lodge with the ATO. This must be done once each payrun is posted.

Enabling STP in Xero
To enable STP in Xero, please follow the procedure as outlined by Xero here. This process should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.

Please note, as part of this process, you will need to call the ATO on 1300 852 232 to connect your Xero login to the ATO. We are unable to do this on your behalf.

7. Ongoing

• Once you have forwarded the information requested above, we will enter the details into Xero for you. Going forward you will be be required to:
  • Complete a Pay Run in Xero for each pay period.
  • Pay your employee(s) their net pay by logging into your internet banking and transferring the funds.
  • Issue your employee(s) with payslips.
• Click here to watch a short video on Pay Runs and Pay Slips.

Superannuation

• Each quarter you will need to pay your employee's superannuation. You can do this easily by using Xero's Auto-Super. Click here to find out more information on registering for and processing super. 
• Superannuation is due 28 days following the end of the quarter.
  
  

Quarter	Due Date
1 July to 30 September 1 October to 31 December 1 January to 31 March 1 April to 30 June	28 October 28 January 28 April 28 July

PAYG Withholding

• Xero will automatically calculate the amount of PAYG you need to withhold from your employees pay.
• When we prepare your BAS each quarter we will calculate the total PAYG that has been withheld for the relevant period and ensure it is included on your BAS.
• PAYG Withholding is lodged and paid to the ATO as part of your quarterly Activity Statements (a process mi-fi manage for you).