Payroll Compliance: Health Professional Industry

Cloud-based payroll software for a simplified
and automated approach to Health Professionals Award compliance.
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The Importance of Modern Award Compliance

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Modern awards are a set of minimum standards that cover pay rates, hours of work, leave entitlements and other conditions of employment. These awards are designed to create a level playing field for employers and employees and to ensure that workers are paid a fair wage for their efforts.

Awards are updated regularly to keep pace with changing economic conditions and to reflect the needs of modern businesses. Compliance with awards is essential for all employers operating in Australia, as failure to do so can result in significant penalties. Moreover, compliance with awards helps to create a fair and equitable workplace, which benefits both workers and businesses.

All employers in are required to comply with the Fair Work Act 2009 and the relevant awards that apply to their business. This includes ensuring that employees are paid the correct wages and entitlements and providing safe and fair working conditions.
If an employer fails to comply with these obligations, they may be subject to a range of penalties, including heavy fines. For example, an employer who fails to pay their employees the minimum wage could be fined up to $63,000 per breach.

In addition, any employee who believes that their rights have been breached may lodge a complaint with the Fair Work Commission.

In the health professional industry, this is no exception, making it crucial that you – as a business – know where your responsibilities sit.

Biggest Pitfalls in the Health Professionals Industry

Non-compliance with the award can have serious consequences for both employers and employees. Employees may be entitled to compensation for any underpayment of wages or entitlements, and employers may be liable for significant fines. In addition, non-compliance can damage an employer’s reputation and make it difficult to attract and retain
high-quality staff.
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This award covers employees such as gym instructors, personal trainers, and group fitness instructors. The award sets out minimum wages and conditions for these workers, including entitlements to annual leave and personal/carer’s leave. It also includes provisions for overtime rates and penalties, and allowances for shiftwork.

However, while you can review the Fitness Industry Award on the Fair Work website, the document is often filled with complicated legal jargon, making it challenging to understand whether or not your fitness business is meeting all the compliance requirements.
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For example, the ordinary hours of work under the Health Professionals and Support Services Award are typically Monday to Friday between 6.00 am and 6.00 pm. However, the span of hours for day workers differs for different practices.

Take a dental clinic, for instance. It has a different span of ordinary workday hours than a private medical imaging practice. So it’s important to understand how your industry is classified under the award because if you don’t, it could result in significant wage underpayments.

And with a recent focus on payroll compliance from Fair Work Commission Australia and media coverage of businesses guilty of wage theft, it’s more important now than ever that companies understand what’s expected of their obligations when it comes to being compliant with pay rates and employment conditions.
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Another big pitfall for employers in the health professionals industry is the award allowances.

The Health Professionals Award proposes specific allowances when employees have a particular skill or perform certain tasks. These allowances also apply when employees use their own tools or work in unpleasant or dangerous conditions.

For example, should your employee be required to work for more than 2 hours in temperatures exceeding 46°C, employees will be entitled to 20 minutes of rest after every 2 hours of work without deduction of pay.
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And any employee exposed to radiation hazards will be entitled to a blood count as often as is considered necessary Out of pocket expenses arising from the blood count test must be reimbursed in terms of the blood check allowance.

Most employers believe adding a few extra dollars to their employees’ salaries is a good idea. But it doesn’t work that way. You must pay them according to each and every allowance applicable to their line of work. And if you don’t, you could be in for some pretty serious penalties.

So, what is the solution for non-compliance? Cloud payroll software and automated time and attendance software.
Unfortunately, manual payroll processes can lead to mistakes resulting in non-compliance. Cloud payroll software can help to mitigate this risk by automating payroll processes and ensuring that award rates are always up-to-date.
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Employment Hero Cloud Payroll

Employment Hero’s cloud payroll software automatically applies modern award or enterprise agreement rules to ensure your business remains compliant year-round. 

Beyond that, you can automate your entire payroll process from importing timesheet data, gross to net reporting and leave accruals for all scenarios to super calculations and ATO reporting.

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NoahFace Time &
Attendance Software

NoahFace offers an app-based time and attendance software called NoahFace Go which automates scheduling, time tracking and attendance records for site workers. 

In addition, the timekeeping records will automatically integrate with your Employment Hero cloud payroll software. 

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Employment Hero

Go paperless and automate the employee onboarding process with Employment Hero’s employee HR software - an end-to-end people management platform that covers every aspect of the employee lifecycle.

By incorporating everything you need to recruit, onboard, roster, and manage your aged care team, Employment Hero increases efficiency and drives productivity across every aspect of your workforce.

How Pay Cat Can Help

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As a business owner, you have enough to worry about without also having to keep track of HR and payroll management. Pay Cat can take that burden off your shoulders by providing an all-in-one system that streamlines the entire process.

Forget about rocky payroll periods and managing multiple software programs. Instead, you can focus on what you’re good at: running your business.
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Never get it wrong. No back pay calculations. No inefficient manual interpretation. No data re-entry.

Ensure that you remain compliant with relevant regulations, awards, and employee entitlements with the help of our implementation experts. Maintain the safety of your business by hiring a team that knows how standards differ between sectors.

If you’re interested in moving from a manual payroll system to an automated cloud payroll system, get in touch with us today for a free demo.