Payroll Compliance: Restaurant Industry

As the restaurant industry continues to grow and change, cloud-based payroll software will become an increasingly essential tool for ensuring compliance with the Restaurant Industry Award.
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The Importance of Modern Award Compliance

In Australia, the modern awards system is a key part of the employment landscape. Modern awards provide a safety net of minimum terms and conditions of employment, including hours of work, annual leave, sick leave and redundancy pay.

Awards also cover a range of other important matters such as notice periods, superannuation and loadings for shift work and overtime. The modern awards system helps to ensure that employees are treated fairly and are paid a minimum wage that covers the cost of living.

The consequences of breaching a modern award can be significant. Employers who fail to comply with an award may be subject to a penalty notice from the Fair Work Commission (FWC). The amount of the penalty will depend on the nature and severity of the breach but can be up to $63,000 per breach.

Individual employers may also be liable for a penalty of up to $12,600. In addition, the FWC may order an employer to back-pay any underpaid employees.
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Given the potentially severe consequences of breaching a modern award, it is essential that employers take steps to ensure that they are compliant with all relevant provisions. This includes ensuring that employees are paid their
correct wages.

Biggest Pitfalls in theRestaurant Industry

Payroll compliance is a complex and ever-changing landscape, especially in the restaurant industry.

With new award updates constantly coming into effect, it can be difficult for even the most experienced payroll professional to keep up. However, failure to comply with the rules and regulations contained in the modern award can result in substantial penalties for businesses.
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And while you can review the Restaurant 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 fast food business is meeting all the compliance requirements.

There are several provisions in the Award that are commonly misunderstood or misinterpreted by restaurant businesses, resulting in non-compliance.
For example, if an employee doesn’t get their unpaid meal break when they are supposed to, they have to be paid an extra 50% of their ordinary hourly rate from when the unpaid break was supposed to start until they get a meal break or their shift ends.

Not adhering to this condition could result in a significant wage underpayment.

And with a recent focus on payroll compliance from Fair Work 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.

Employers in the restaurant industry should also be aware of the potential pitfalls associated with annualised salaries.
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On 1 March 2020, the Fair Work Commission introduced new annualised salary provisions into various Modern Awards. The recent annualised salary changes introduce various processes that employers must follow to ensure that their annualised salary arrangement doesn’t disadvantage their employees.

For example, employers must ensure that a salary staff’s annual wage can’t be less than what they would’ve been paid over the year if they were paid all the award entitlements for their job.

So, what is the solution? Cloud payroll software and automated time and attendance software.
With so many employees and moving parts, it can be difficult to keep track of hours worked, shift changes, and time off. This is where cloud-based payroll software can be a lifesaver. By tracking employee hours and shifts in real-time, payroll software can help ensure that all employees are paid correctly and on time.

In addition, cloud-based payroll software can help streamline the payrolling process by automatically calculating taxes and deductions. As a result, payroll compliance in the restaurant industry can be a breeze with the right software solution.
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Employment Hero 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.

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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.
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Know Where You Stand 

Not sure what category your business falls into or what awards your employees come under? 

Download our free eBooks to see how relevant modern awards could impact your business. Best of all, these guides are entirely jargon-free so that you can understand your rights and obligations in plain English.