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The case for going digitalAre you currently managing employee-related processes manually? These tasks, such as time tracking, rostering, payroll, compliance and communication can be time-consuming and error prone. But switching to a cloud-based software could help reduce your stress levels. More than 38% of Australian businesses surveyed by Xero in 2022 said software helped reduce their stress levels when managing employee processes. 1

5 tips to manage staff shortagesCOVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns may be behind us in Australia, but the demand for shift-based staff in industries such as retail and hospitality is still at an all time high. It’s no surprise that the impact of COVID-19 is still hitting businesses. Shift-based workers had to turn to other options to make income during the extended lockdowns and many international staff had to return home due to the lack of work. With borders reopen, we’ll soon see more backpackers, students and visa holders come to our shores and seek work. It’s a good time to focus on attracting, hiring and retaining staff who will help your business succeed. This article will help you think about ideas to improve your operational processes and get the best out of your current staff. We encourage you to think differently. Now is the opportunity to pivot from ways of working before the pandemic hit. It’s also a perfect time to assess how your business will operate in a market where both consumers and staff can afford to be pickier about where they spend their money or work. 1. Communicate openlyYour staff are as aware as you are of the current shortages and workplace stresses. Get your team together and have an open dialogue. Discuss where the business is at and what’s important not only to you but also to them.They may have extra responsibilities during this shortage. But by letting them know why, how long for and what your plan is to hire or train more staff they’ll feel included. Your team will be more understanding and proactive when they’re given ownership of a situation. Open lines of communication also provide employees with the chance to bring up specific challenges they’re facing. Listening to what they have to say can give you incredible insight into the situation and can help you to develop ideas to manage it. 2. Embrace flexibilityIt’s no surprise that an increasing number of workers are looking for flexibility to suit their lifestyle. Flexibility means different things to different people. By having conversations with your staff (ideally before or just after you hire them) can help you both align. You don’t need to accommodate every individual staff request (that will only put extra pressure on you) but by having open conversations about expectations around what’s possible your employees will feel heard. One option is to plan. By creating your rosters as far in advance as possible it gives your employees time to review and if needed request shift swaps. 3. Upskill your teamMany workers had no choice but to leave shift-based businesses during the pandemic and then find work elsewhere. Instead of trying to bring those people back, look at hiring junior staff and up-skilling. For example, getting waiters and kitchen staff to train and work behind the coffee machine in non-busy periods. Get your team managers together (or sit down with some pen and paper if it’s only you) and identify opportunities that might be hiding in plain sight. Training doesn’t have to be an expensive, outsourced initiative. Explore internal training as a more cost-effective but equally impactful alternative. 4. Invest in the right toolsThere are a number of smart, automated tools that are available to shift-based businesses that want to improve operational efficiencies; this could be in rostering, HR, Payroll or time tracking. Many businesses find it a challenge to record staff working hours correctly. They then spend a significant amount of time collecting hours worked for payroll. Having a tool to manage these repetitive manual tasks can reduce the time you and your team spends manually recording these hours. When used effectively, automation tools empower your team to focus on bigger and more important tasks, rather than time and labour-intensive administration.5. Plan your recoveryWhat processes are critical to your business operations? Identify your shortages and list them. Where do you need your best people and consider matching training and flexibility to those areas.  Prioritise stability, and then growth, and always remember to service your existing staff first. Let your team know that the resource crunch is not permanent and give them a timeline where you hope to be in a better position. Think of fun, inexpensive ways you can motivate your staff, so the hard work is balanced with some light heartiness. Or if you’re looking for ways to build up your team, check out 100 team building activities.  Final thoughtsDon’t be disheartened by the challenges of trying to attract and retain the right staff for your business. It’s something everyone is facing. Be open and willing to embrace a changing world and adapt your business to make the most of it. 

How far in advance should you give employees their work roster? Trying to manage your employees’ schedules is time-consuming and difficult. Planning their work shifts, creating a roster, and sending it out takes a lot of time and effort. You might also be balancing a workforce who are looking for flexibility in their shifts to suit their lifestyle post COVID-19 lockdowns. Does planning and providing your roster in advance help employee retention? We’re here to answer all your questions about providing employees with their roster. Including how far in advance you should send employees their work roster. By providing it in plenty of time it can increase your employee satisfaction and help your business grow. What should a work roster look like?In its most basic form, a work roster is a schedule that lists: Each employee’s name The shifts they’re scheduled to work during a certain week (days and times) Any scheduled breaks (if relevant) The location where they’ll complete those shifts (if relevant). You might also choose to list your employee’s responsibilities and tasks during their shifts. A roster needs to be displayed (or provided) in an easy to access place for employees and given in advance.In Australia, rosters should be provided at least seven days before the start of the roster. There are rules about when employees can work, what hours they work and how often they must have a break. These rules can be set out in different places such as an award or an employment contract. Ensuring you’re compliant with scheduling rules under the award your employees are on can be tricky. An automation feature that prevents accidental mistakes when creating rosters can be ideal and help improve compliance confidence. What are the benefits of giving your employees their work roster in advance?Planning a work roster a couple of weeks in advance could initially be a lot of work up front, but the benefits should outweigh this. By providing your staff their roster in advance, they can compare it to their personal calendar to see if they can do all their planned shifts. It also gives them enough time to tell you if they can’t do a shift. Or even swap shifts with a co-worker if needed. Rostering functionalities like shift swap requests, communication and setting availability in advance can lead to increased rates of employee happiness and satisfaction. This can lead to a more stable work environment, and hopefully lead to more revenue growth. So, how far in advance should you give your employees their work roster? How far in advance should you provide a work roster?As mentioned above, rosters should be provided at least seven days before the start of a roster. However, by giving your employees their roster at least two weeks (14 days) in advance, this will help your team manage their life outside of work. It’s still a good idea to set expectations up front with your team. Whether you provide the roster on time or in advance – let them know. Then make it a point to send out the roster when you say you will. Employees are managing a life outside of work including childcare, shifts for a second job or studying, so they’ll appreciate the consistency. By having all the information your staff needs in one place, everyone should know where they need to be at the right place and the right time, and hopefully there should be fewer misunderstandings. As we’re on the go more and more, your employees will appreciate it if they’re able to access the roster from anytime, anywhere and from any device. 

10 things you might not know about Modern Awards (but should) If you’re someone running a business in Australia, chances are you’re very aware of the complexities of the Modern Award system and the importance of being compliant with these requirements. But you don’t know what you don’t know and there are various ways you can be non-compliant that you might not be aware of. In this article we set out 10 tips about Modern Awards with a focus on some compliance watch outs.The information in this article is intended as educational and for general guidance only. It is not a substitute for legal advice and should not be relied on in determining your compliance requirements.  If you’re unsure of the correct Award coverage for your company or your employees, we encourage you to visit the Fair Work Commission Awards finder page or contact the Fair Work Ombudsman to discuss this further. Getting this right is very important and sets the foundation for paying your employees correctly. You should also seek any independent legal advice as appropriate for your business. In using Planday for your business, please also note that not all aspects of the legal requirements and awards are automated and you may be required to implement manual workarounds or record certain award requirements outside of the Planday product. The Planday product does not cover all award requirements, including, but not limited to, allowances, leave accruals, shift work and some overtime. It is your responsibility to read the Help Centre Article and Product Specific Terms setting out areas of the award that are not covered by the Planday product. 1. Paying above award rates doesn’t ensure compliance  Paying above award rates is something many employers do, often to attract and retain great employees. Some employers assume that paying above award rates will ensure modern award compliance and provide an element of ‘safety’. This is not necessarily the case; there’s more to a modern award than just pay rates. For example, the Award may specify how and when you can roster your employee. If you’re paying an above award rate to compensate your employees for additional monetary entitlements provided in the award it’s a good idea to detail this in an employment contract. You should consult an employment lawyer or specialist to further understand your obligations in respect to other award entitlements and the impact an inflated base rate may have about calculations for things like overtime or penalty rates.   Setting up pay rates through PlandayIf you import one of our supported awards from our Award library and then assign each employee a classification; the hourly base rate and the subsequent entitlements are worked out in Planday, according to the minimum wages as stipulated by the award. If you adjust the base rate above the award rate, other entitlements are worked out based on this new, inflated rate you input. We currently support the Retail and Clerks award. Please ensure you read the Help Centre articles about setting up each of these awards and rates correctly in the Planday system.2. Paying an Annual Salary in lieu of award rates Under some awards, such as the Restaurant and General Hospitality Awards, it’s possible to pay an annualised salary that is intended to cover a specific number of overtime hours and hours that attract a penalty rate.Annualised salaries provided by an Award give a framework for paying a somewhat fixed rate to employees within certain stipulations. Employers are still obligated to reconcile and record all hours worked by the employee to ensure that they are not worse off than they would have been if they were paid an hourly rate.  Setting up Annualised Salaries in Planday  Annualised salaries can be inputted into Planday to get a more accurate overview of your schedule costs but should be manually maintained within your payroll system as annualised salaries are not included in the Planday payroll output. 3. You are required to track hours worked by staff  There’s a legal requirement to keep track of the hours worked by staff as well as records relating to any monies paid to employees (including any separately identifiable amounts such as allowances, though please note Planday does not currently have the functionality for entitlements). Employers are also required to maintain these records in a readily accessible format for at least seven years. In the event of any payment discrepancy or error, records of hours worked and monies paid to employees are necessary to determine if there are any outstanding amounts owing. That is one of the reasons record keeping is so important. To learn more about these obligations visit Fair Work. How Planday tracks hoursIf you import one of our supported awards from the Award library, Planday will be able to help you keep track of the hours worked by your staff. Your staff can clock in and out of shifts, creating timesheets. Once approved these timesheets can document:Breakdown of the hours worked by the given employeeAny penalty rates or loadings paid to employees for overtime hours worked including:the number of overtime hours worked by an employee during the day; andwhen the employee started and finished the overtime hours.Any overtime triggered on shifts on a daily and weekly span.Please note that some overtime scenarios do require a manual workaround and separate record keeping outside of the Planday product.Please also be aware that Planday doesn’t support:AllowancesAveraging of hoursAdditional wage information such as tax and superannuation Leave accrual You should ensure these records are kept separately to ensure your compliance with your various record keeping obligations.4. Contracts vs contractors (sham contracting arrangements) You’ll know that when you employ someone as a full-time, part-time or casual employee they are generally entitled to specific benefits as outlined by their award and underpinned by the National Employment Standards such as, minimum wages and leave. In addition to these rules, you’re also probably aware there are other pieces of legislation regarding superannuation and tax. If you recklessly or intentionally disguise an employment agreement as being that of an independent contractor agreement, you could find yourself in hot water. This can arise even if the individual you have engaged has a preference about being a contractor rather than an employee. There are also often different thresholds for what constitutes an employee under our separate tax, superannuation and industrial relations legislation. Sham contracting cases often require employers to back pay some contractors as if they were employees – including superannuation and paid leave. It can also attract penalties from various regulators. Getting this right is also one of the new reporting requirements under the ATO’S STP2 program.Does Planday support the set up of contractors?Planday is designed for employees rather than contractors who are usually paid through an invoicing for service arrangement, rather than a regular and consistent wage underpinned by Modern Awards. It is very important that you consider obtaining appropriate legal advice if you are unsure about whether a contractor you may have engaged could be considered an employee for superannuation, tax and Modern Awards purposes.5. Know the right hours for the right people Each modern award can be different to another. This can often be tricky to manage, particularly for businesses that have more than one Award for different employees. Most awards stipulate what hours you can and cannot roster an employee for and what constitutes overtime for each type of employee you have. This is often different for full time, part time and casual employees. It’s important to thoroughly understand the obligations you have in relation to all employees, including part-time employees. It’s a common misconception that all part-time employees only receive overtime if they work more than 38 hours per week. Some awards, for example the General Retail industry Award requires you to agree on a specific number of hours, to be worked on specific days, at specific times at the commencement of the employment relationship. Any ad hoc deviation from this (without a written variation agreement) could then be seen as overtime. It can be complex, and we recommend you check your specific award on the Fair Work Hours of Work page and then seek any independent legal advice that may be appropriate for your business.Setting up hours of work through PlandayWe currently support the Retail and Clerks award. When you assign your employee a contract rule, you can set these parameters as they apply to the individual employee. Planday will then help you keep track of when any overtime is triggered. When overtime is applied/triggered, it will be shown in the schedule with a red circle next to the employee’s name and it will be visible on the payroll output. Please ensure you read the appropriate Help Centre articles about setting up contract rules and each of these awards and note that Planday does not cover all overtime situations.Overview of Contract rules and Overtime6. What about casuals who I’ve had in the business for over a year?  If a casual employee has worked for you for 6-12 months and has worked a regular pattern of hours, you may be required to offer a full-time or part-time (permanent) role depending on the particular circumstances of your employee and their working hours. This is called casual conversion. In other cases, an eligible employee can request to become a permanent employee. It all depends on the award and the type of business you have and the regularity of hours worked by your casual employees. To learn more, visit the Fair Work Ombudsman’s ‘Becoming a permanent employee’ page. This is also a complex and evolving area for many employers and you should consider obtaining some independent legal advice as may be required for any casuals in your business.How can Planday help you get an overview of the hours worked by your casuals?You can export an overview of total shifts and hours from the first shift in Planday to the nominated date and the regularity of those hours. Of course, you would need to marry this up with the employee’s hire date if it’s not the same as the first shift you entered when signing up to Planday. Unfortunately, there is no current process in place for Planday to notify you that your casual employee has been working for a certain time, you will need to track that manually and be mindful of your obligations particularly if casuals have been in your business for over 12 months.7. Providing the right information from the start When a new employee starts working for a new employer, it’s a requirement that you give them the Fair Work Information Statement (for full-time and part-time employees) before, or as soon as possible after they start. If your employee is casual, then you must provide them with the Casual Employment Information Statement. Both documents are available here.Sending out the Fair Work Information Statement in Planday ?You can store these pdfs in Planday and include them in your employee contract templates, so they’re included when you send someone an employment contract for a digital signature through Planday.8. Understanding when overtime is overtime You may have to pay an employee overtime, even if they haven’t worked more than 38 hours that week. Each Award provides a specific set of circumstances in which overtime is applied. This could be because they worked more than a specific number of hours on a particular day or because they worked outside the span of hours they had previously agreed or were originally rostered to work. Each Award is different and it’s important you are aware of the rules for your employees. What is common in most Awards/circumstances is that your full-time employee is entitled to a specific number of ordinary hours per week (generally 38) and these don’t include hours that are deemed to be overtime by an applicable Award. This can be the case for part-time employees too.Overview of Contract rules and OvertimeManaging overtime for your employees in PlandayIf you’ve imported an award from our library and assigned your employees the correct contract rules, Planday can verify a few things. First, it can tell you if you’ve scheduled your employee for the correct number of hours. It uses a traffic light system; yellow if you’re under, red if overtime applies and green if you’re just right. And if you have scheduled your employee over their ordinary hours of work per week it will also calculate the correct overtime based on their hourly wage. Please make sure you read our Help Centre article on How to Set up Overtime and note that in some overtime cases a manual workaround may be required. 9. Your employees might be covered by different Awards You may think that because you’re a retail business your employees will be covered by the Retail Award. But in some cases, your employees could be covered by one, two or even no awards depending on what services you offer. For example, if you’re a fitness centre with a café and a creche located within, then the employees in the fitness section might be covered by the Fitness Industry Award. The employees in the creche could be covered by the Children’s Service Award and the café by the Restaurant Industry Award. Award coverage is very specific to the set of circumstances in your business, it can hinge on how you run your business, how your employees work, how interconnected your operations are and what area generates the most revenue. It’s not always clear, a similar business up the road may seem the same but have different award coverage due to differences in how they operate. So, if you want to be 100% sure you check out the ‘find my award’ page on the Fair Work site or get in touch with them if you’re still not sure. As always you should also consider obtaining independent legal advice that may be appropriate for your business and employees.Setting up awards in PlandayWe can’t tell you which award your employees should be paid under. The Fair Work Ombudsman is the right place to go. If you know your employees are covered by the Retail or Clerks award then Planday has some functionality to help you manage those overtime requirements. We will also introduce other awards over time.10. Keeping on top of leave You’ll likely know the main types of leave, such as annual leave (or annual leave for shift workers), personal, parental, compassionate etc. But sometimes it’s difficult to calculate how much leave or when someone is eligible for leave. There are also new entitlements to leave that come up from time to time including Family and Domestic Violence leave.Managing Leave in PlandayYour employees can request the most common leave types through Planday such as annual, compassionate, personal or carer’s and unpaid leave. However, please note that Planday does not cover all types of leave – our current functionality does not provide Long Service Leave, Community Service Leave and Parental Leave or Family and Domestic Violence Leave. It’s also important to note that Planday does not keep track of leave balances or accrual, which is a requirement you will need to manage outside of the Planday product. To learn more about leave types in Planday refer to this article.