As temporary measures were introduced and the Fair Work Act amended, employers were required to quickly make changes to their systems to accommodate concessions and access government assistance. The speed at which the new measures were introduced meant these changes were often made quickly and without the usual consideration and assessment.
With so many new payroll categories being set up to accommodate JobKeeper payments, are you confident you’re calculating new sick, carers and annual leave entitlements at the correct rate?
Here are some tips to help with the accuracy of your payroll records and ensure you avoid pain down the track.
- Employees who are on annual leave continue to accrue their usual leave entitlements while they’re on leave, and the period of leave counts as service.
- Employees taking annual leave at half pay accrue leave (annual, sick and carers) as if they were taking leave at full pay. Redundancy pay and payment in lieu of notice of termination are also based on the same rule.
- Full-time and part-time employees subject to COVID-19 stand down directions continue to accrue leave at the same rate as if they had not been stood down.
- The JobKeeper scheme doesn’t affect an eligible employee’s entitlement to accrue or take paid sick or carer’s leave.
- The JobKeeper scheme doesn’t impact or change an employee’s long service leave entitlements.
- The FWC has introduced 2 weeks’ unpaid pandemic leave in 99 awards. The schedule in each award applies from an employee’s first full pay period on or after 8 April 2020 until 30 June 2020. Eligible employees must receive at least the amount of the JobKeeper payment from for the period they’re on unpaid leave.
Make sure you stay across the latest JobKeeper employee leave allowances and examples.
