2019 was full of high-profile cases where big and small businesses had failed to pay their employees correctly. Although the phrase wage theft was bandied around with abandon, in our experience it is very rare for employers to deliberately underpay their employees. However, what these high-profile cases demonstrate is that understanding Industrial Awards and applying them to complex working hours arrangements is not easy and mistakes can easily be made.
We have previously identified the major challenges faced by employers, however there is only one way to determine if you are actually paying correctly, and that is to undertake an audit or review of how wages/salaries are calculated against the minimum legal obligations set out in Awards or Enterprise Agreements.
At Mazars HR we have applied our expertise in industrial relations and human resource management, with that of our Mazars partners’ expertise in accounting, payroll and audit to develop a methodology for reviewing wages/salaries in as cost effective a manner as possible. The combination of these disciplines provides a unique opportunity for our clients to undertake a risk assessment in relation to current and past wages/salary payments. Our unique methodology utilising our combination of skills and expertise allows us to offer our clients wages/salary reviews on a fixed fee basis.
2020 will see the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) continue to focus on identifying employers who have underpaid their employees. This creates not only financial risk for employers, but also reputational risk. We encourage employers, particularly those who have complex employment arrangements such as shift work, casualised workforces or annualised salaries, to be proactive and take the initiative to review wages/salaries to make sure that you are, in fact, paying your employees correctly.
If you would like to take advantage of our expert multidisciplinary methodology, contact us on mazarshr@mazars.com.au or 3218 3919 for a fixed fee quote.
