M.Ervin Bookkeeping

While you’re on JobKeeper, the usual obligation to do your job applies. So unless you’re stood down, on leave or you’re authorised to be absent, you should go to work for your ordinary work hours (or the reduced hours your employer has directed you to go to work under a JobKeeper direction).

If you're on JobKeeper and can't go to work because you're sick, you still need to take any accrued sick leave you have. You also still need to notify your employer and provide evidence if asked.

You can find more info here:
https://coronavirus.fairwork.gov.au/coronavirus-and-australian-workplace-laws/pay-and-leave-during-coronavirus/jobkeeper-wage-subsidy-scheme/leave-the-jobkeeper-scheme

We know many businesses have been impacted by COVID-19, and we’re here to help.

The new JobKeeper payment is now available for eligible employers to help them pay their employees.

If you’re an employer looking to apply for the JobKeeper payment, there’s no need to call us - check out the steps you need to take to get ready to receive the JobKeeper payment for your employees at www.ato.gov.au/general/gen/JobKeeper-payment/

It’s not worth the risk. Call a HR specialist to ensure your paying your staff correctly.

Employers cannot pay apprentice rates without a registered apprenticeship agreement in place.

Following our court action, a Victorian plumber and his company has been fined $151,200 for deliberately underpaying a young worker. It’s the second time we’ve taken this company to court for similar conduct, bringing total penalties to over $270,000.

In this case, the court found that the 22-year-old was underpaid for about six weeks’ work after being paid as a third-year apprentice despite not being signed up to an apprenticeship.

Without a formal apprenticeship agreement, the employee was entitled to be paid under the Plumbing and Fire Sprinklers Award 2010, but was underpaid minimum rates for ordinary hours, overtime pay, various allowances and leave entitlements, and termination payments.

The company also provided Fair Work Inspectors with a falsified employer apprenticeship document and falsified time-and-wages records that purported to show the employee was paid higher rates than he actually was. The Judge said the respondents’ conduct was ‘deliberate and exploitative’.

We have no tolerance for employers who provide false records to inspectors or repeatedly breach workplace laws, particularly when it involves the entitlements of young workers, who can be vulnerable if in their first job and they are unaware of their rights at work.

Total underpayments were $4,035, relating to a period between July and September 2017. The company also failed to pay $570 in superannuation. Both amounts have been rectified.

Read the full story: https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us/news-and-media-releases/2019-media-releases/november-2019/20191119-pulis-plumbing-penalty

Claiming Deductions this year? Have a look at this before you do 🙂

The Australian Taxation Office has released a series of occupation and industry specific guides to help you to correctly report your income and allowances, and claim deductions for the work-related expenses you are entitled to -

https://www.icb.org.au/news/home/ato-occupation-tax-guides-2019/a/7970