Changes to Living Away from Home Allowance

From 1 July, 2012, Employers and HR professionals should be aware of changes to the Living away From Home Allowance (LAFHA). The changes apply from 1 July 2012 for arrangements entered into from 9 May 2012, and from 1 July 2014 for arrangements made prior to then.

The new reforms mean the LAFHA can only be used for the expenses of people who are legitimately maintaining a second home in addition to their actual home, the concession will be limited to a 12 month period only, and individuals are now required to substantiate their actual expenditure on accommodation, and food beyond a statutory amount. Additionally, temporary Australian residents will no longer have access to the concession unless they can establish that they are living away from an Australian based home which is maintained for their personal use.

How to reduce staff turnover with a flexible culture

 Reducing staff turnover is an ongoing headache for many businesses.  Experts estimate it costs upwards of twice an employee’s salary to find and train a replacement. And churn can damage morale among remaining employees. But many employers are now finding that by creating and supporting a flexible work culture where part-time work is easily accessible if desired, creates loyalty, increases performance and reduces staff turnover.  
Tips to making it work include:

1.Be realistic – staff moving from full-time to part-time need to adjust and manage their own expectations of what they can achieve. 

2.Prioritisation – for the employee, the key to finding the balance is to make sure they are doing the important rather than the urgent. 

3.Strategic approach – as an employer you should ensure that you have strategies in place to make this work.  Being flexible and family friendly won’t be successful unless this is the case.

4.Support – part-time staff need the full support of their leader, their teammates and family for it to successfully work for everyone.

5.Review – re-visit and discuss compensation, benefits packages, and flexible work schedules at least annually.

6.Recognition – it is easy to overlook how important recognition and praise from managers can be, especially if an employee is not in the office full time.

A very real benefit many employers find with flexible arrangements is increased productivity –part-time employees may work fewer hours in the office, but they are capable of being just as productive as full-timers, they don’t have time to waste and are often extremely good at juggling a range of tasks. Not to mention the cost benefits to your business from reducing staff turnover!

Can you legally deduct amounts from an employee's wages?

Employers are often required to make deductions from an employee's wages and may be unsure as to the various payments which may legally be deducted from an employee's wages. For example, many employment awards only allow deductions for voluntary superannuation contributions. This means that unless it is provided in a court order, or authorised by your employee, you cannot deduct any amount from your employees’ wages for any other reason.

Under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cwlth) employers are permitted to deduct amounts from their employees wages, only if the employee consents to that arrangement in writing and it is principally for the employees benefit, or if the deduction is otherwise authorised under an agreement, award or law (court order). Other stipulations are that it must be reasonable, and if the employee is under 18 years old, their guardian or parent has authorised the deduction in writing.

Allowable deductions include salary sacrifice arrangements and payments into an employee's health fund.

If you have employees with Child Support Scheme obligations, you may have to withhold a certain amount from their wages. If this is that case, you will be contacted by the Child Support Agency and receive a Notice to Deduct Maintenance Payments from an Employee’s Salary or Wages. There is a possibility of penalties being imposed if the employer does not meet their obligations under the order. Additionally, the employer cannot make a deduction of child support that leaves an employee with a net of less than the Protected Earnings Amount (PEA) http://www.csa.gov.au/employers/pea.php

Alternatively, you may have employees subject to a garnishee order. This is a court order requiring that part of the wages owed to a particular employee (the debtor) be paid instead to that employee's creditor or the court. As with Child Support Scheme deductions, there are limits on how much of an employee's wage can be deducted under this arrangement. The deductions cannot reduce your net weekly amount to less than 100% of the standard weekly benefit. An amount of $403.70 (as at April 2010) must be left out of your pay each week for you. The remainder will be given to the Judgment Creditor. An employer is required to comply with a garnishee order. Failure to comply with the court order may result in the employer having to make good the moneys payable under the garnishee order unless the employer can successfully argue mitigating circumstances.

As an employer, it is recommended to have a policy in place to ensure you are dealing with salary deductions fairly and legally. You may want to consider including in your policy that any authorisation:

• must be in writing and be principally for the benefit of the employee;
• must specify the amount of the deduction authorised;
• can be varied if done so in writing;
• can be withdrawn by you or the employee at any time, provided that it is done in writing.

If the deduction is not authorised in the above manner, then you shouldn't facilitate it, unless an enterprise agreement, modern award, a law of a State/Territory/Commonwealth or an order of a Court/Tribunal authorises it. 

Contact Annette at End2End Business Solutions on (02) 8977 4002 should you require any assistance with establishing deductions.

Unfair dismissal and procedural fairness

If you are considering dismissing an employee for poor performance or misconduct, care must be exercised in order to ensure that it is not harsh, unjust or unreasonable, to avoid being exposed to an unfair dismissal claim. In these events, you should first ask yourself the following 3 questions:

1.  Is there a Valid Reason for the dismissal?

Consider the reason you are dismissing the employee. Can you prove the facts and circumstances surrounding the reason? Is the reason sound and is it also lawful?

The existence of a valid reason for termination is a critical consideration in establishing the fairness of the termination. The absence of a valid reason will almost certainly render the termination unfair. 

If a valid reason for dismissal has been established, the test is to then determine if procedural fairness was applied before the dismissal.

2.  Have you afforded the employee Procedural Fairness?

To comply with the requirement for Procedural Fairness, the employee must firstly be made aware of the allegations concerning their conduct, or given evidence that you consider justifies their dismissal, to enable them to respond. A copy of a written warning is the best way to demonstrate that this procedure has been followed, and it is recommended that this document is signed by the employee as an acknowledgment of receipt. Any warning you give should expressly state that continued underperformance could lead to the termination of their employment.

Secondly, the employee must be given a fair and reasonable opportunity to defend these allegations. If the reason for termination relates to their performance, you must also give them a reasonable opportunity to improve their performance (including offering assistance and training) in order to make sure you afford them procedural fairness.

3.  Is dismissal a fair and proportionate response?

After considering the employee's response, you should also consider if the punishment of dismissal fits the employee's "crime"? Or does the continued underperformance or misconduct warrant a further warning or counselling instead? You should also take into consideration circumstances such as the employee's length of service, mitigating factors such as illness/family difficulties, their age and the seriousness of the offence. 

Once you've asked and answered these 3 questions, you will significantly increase your prospects of defending an unfair dismissal claim if one arises. Failure of the employer to apply these tests before an employee’s dismissal can result in a finding that the dismissal was unfair, resulting in either the reinstatement of the employee or payment of compensation. Contact Annette at End2End Business Solutions on (02) 8977 4002 should you require any assistance when considering dismissing an employess or to simply obtain further information on employee dismissals.