A good way to gain a working understanding of the complicated New Zealand tax system and how hard it is to develop IT systems that allow users to interface painlessly is to log into the new myIR website and, well, use it to keep up with your obligations. The oddly capitalised myIR is the realm
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EMPLOYERS SHOULD HAVE TO CONTRIBUTE TO KIWISAVER EVEN WHEN STAFF DON’T; FINANCE INDUSTRY
The minimum employer contribution to KiwiSaver should be lowered from 3 per cent to 2 per cent or an employer should be required to put money in regardless of whether their staff member does, a new report by the finance industry recommends. The Financial Services Council, an industry body made up of banks and insurers
TRUCK DRIVER FIRED ‘OUT OF THE BLUE’ AFTER QUESTIONING HOLIDAY PAY
A truck driver fired “out of the blue” a month before Christmas, has been awarded $22,800 for unjustifiable dismissal. Stephen Taylor worked at Farm Beach Transport Limited from April 2018 til November 2018. On November 22 he noticed on his payslip that he had been paid for a week of annual leave rather than his normal wage,
Debt collectors chasing employers for payments to exploited workers
Employers who ignore orders to compensate exploited workers can expect a visit from debt collectors. The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) set up the debt collection unit about six months ago and Labour Inspectorate national manager Stuart Lumsden said it was just starting to hit its stride. He said a legislation change in 2016
12 PRACTICAL WAYS TO REDUCE WORK FOR NZ PAYROLL
So, now for something completely different. I always say at the start of any training session I run that I am not politically correct. And in today’s world, in my view, being politically correct is way over the top. I find payroll challenging, hard work and I love it with a passion, but I have
Student loans vanish from screen after Inland Revenue upgrade
Some taxpayers have seen their student loans seemingly disappear after Inland Revenue’s website came back online on Friday following a technology upgrade. A former student who now lives in Germany was among those who got a nice, but short-lived, surprise when her $14,000 student loan appeared to vanish. The woman joked that the upgrade – part of Inland Revenue $1.6 billion Business Transformation programme – was definitely working for her. Another
Four Types of Dangerous Payroll People
Yes, I mention this a lot in my posts, but payroll is a business-critical activity. It manages one of the largest costs a business has which is the cost of paying employees. NZPPA was formed to develop payroll as a profession in New Zealand and we are slowly doing that one win at a time.
Wendy’s fails to meet payout deadline for workers not given lieu days
Former Wendy’s employees owed thousands by the fast food giant following an Employment Relations Authority (ERA) ruling are still waiting on payment. Remediation payments for days in lieu not provided to former employees were supposed to be paid by March 31. Credits for days in lieu not provided to current staff were due to be
9000 Corrections staff to get holiday pay arrears this year
It expects a $16 million contingency it got in last year’s Budget should cover its liabilities to more than 9000 staff underpaid due to leave and shiftwork miscalculations. “We are determined to get this right for our staff and aim to begin paying any shortfalls in late 2019,” Richard Waggott, deputy chief executive corporate services,
CANNOT USE AVERAGING FOR TIME IN HOLIDAYS ACT REMEDIATION
One of the key concepts of the Holidays Act is a week for annual holidays and a day for the other types of leave provided under the Act. A week is by agreement and if the week changes, the entitlement changes to reflect the new agreed week. In this post I want to highlight some
SHOULD DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LEAVE BE IN PAYROLL?
The short answer is yes. It is interesting to see the wide range of variations in terms of what payroll providers are doing with domestic violence leave (DVL) in their payroll systems from the 1st April 2019. These include the following: stating they will not be adding or providing any support for DVL in their
DHBS UNSURE HOW TO PAY POSSIBLE MILLIONS OWED TO STAFF
NZPPA note: the present Holidays Act review is about going forward, it will not resolve the issues the DHBs have with underpayments that have happened in the past, we still have that nighmare in payroll. District health boards say that having to pay wage and salary arrears could have a significant financial impact
PAYROLL STAFF NEED HELP AS COMPANIES STRUGGLE WITH UNDERPAID HOLIDAYS
Businesses need to take a hard look at the job of their often low-paid and overwhelmed payroll staff, says a top employment lawyer, as New Zealand continues to grapple with the nightmare of historical holiday leave underpayments. Ernst Young (EY) Law employment law leader Christie Hall said new holiday pay and leave legislation is still
ANOTHER ISSUE WITH NZ HOLIDAYS ACT PAYROLL REMEDIATION
In this post, I highlight an area that I often see which is not being applied correctly when recalculating leave provided under the Holidays Act 2003. It identifies underpayments that need to be paid to an employee and overpayments to be recovered (if possible, following a separate process). For the purpose of this post, I
NZPPA LETTER TO THE MINISTER – WHY PROVIDING PAYSLIPS SHOULD BE A LEGAL REQUIREMENT
There has been a lot of issues with employees finding they have not been paid correctly in the media and from investigations carried out by MBIE recently and for payroll we need to be proactive in showing we are focused on paying our employees correctly. In this post please find a copy of the letter
KFC, Pizza Hut and Carl’s Jr workers struggle through holiday payroll bungle
Employees of Restaurant Brands, which runs KFC, Pizza Hut and Carl’s Jr restaurant chains, were left out of pocket when the company hit payroll trouble over Christmas. Stemming from an initial administrative failure due to Christmas falling on a Tuesday, it spiralled into a three-week pay crisis for an estimated 3000 workers at the chain.
115,000 Kiwis to get tax bill for first time
About 115,000 Kiwis will be stung with a tax bill for the first time next year and experts are warning there could be teething issues even for those who get refunds. The Inland Revenue is undertaking a major overhaul of the way it collects information from employers from April and will use it to issue
Inland Revenue walks the talk on payday filing
Inland Revenue has become the country’s first big employer to adopt payday filing ahead of it being mandatory on 1 April next year. Customer segment leader Richard Owen says switching early makes good business sense. “There are 5,138 staff to pay every fortnight at Inland Revenue so waiting until April to adopt a new system
Controversial workplace relations bill softened somewhat to get support from NZ First
Labour’s flagship workplace relations bill has been delayed and union access provisions softened to keep NZ First on board. The rights of employers to opt out of multi-employment collective agreements (MECA) has also been strengthened, with employers able to opt out if they have “reasonable grounds”. The changes to the bill appeared in an amendment
TOIL – WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR PAYROLL?
Time off in lieu (TOIL) has nothing to do with the Holidays Act 2003. If provided it is an agreed term between the employer and employee. The whole point of TOIL is not to pay for additional hours worked. This is not about overtime as overtime is an agreed term and is about being paid