Author: David Jenkins NZPPA CEO I write on topics in payroll that I believe are current and timely, and I judge that from the type of questions we get through to the NZPPA PayTech Adviceline. Over the last couple of months, I have seen a trend in questions on how to calculate annual holidays for
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Response from the Hon Michael Wood On NZPPA issues raised with the Holidays Act Better Rules Process
20 21 612 – David Jenkins response (Better Rules approach)
Open Letter to the Minister on issues raised with the Holidays Act Better Rules Process
21 August 2021 Right Honourable Michael Wood Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Private Bag 18888 Parliament Buildings Wellington 6160 Open Letter to Michael Wood Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety – The New Holidays Act Cannot Fail – MBIE’s Better Rules Methodology Dear Minister This letter clearly states that the New Zealand
THE RISE OF THE FAKE PAYROLL CONSULTANT
The Holidays Act is an ongoing nightmare. (Will the government ever release the Holidays Act review? Hope it was a new year’s resolution!) There is a whole industry of people now promoting themselves as payroll experts, offering their services to resolve business payroll issues. Just because a person calls themselves a payroll expert does not
UPDATES TO A PAYROLL SYSTEM – WHY PAYROLL NEEDS TO BE PROACTIVE
I have stated time and time again that a payroll system is a tool and is not the actual payroll! The payroll practitioner is the one essential part of payroll that must be present to bring all the required components together to create a successful payroll. It is essential for payroll practitioners to drive the
TRANSFERING & DONATING LEAVE ENTITLEMENTS EARNED UNDER THE HOLIDAYS ACT– CAN YOU DO IT?
In this post, I want to talk about whether an employee can transfer leave from one company to another, or from one country to another. And I’ll also consider whether an employee can donate their leave to another employee. This is all regarding minimum entitlement earned under the Holidays Act. So, to start with the
WHAT GIVING TEN DAYS SICK LEAVE MEANS FOR PAYROLL
The government has introduced the Holidays (Increasing Sick Leave) Amendment Bill and has stated it will go through the full select committee process before becoming law later in 2021 (not 1 April 2021). This was one of their election promises. So firstly, this is only a bill and is not yet law. A few things
WHAT IT ACTUALLY MEANS IN PAYROLL WHEN AN EMPLOYEE GETS ADDITIONAL ANNUAL HOLIDAYS
So, for my first post of 2021, I want to clarify a few points, which from my experience, are not understood or applied correctly in payroll when additional annual holidays are provided by agreement to an employee. When the Holidays Act was first implemented (1 April 2004), it provided three weeks of annual holidays (entitlement)
WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN YOU REDUCE AN EMPLOYEE’S PAY OR HOURS?
The current pandemic has seen a lot of confusion for employers as well as for employees about what happens when hours or pay are reduced. So, first things first, in general terms, an employer cannot reduce an employee’s pay or hours without first consulting with them and getting their agreement. In this post, I want
Q&A from MBIE to Payroll Providers (9 April 2020)
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CONVID 19 Latest information provided to payroll providers from MBIE Q&A
Click here to download Payroll Provider Q&A for release
IMPORTANT FOR NZ PAYROLL: IS THE WAGE SUBSIDY AND LEAVE PAYMENT IS TAXABLE FOR THE EMPLOYEE?
Short answer: Yes, they become part of the employee’s gross earnings. NZPPA has been in discussion with IRD on this since these new payments were announced and have had it confirmed that both the Wage Subsidy and leave payments are gross payments and PAYE is to be deducted along with all deductions (student loan, child
Example of how the Government Wage Subsidy and Leave Payment is taxed
The wage subsidy and leave payment are subject to tax and become part of gross taxable income for the employee. Example of the Wage Subsidy: A full-time employee (working more than 20 hours per week) would normally be paid $1000 gross per week. The company has been hit hard from the COVID-19 pandemic and applies
THE “NOTS” OF THE HOLIDAYS ACT ARE STILL NOT UNDERSTOOD!
I get questions every day on the Holidays Act and I am amazed that the fundamentals are still not understood, or for whatever reason are not being correctly applied to payroll. I do not see this as a fault of the Act as these areas are quite clear and could easily be applied to make
HOW CAN YOU RUN PAYROLL WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW IT?
I spend a lot of time explaining why things need to be done a certain way in payroll to senior managers and even payroll practitioners. It’s required to ensure compliance, best practice, reduce the cost of processing and security etc. In a lot of cases, there is no understanding on their part of the importance
CAN YOU PAY LESS THAN THE MINIMUM WAGE FOR LEAVE PROVIDED UNDER THE HOLIDAYS ACT?
The short answer is YES. Now, this is not about the bad employer exploiting the downtrodden, overworked employee, this is just a consequence that can happen because of the averages used or that could be used under the Holidays Act. Before I get a lot of comments about social conscience and the living wage, I
WHAT’S IN STORE FOR NZ PAYROLL IN 2020?
Another year, another set of challenges for payroll! After the year of delivery (I did not see anything for payroll!), we now face a year of uncertainty. The things that the government has stated will be released may or may not be implemented depending on who is in power after the election. Now, please understand
WHY THE HOLIDAYS ACT REVIEW HAS FAILED EVEN BEFORE IT’S RELEASED!
Author: David Jenkins, NZPPA CEO We are still waiting on the Minister to release the Holidays Act Review Report, which after several delays was provided to him in early October 2019. NZPPA and a small group of payroll providers were involved in a meeting before the report was forwarded to the Minister. At that meeting
THE ANNOYING QUIRKS OF IRD’S NEW MYIR TAX WEBSITE
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
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