2010

JULY BIZ TIP

From 1 January 2011 the primary carer for a newborn or adopted child can claim paid parental leave for up to 18 weeks at the national minimum wage, which is $569.90 a week (effective 1 July 2010).  This is taxable similar to salary and wages.

To be eligible for paid parental leave, the primary carer must have:

• been engaged in work for a total period spanning at least 10 of the 13 months prior to the expected birth or adoption of the child with a break of no greater than eight (8) weeks between any two (2) consecutive work days; and

• have undertaken at least 330 hours of paid work during the 10 month period (an average of around one (1) day of paid work a week).

Parents will generally need to be living in Australia and be an Australian citizen or resident from the date of birth of the child and remain so for the parental leave pay period in order to be eligible. Full-time and part-time employees, as well as casual workers, contractors and self-employed people, may be eligible provided they meet the above criteria.

Paid parental leave funding will be provided by the Federal Government. The Family Assistance Office will advise an employer when parental leave is payable to an employee. Following approval, the monies will be paid to the employer prior to the commencement of an eligible employees’ paid parental leave. There will be no obligation on employers to provide parental leave pay to their employees until they have received the funding amount from the Family Assistance Office.

The obligation on employers to administer the payments commences on 1 July 2011 in order to assist employers transition to the new arrangement. In the transitional period, eligible claimants who are not paid by their employers will be paid by the Family Assistance Office.

The Scheme allows for more than one person to be entitled to claim the payment if the primary carer changes over time. For example, if one parent is the primary carer and returns to work after ten (10) weeks, the other parent could then become the carer and claim the final eight (8) weeks' leave.

Other conditions and entitlements apply and there is some impact on other family benefits.  
For full and further information, visit the Family Assistance Office website at  http://www.familyassist.gov.au

 

JUNE BIZ TIP

Now is the time to talk to your accountant and/or financial planner about the tasks you can do for your business or yourself at this important time of year, such as:

• Ensure your financial paperwork and software are in order
• Be clear on your projected performance for the year. Ensure that you know your cash position and liabilities due before you consider additional expenditure
• Review your assets register and write off any obsolete, broken or lost items
• Find out if you can afford to buy some capital items before 30 June
• Write off any bad debts. Make sure there is evidence of reasonable steps to recover the debt.
• Pay any superannuation entitlements before 30 June to get the deduction
• Maybe pay yourself and your team a bonus – you deserve it! Consider salary sacrifice to superannuation to maximise the benefit
• Make a tax-deductible charitable donation – help others whilst receiving the deduction.

Once 30 June is here, your business must undertake a year-end payroll reconciliation of payroll, PAYGW, superannuation, payroll tax and WorkCover. This will ensure you are ready to issue payment summaries to your employees by the required date of 14 July.  

Also, remember that any Reportable Employer Super Contributions, typically salary sacrifice superannuation, must be captured adequately by your payroll system, so that these amounts appear on the new payment summaries.

 

MAY BIZ TIP

You are recruiting for a new team member. You have taken all the right steps - reviewed the job and person description, crafted an excellent job advertisement to attract the ideal candidate, advertised or used an agency, short-listed and interviewed candidates - and decided on the ideal person. 

Psychometric testing for your preferred candidate can offer objective input. See whether the person you prefer fits into your organisation, measure what they will bring to the job, match their strengths with your requirements and identify development needs or challenges not drawn out during interviews. Tests are specially designed and targeted to your business needs.

Psychometric assessments are an excellent tool to assess a candidate’s abilities, personality, motivations, values and interests - in line with your particular role and your company values and culture - under standardised conditions.

Typically the candidate will attend an assessment centre and undertake either paper or online tests, taking about 1.5 hours. An organisational psychologist may give you (often on the same day) a phone briefing on the results, usually tailored to the job and person description and your company. You may also be provided with questions to assist you probe further into important areas during referee checks or a further interview with the candidate. You may also receive a detailed report. The extent of your report is dependent on fees.

The nature of psychometric tests can vary, but most have two aspects. Aptitude tests are used to measure reasoning ability, most commonly numerical, verbal and abstract reasoning skills. These are timed tests with only one answer.  The results of these tests will assist to verify if the candidate person is intellectually capable of doing the job. Personality questionnaires are preferential questions (where you select from a series of choices) with no right or wrong responses. The resulting profile is then compared to a profile of the person the employer is seeking. 

These tests provide insight into

• Learning, thinking and interpersonal styles
• Coping with stress
• Team, leadership and reporting styles
• Team player or an independent worker

Sharing the results of these tests with successful candidates can be a powerful motivator and useful people management tool. Over time you will have the results of psychometric tests on all of your staff (and you could also test your existing team), which will assist with team performance, targeted training, working with performance or behavioural issues and motivating people to give their best and enable them to help your business grow.  
Email us on info@bizology.com.au for any more information regarding psychometric assessment.

 

APRIl BIZ TIP

More and more business people are looking to their handheld devices to combine the offerings of a mobile phone with a small personal computer. A smartphone is a hybrid device that has all the features of a mobile phone and most of the features of a PDA such as calendar, email, web browsing and office applications. There is much more of course - music, podcasts, videos, cameras, social media and the myriad of apps (applications) available for download.
  
A smartphone seems to be a must have these days rather than an “ordinary” mobile phone, but with the explosion of devices on the market, how can you really be sure which is the right one for you? Here are our top 10 tips.

1. NEED - Do you really need a smartphone? Are you mobile a little or a lot, do you already have good mobile connectivity with your current laptop, will it be mainly business or personal use, can you afford one?

2. USE - What will you mainly use it for – email, web browsing, diary management, reading files, contact management, connection to the office network or just your computer, music, photos, videos, fun and wait - actually making phone calls!   

3. TECHNICAL - Be aware of the technical differences – key options include the phone’s operating systems e.g. apple OS, windows mobile, blackberry, android, symbian; hardware components e.g. touchscreen, ‘qwerty’ keyboard, camera; the type of network it can operate on e.g. 3G or WIFI.  Other considerations are screen size, weight and size, on board storage.

4. COST - Watch out for the cost – will you have a pay out on your current phone or plan, can you buy outright or will you combine with a plan, what is the cost of exceeding your plan or download limit, do you need to pay a premium for speed? 

5. BRAND - Are you too brand loyal? Whilst high profile devices such as iPhone and Blackberry are much loved, almost all phone manufacturers offer smartphones.

6. INFORMATION - Research, research, research – go to the manufacturer’s website and retail outlets, search the web e.g. Choice, CNET, ZNET, PC World, smartcompany, flying solo and many more.

7. SHARE - Talk to people using or about to buy a smartphone, especially in like businesses - but don’t expect an iPhone or Blackberry user to talk about anything else.

8. LOOKS DO COUNT - Yes, the look and feel in your hand and pocket or bag is important – this is an investment and you have to be happy every day. 

9.  SUPPORT - Where will you get support if things go wrong or you need extra help – the retailer, the network provider, the manufacturer’s website? Check out warranty conditions.

10. APPLICATIONS - Apple dominates the apps market but others are rapidly developing apps stores – what works for you?

This brief but very limited article from www.news.com.au  - “Five smartphones for the multitasker“ will quickly introduce you to the main players and includes links to their websites. Click here to view the article.

When you work out what is “smart” for you and your business – let us know! We would love to report the results to the Bizology community.

 

MARCh BIZ TIP

Having employees working from a home office can be a common and convenient arrangement for both you and your employee - but what are the risks? 

As an employer, your OHS responsibilities don’t end in your workplace. You are responsible for any place where the employer requires or permits an employee to perform work, including the employee’s home, vehicle or work site. It is likely that most of the work undertaken at home will be clerical or computer based.

A health and safety assessment should be carried out at the employee’s proposed working area at home to look for potential for accidents or injuries. Risks could include but are not limited to the following:

• Can the employee raise the alarm in an emergency?

• Is there a compliant first aid kit, adequate fire extinguisher and smoke alarm?

• Is the work area segregated from other hazards in the home, i.e. hot cooking surfaces in the kitchen?

• Are there electrical or fire hazards such as overloaded power boards, frayed power cords, or extension cords on the floor, which can be damaged by chairs running over them?  Electrical equipment used for the work environment should be tested and tagged.

• Is the path to the exit reasonably direct and free of trip hazards and obstructions to allow unimpeded passage?

• Is the workstation adequately set up to avoid eyestrain, poor posture and repetitive strain? Look for proper adjustable seating, proper desk and screen height, adequate working space or adequate lighting. Repetitive actions should not continue for long periods without appropriate breaks.

• Is the filing cabinets non-tip and is storage appropriate? Are there hazardous materials that require specific storage and handling processes?

• Is there any potential for slips, trips or falls? Are there potential trip hazards such as extension cords, or other obstructions or objects on the floor?

• Does the employee understand their OHS responsibilities?  

There is considerable merit in your business tailoring a ‘working from home checklist’ for your employees. This will ensure everyone is clear on OHS requirements and employees are safe and healthy, no matter where they work. 

 

FEBRUARY BIZ TIP

Would foreign language and cultural skills be valuable to your business?

Through selective work experience placement, Business SA Connect offers South Australian companies and international business students the opportunity to benefit from each other’s skills and experience.

Businesses provide students with a short-term work placement, which is designed to meet individual business needs.

Prior participants in the program have found that this ‘skills exchange’ has saved them money and time while also helping the student gain valuable work experience.

Work experience projects could include:

• Business/export planning
• Website development
• Marketing/market research
• Logistics evaluation
• Language translation of materials in order to appeal to a broader market.

Once a student has been screened and approved, they will attend a series of business culture workshops.

On completion the student is eligible for a two-week work placement. This placement could consist of two weeks full-time (or equivalent) at the workplace, or completion of an off-site project for the business.

If you believe this could be a valuable resource for your business, check out Business SA Connect at http://www.business-sa.com

 

JANUARY BIZ TIP

The new South Australian approved Code of Practice for First Aid in the Workplace will come into operation on 10 December 2010.

However, there is a 12-month transitional period - which commenced on 10 December 2009 - to give workplaces an opportunity to begin implementing the new provisions.

The new code reflects a more contemporary and best practice approach to first aid, better recognises the needs of different workplaces and brings South Australia's requirements more in line with those interstate, paving the way to a smoother transition to national uniformity.

The new code provides for:

• Design of First Aid Kits to approved standards and adequate labeling
• Location of First Aid Kits to ensure safety and accessibility
• Contents of First Aid Kits (refer to Table 1 in the Code)
• Maintenance of First Aid Kits to ensure contents are complete, in good working order, have not deteriorated and are within their ‘use by’ dates.

The code also includes provisions for First Aid Policies and Procedures, First Aid Rooms and First Aid Personnel depending on the size, location and risk situation of the workplace.

To access the full copy of the Code of Practice for First Aid in the Workplace, visit SafeWork SA’s website