The importance of annual wage audits
In this video, Shana Schreier-Joffe highlights why annual wage audits are crucial for businesses, particularly those with salary-type arrangements, and shares best practices for ensuring payroll compliance from the start.
About the speaker
In 2019, Shana was named a finalist in the Women in Law Awards for the category of ‘Partner of the Year – SME’ and has been named a Leading Employment Lawyer in the prestigious Doyles Guide. Shana is a frequent guest speaker at many industry functions and legal seminars and presents workplace training to clients on all aspects of employment and workplace law.
Summary
In this video, Shana Schreier-Joffe explains why annual wage audits are essential for businesses, especially those with salary-type employment arrangements. With modern awards and Fair Work Australia regulations placing greater emphasis on pay compliance, businesses must conduct regular wage audits to ensure employees are paid correctly, in line with minimum entitlements, penalty rates, and allowances.
For businesses operating with annualised salary agreements, it’s crucial to verify that wages align with actual hours worked, ensuring no inadvertent underpayments or Fair Work breaches. Through proactive auditing, companies can avoid costly compliance risks, financial penalties, and reputational damage.
Key takeaways
- Why annual wage audits are essential for salary-based employees
- How audits help businesses comply with modern awards and Fair Work obligations
- Common payroll pitfalls that lead to underpayments
- Best practices for ensuring employees receive correct entitlements
- How regular audits can protect businesses from legal risks and penalties
With compliance enforcement increasing, businesses need to adopt a proactive wage audit strategy to safeguard against payroll discrepancies. Watch the full interview to understand how annual wage audits can protect your business and ensure fair employee compensation.
Transcript
0:00
Modern awards require businesses to view their payments to employees on an annual basis. If they are doing sort of what we call all up or salary type arrangements of employees to ensure that employees are in fact getting paid in the correct way, there is a requirement on an annual basis for some employers.
0:20
We are of the view that an organisation should do it at least annually. We also recommend that it's and can be done for businesses who are sitting setting up payroll. Do it before so they know how to set up their payroll, so they know how to do their rostering so that they're best placed to then go forward. And you know, if there are issues, then right now is always a good time.
