Do you manage leave entitlements well?
Leave entitlements start to become front of mind for all workers as the countdown to year end begins in earnest.
I have been privileged to assist an Employer of Record client induct a number of working from home employees using a great discussion checklist, developed by Service Excellence Consulting some years ago, and updated to suit today’s legislation and hybrid work environments.
One of the topics that was raised by the employees is leave entitlements and whether the information should be on payslips and what are their entitlements etc?
Another rabbit hole moment for me and I decided this was worth sharing, as businesses and systems are all different, so separating the mandatory, from the good to have, to best practice was an eye opener.
Employees experience different payroll information and leave entitlements as they move across companies and so having:
a clear leave policy accessible to all,
a checklist to make sure you don’t miss anything when the rules change as they inevitably will,
robust technology to ensure records are accurate, in real time,
is essential to avoid the risk of questions being escalated to complaints or claims against the business.
The National Employment Standards (NES) are very clear on the leave employees are entitled to including various forms of paid leave, parental leave, community service leave, long service leave and unpaid leave.
Many organisations have additional leave built into their policies for mental health days, volunteering days, birthdays and more.
To the question of whether leave should appear on payslips…….
Fair Work regulations don’t mandate leave balances on payslips, but many employers include them for transparency and to avoid disputes.
It can be considered best practice to do so, as part of proactive risk management.
Examples:
Annual Leave and Personal/Carer’s Leave: These are commonly displayed to help employees track their entitlements and forward plan.
Long Service Leave: This is often shown, especially in states where it's accrued progressively - VIC, NSW, ACT and NT.
Family and Domestic Violence Leave: This MUST never be shown on payslips.
Other Leave Types: Required if specified by an award, enterprise agreement, or company policy.
My client now has:
a strengthened leave policy outlined in the Employee Handbook,
a checklist of leave requirements including mandatory, good to have and “'make your employees feel special”' categories,
a better understanding of the risks associated with employees being unsure of their entitlements (and the employees are very clear and happy),
a new item on the Risk Register Review agenda when Business Monitor Online does the quarterly review.
Contact us to have a Discovery Moment chat about simple steps to minimise business risk and maximise success.
This client’s business has gone from strength to strength in very small steps, and it all started with a question about safety!