As an employer you are required to validate the Right to Work for your employees and your contractors. And simplifying your cloud accounting and HR compliance together (including your Right to Work) is at the top priority list for many employers across Perth.
Further, there is a series of heavy fines for not considering your HR obligations as part of your payroll or outsourced payroll. And we often find that many family-owned businesses across Perth are not using their tax accounting and payroll software to integrate their Right To Work obligations.
So many clients of our firm are actively engaging with us at their Perth tax accountant to understand their Right to Work obligations.
What are my Right to Work Obligations?
As an Australian employer you have an obligation to validate the legal capacity of your employees (including your contractors) to work in your business. And this process is typically done during the recruitment and onboarding of your team by
- Confirming the Australian citizen rights of your new employees; or
- Validating the working rights of your new hires.
Sadly simply not knowing about your obligations, or being ignorant of the law, is not an excuse. Further your employment contract cannot delegate the obligation onto your new employees you are about to employ.
How are My Right to Work Obligations created?
The Department of Homes Affairs has the Migration Amendment (Reform of Employer Sanctions) Act 2013. And this legislation has a provision for “no fault” fins that can apply.
The legislation provides that a business can be fined $15,300 without the need for court appearances. And the employer has the obligation to show that they have taken “reasonable steps” to check the work rights of their team.
How do I check the Australian citizenship of my new employees?
As a family business owner you can satisfy your Right to Work obligations for Australian citizens by requesting to obtain a copy of either:
- Their Australian passport; or
- Australian birth certificate and photo ID; or
- Australian citizenship certificate and photo ID.
Simple ways to satisfy your Right to Work obligations for non-Australia citizens
If your new hire is not an Australian citizen you have some different obligations. You can satisfy your Right to Work Check by:
- Sighting their passport and Immicard; and
- Perform an online Visa Entitement Check using the Home Affairs VEVO service or a commercial provider.
Further you have an obligation to review the employees ongoing Right to Work status throughout their employment.
What about my team from overseas
The Australian law only applies to workers operating in Australia. However, many other countries operate similar legislation. So, engage with an accountant who has the international reach through a network like GGI Global so you can clearly understand not only your international HR obligations but also your international tax obligations.
Simple ways to reduce paperwork for Right to Work Checks
Getting your HR compliance integrated into your cloud accounting software and Single Touch Payroll Software is critical to running a good, streamlined business. This will then lead into payroll tax calculations, super guarantee levy and BAS preparation. The days of using manual onboarding checks that is reliance on a persons individual efforts is long gone given the rising cost of employment.
If you are using a fully integrated payroll solution like KeyPay there are software programs like Vsure that can integrate with KeyPay. And the resultant effect is that KeyPay will then link to Xero, Quickbooks and Employment Hero. And Westcourt is well versed in running the HR compliance obligations of these programs.
As an accounting firm that has the creative energy to start a business, we understand how time consuming and draining your Right To Work and HR compliance can be on a small and middle sized business. And we have worked through the heavy compliance obligations, and we understand how technology stacks through multiple platforms to give you the best streamlined options so that you are not running an army of administrative staff. So given our deep international connections, proven tax excellence and single focus we are the natural choice for a founder-led family business owner looking to simplify and grow – so why not give us a call?
