Australian Accounting and Bookkeeping

Section 4 Handle Payroll Enquiries

Respond to payroll enquiries in accordance with

organisational and legislative requirements
Quite often a person responsible for providing payroll facilities with an
organisation will be approached by employees with enquiries about their
pay. Enquiries can be made face-to-face, by telephone, by mail, or fax.

When handling payroll enquiries, keep in mind the importance of pay

(and related matters) to most people. If there is an issue with pay, they
will want it investigated and remedied as soon as possible.

Many organisations have workplace policies and procedures regarding

handling payroll enquiries and if these are in effect should be followed.

If the workplace does not have policies or procedures for handling

payroll enquiries consider the following:

Confidentiality
Any information divulged must be in accordance with the organisation’s
privacy policy.

This means the person handling the enquiry should be certain of the
enquirer’s identity before divulging information being requested. If
contact is not face-to-face, extra verification might be necessary, or the
person might be asked to come to the payroll office before releasing
confidential information.

Accuracy
Establish what information is being requested. If the request is unclear
or ambiguous seek clarification before providing information.

Authority
It is very important not to exceed the level of authority granted to a
position. If a request exceeds a person’s level of authority they should
refer the enquiry to a person with sufficient authority.

Factual
Any response should be based on fact, not opinion. Most enquiries will
be to clarify things like hours worked, penalty rates, or allowances, or
deductions. Public holidays can often be a source of confusion,
particularly if a public holiday falls on a day when the employee is not
usually rostered to work.

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The award or workplace agreement covering the employee is a valuable

resource when handling enquiries. The award or agreement lays out
employment terms and conditions and eligibility for entitlements.

Enquiries can include discussion about hours worked. The employee

time sheet/s for the period can be cross checked with the pay details.
The employee’s pay slip should contain most of the information needed
to handle routine enquiries.

Dispute resolution
Disputes often arise because of poor communication. If a problem
occurs, time should be taken to talk the issues over and understand the
concerns. If a dispute occurs, detailed records should be kept to avoid
further misunderstanding.

Employers should make sure they have a dispute resolution procedure in

place. The procedure should be simple, quick fair, confidential, and
transparent. Employees should be aware of the dispute resolution process.

If a dispute occurs, the employer should:

• Work towards solving the problem and maintaining a healthy working

relationship
• Determine the best dispute resolution process
• Comply with the chosen procedure quickly and fairly
• Use best efforts to resolve the dispute at the workplace

If this is not possible, the dispute should be referred to an independent

mediator or arbitrator (such as Fair Work Australia) who has the power
to deal with the dispute.

Under Fair Work legislation, if requested an employer must provide the

following documentation to an employee:

• Pay slips
• PAYG summaries
• Time and wages records
• Relevant employer policies and forms

Provide information in accordance with

organisational and legislative requirements
Employee records are private and confidential. Generally they can only
be accessed by the employee or authorised representative of the
employee. If a breach of the Fair Work Act has occurred, or is
suspected, payroll records can be accessed by a Fair Work Inspector or
organisation official such as a union official.

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Under special circumstances other agencies, such as child support, will contact
the employer seeking payroll information about a specific employee.

Child support
If the Australian Government Child Support Agency (CSA) wishes
deductions to be made from an employee as a paying parent, they will
contact the business or organisation to confirm the paying parent is an
employee or subcontractor. The CSA will phone or send a questionnaire
asking the employer to confirm:

• The employee or subcontractor receives payments from the organisation

• The salary, wage, or other payments details
• Pay cycle (how and when payment occurs)
• The business or organisation details

Once the CSA has verified the identity of the paying parent, it will send
a letter to the organisation explaining how much child support to deduct.
The letter will be titled Schedule of Child Support Deductions or
Notice Pursuant to Section 72A, depending on whether the paying
parent is an employee or subcontractor.

Garnishee
Courts under the various jurisdictions can order an employer to deduct
payments from an employee’s wages on behalf of a creditor. The court
order goes under several names including Attachment of Earning Order,
Redirector of Earning, Order for Attachment, Earning Appropriation
Order, or Garnishee; depending on the jurisdiction.

The employer is required to make employment details available to the

court so a garnishee can be issued. For example, in Victoria, the
Magistrates Court can issue a Form 42A subpoena compelling an
employer to divulge the amount an employee is paid, the frequency of
payments, and the ongoing nature of employment. Other jurisdictions
have similar arrangements.

Taxation
Employers provide wages (payroll information) to the ATO when they
complete their Business Activity Statement (BAS). Under different
circumstances, employers are liable for Payroll Tax in various jurisdictions.

Work Cover
If an employee is eligible for benefits arising from a WorkCover claim,
payroll details will need to be provided to the insurer.

Privacy Act
See Australian Privacy Principles.

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Refer enquiries outside area of responsibility or

knowledge to designated persons for resolution
Enquiries may include communication via:

• Email

• Face-to-face

• Fax

• Telephone

Legislative requirements may include:

• Australian Tax Office regulations e.g. Australian Business Number,

Employment Declaration Forms

• Confidentiality and security of records

• Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS)

• Higher Education Loan Progamme (HELP)

• Medicare levy

• PAYE tax

• Payroll tax

Enquiries Procedures
If you are directly involved in the payroll process:

• Understand organisations payroll data process and format to be able to

address these common enquiries.

• Be aware of privacy and confidentiality responsibility when dealing with

human resources issues.

• It is always good management practice to record all enquiries about

payroll matters.

• As discussed earlier, records may need to be produced in formal enquiries.

You can complete and keep records of enquiry in a number of ways:

− Emails – reply to the email, print the response and put it in the
relevant employee’s record.
− Phone calls – write notes while taking the call or immediately
afterwards, so you can write accurate points and if needed confirm the
details of the call in an email to both the caller and your supervisor.
− Personal – write notes and confirm in an email in a similar manner
to phone calls.

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Refer to a designated person/s for resolution:

• Refer Enquiry – refer to correct personnel, supervisor or Human Resource

department for their attention.

• Some enquiries may need to be referred to the ATO.

Follow-up action
Follow up payroll enquiries by referring the matter to a more senior or
qualified person, seeking further relevant documentation or conducting
research based on a similar situation.

Provide additional information or complete

follow-up action within designated timelines
in accordance with organisational policy and
procedures
If a payroll enquiry has been made, either by an employee or other
authorised party, a timely response should be provided.

In some cases, it is not practical for an employer to provide an

immediate answer to an employee’s enquiry. This can occur if the
person authorised to handle an enquiry is not available, or if the enquiry
involves retrieving information from a system.

For example, if a manual payroll and accounting system is used, it might

not be possible to easily extract leave entitlements. This enquiry is best
handled at the end of a wages period. If an enquiry about leave
entitlement has been made, information can be provided for the last
time leave accrued was calculated and an up-to-date answer provided
when the next payroll is processed.

Organisations should have a policy or procedures relating to employee

enquiries. Part of the procedure should relate to the time frame so
enquiries are handled in a timely fashion.

Most of Fair Work Australia’s investigations involve complaints about payroll

(wages) or conditions, mainly regarding remuneration or entitlements.

Issues investigated include:

• Pay
• Leave
• Overtime
• Penalty rates
• Allowances
• Entitlements related to termination

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Employers should be prepared to respond to enquiries about these

matters in a timely fashion to avoid an employee lodging a complaint.

If a complaint has been lodged, Fair Work Australia will conduct an

investigation. The stages in an investigation are:

Assisted voluntary resolution (AVR)

Fair Work Australia assigns an inspector to the complaint who
determines if the matter is suitable for AR.

If the complaint is suited to AVR, the inspector will talk to the party who
made the complaint and the party the complaint is about. The inspector
will try to help both parties resolve the issue and come to a voluntary
resolution.

The AVR has a strict timetable of 30 days from when the complaint is
made. If the issue is unresolved after 30 days, it can be referred to a full
investigation. Complaints about wages and conditions are most suitable
for AVRs.

Full investigation and compliance

A complaint that cannot be resolved through agreed voluntary resolution
is examined to see if there has been a breach of workplace laws. The
inspector will seek evidence to assist I making a determination. Fair Work
Australia can offer formal mediation as method of finding a solution.

If a party has contravened the workplace laws, the inspector can provide
a contravention letter or compliance notice. These include instructions
on how to remedy the issue (if possible).

Enforcement
Enforcement is the most serious stage and happens if the party fails to
remedy a contravention under workplace laws.

There are a number of outcomes or enforcement options:

• Resolution through alternative formal dispute resolution

• Referral to small claims procedures
• Issuing a letter of caution
• Entering into an enforceable undertaking
• Issuing a compliance notice
• Seeking an injunction
• Issuing a penalty infringement notice
• Commencing legal proceedings

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