Payroll Compliance: Fitness Industry

Cloud-based payroll software for a simplified and automated approach to compliance in the fitness industry.

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The Importance of Modern Award Compliance

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Modern awards are legally binding documents that outline the terms and conditions of employment for workers in a specific industry or occupation.

Awards cover issues such as wages, hours of work, leave entitlements, and other conditions of employment. In addition to serving as a compliance tool for employers, modern awards also provide workers with a clear understanding of their rights and responsibilities.

Awards are regularly reviewed and updated to ensure that they remain relevant and responsive to the needs of workers and employers. As such, they play an essential role in ensuring that all workers in Australia are treated fairly and have access to safe and equitable working conditions.

If you fail to comply with your industry’s modern award, as laid out by the Fair Work Act 2009 – such as incorrectly paying wages or specific penalty rates and entitlements – you will be in breach of workplace laws and could face heavy fines.
On top of this risk, if you continue to contravene your obligations in terms of the Fitness Industry Award, you may face severe consequences for your business, including potentially having to pay back any lost wages and rates to the employee(s). For most organisations, this can be seriously detrimental, with additional penalties often ranging from:

  • Fines of up to $12,600 as an individual for each breach
  • Fines of up to $63,000 as a company for each breach.

Biggest Pitfalls in the Fitness Industry

The fitness industry is a thriving sector of the Australian economy, employing hundreds of thousands of people across the country. In order to ensure that workers in this industry are fairly compensated for their work, the Fair Work Commission has created a modern award specifically for fitness workers.
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This award covers employees such as gym instructors, personal trainers, and group fitness instructors. The award sets out minimum wages and conditions for these workers, including entitlements to annual leave and personal/carer’s leave. It also includes provisions for overtime rates and penalties, and allowances for shiftwork.

However, while you can review the Fitness Industry Award on the Fair Work website, the document is often filled with complicated legal jargon, making it challenging to understand whether or not your fitness business is meeting all the compliance requirements.
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For example, did you know that an employee is entitled to a minimum 10-hour break between shifts?

Where an employee works overtime and their next rostered working day is less than 10 hours after they finish working the overtime, then the employer must either:

  • delay the start time of their next rostered working day to allow a 10 hours break;
  • or pay the employee 200% of the minimum hourly rate until the employee has a break of at least 10 hours.

If you don’t adhere to this condition, you could face several penalties.

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Another big pitfall for employers in the fitness industry is the award allowances.

In the Fitness Award, employees are eligible for specific allowances based on their skills or tasks. The allowances also apply when employees use their own tools or work in unpleasant or dangerous conditions.

For example, if an employee is required to supervise or is placed in charge of other employees, they must be paid an allowance, irrespective of their classification under the relevant award.
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It is common for employers to think that they can add a chunk of money to their employees’ salaries. But that’s not how it works. You have to pay them according to each and every allowance relevant to their line of work. And if you don’t, you could face some pretty hefty penalties.

Unfortunately, there’s not much guidance from the Fair Work Commission regarding staying compliant with all its regulations.

So, what is the solution? Cloud payroll software and automated time and attendance software.

There are over 100 modern awards that cover a wide range of industries and occupations. complying with these awards can be a complex and time-consuming task for businesses. Fortunately, cloud payroll systems can help to streamline the award compliance process.
By automating the calculation of award rates and entitlements, cloud payroll systems can take the guesswork out of compliance. In addition, cloud payroll systems can provide real-time visibility of an employee’s entitlements, making it easier to manage staff across different awards.

As a result, cloud payroll systems offer a simple and effective solution for modern award compliance
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Employment Hero Payroll

Employment Hero Payroll’s cloud software automatically applies modern award or enterprise agreement rules to ensure your business remains compliant year-round. 

Beyond that, you can automate your entire payroll process from importing timesheet data, gross to net reporting and leave accruals for all scenarios to super calculations and ATO reporting.

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NoahFace Time &
Attendance Software

NoahFace offers an app-based time and attendance software called NoahFace Go which automates scheduling, time tracking and attendance records for site workers. 

In addition, the timekeeping records will automatically integrate with your Employment Hero Payroll cloud software. 

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Employment Hero HR

Go paperless and automate the employee onboarding process with Employment Hero’s employee HR software - an end-to-end people management platform that covers every aspect of the employee lifecycle.

By incorporating everything you need to recruit, onboard, roster, and manage your aged care team, Employment Hero increases efficiency and drives productivity across every aspect of your workforce.

How Pay Cat Can Help

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As a business owner, you have enough to worry about without also having to keep track of HR and payroll management. Pay Cat can take that burden off your shoulders by providing an all-in-one system that streamlines the entire process.

Forget about rocky payroll periods and managing multiple software programs. Instead, you can focus on what you’re good at: running your business.
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Never get it wrong. No back pay calculations. No inefficient manual interpretation. No data re-entry.

Ensure that you remain compliant with relevant regulations, awards, and employee entitlements with the help of our implementation experts. Maintain the safety of your business by hiring a team that knows how standards differ between sectors.

If you’re interested in moving from a manual payroll system to an automated cloud payroll system, get in touch with us today for a free demo.
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Know Where You Stand 

Not sure what category your business falls into or what awards your employees come under? 

Download our free eBooks to see how relevant modern awards could impact your business. Best of all, these guides are entirely jargon-free so that you can understand your rights and obligations in plain English.