Payroll Compliance & Advice

Wage underpayments continue to be a significant issue for businesses across Australia. We specialise in providing payroll compliance, audit, remediation and modelling services for organisations that have complex and challenging payroll issues.

Payroll Compliance Audits

We are regularly engaged to investigate whether employers are paying their employees consistently with the relevant industrial instruments. Our engagements generally focus on whether:

  • employees are being paid the correct rates, allowances, superannuation guarantee and leave entitlements required by the relevant industrial instrument; 
  • employers are retaining appropriate records to comply with the Fair Work Act 2009; 
  • there are any areas for improvement in the payroll control environment, which will assist in preventing or detecting any non-compliance in a timely manner; and
  • there any potential efficiency or rostering improvements that could reduce the employer’s overall wage cost.

We have undertaken compliance audits for some of South Australia’s largest employers and organisations with complex enterprise agreements.  We have experience across all major modern awards.

Wage Remediation

We have been engaged to calculate the backpay that employers owe employees in several contexts, including enforceable undertakings issued by the Fair Work Ombudsman, client-led remediation and commercial settlements arising from litigation. We have undertaken wage remediations in respect of employers operating in the following industries:

  • Health Professionals and Support Services
  • Retail and Hospitality
  • Education
  • Social, Community, Home Care and Disability
  • Fitness
  • Child Care
  • Construction

Our remediation calculations generally relate to a six-year period and can include thousands of current and terminated employees.

Scenario Modelling & Advice

Employers in the process of negotiating enterprise bargaining often seek our advice to understand the cost of proposed changes to existing agreements. In these circumstances, we model the financial impact of the proposed changes to assist the employer in their decision-making process.