LEAD STORIES
AHA(WA) Christmas Office Closure Trading Hours - Christmas/New Years AHA Penalty Rates survey and campaign for the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2010– Have you completed this survey – if not, why not? Take care around kegs during hectic festive season
GENERAL NEWS
AHA Christmas Reception Accessibility of EFTPOS machines 2015 Western Australian of the Year Awards - Nominations Open Do you have a Unique Student Identifier (USI)? ATO urges employers to get SuperStream ready quickly Limited Offer for AHA(WA) Members
WORKPLACE RELATIONS
Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2010– variations to the award relating to Meal Breaks and Junior Employees. Public Holiday memo Cairns tour operator faces court for alleged underpayment of backpackers Workers across regional WA back-paid $86,000
LEAD STORIES
AHA(WA) Christmas Office Closure The Australian Hotels Association (WA) office will be closed from Thursday 25 December 2014 and will reopen on Monday 5 January 2015.
During this time, our website ahawa.asn.au will provide answers to many questions regarding membership, liquor licensing, workplace relations, training and much more.
For urgent matters, you can call Bruce Strickland on 0437 517 415.
For urgent Workplace Relations issues, call Dalton Ryan on 0403 803 775.
Trading Hours - Christmas/New Years
For further information regarding Christmas and New Year trading please contact Wanda Daniels, Regulatory and Policy Adviser on 9321 7701 or [email protected]
AHA Penalty Rates survey and campaign for the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2010 - Have you completed this survey - if not, why not? AHA(WA) sent an email to all constitutional corporation members on 4th December 2014 seeking members assistance to complete the penalty rate survey.
The Australian Hotels Association (AHA) is investing heavily in a major national campaign to reform penalty rates that add cost and hurt hospitality businesses.
To protect our industry's future and your business' viability we need your input to complete the anonymous Survey on Penalty Rates.
Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) is undertaking the survey to gather information about employment and employment options on Sundays and Public Holidays, with regard to the Penalty Rates under the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2010. The results of this survey will be used to prepare analysis to be presented to the Fair Work Commission in its upcoming review of the HIGA.
This short survey is anonymous. It has three sections: 1) About this business; 2) Sunday trading and employment; and 3) Public Holiday trading and employment.
Please complete the survey at: http://pwc.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_0Ogo0sNuBqHdvPD.
If you have any further enquiries, please contact Ron Ballucci or Dalton Ryan.
Take care around kegs during hectic festive season
As the festive season gets underway, hotel and club employers and workers are being reminded to take care when using beer keg delivery systems and to closely follow manufacturers’ instructions.
Acting General Manager of WorkCover NSW Work Health and Safety Division Jodie Deakes said the Christmas and New Year periods were two of the busiest on the hospitality calendar.
“With so much activity happening in these workplaces, it can be all too easy to take shortcuts and overlook manufacturer warnings, inadvertently putting staff at risk of serious injury,” Ms Deakes said.
“People using beer keg delivery systems need to be appropriately trained, instructed and, in particular, supervised in operating procedures, to prevent over-pressurising.”
A tragic incident in October left a 23-year old man with severe injuries when a gas-pressurised beer keg ruptured at a club in the Newcastle region.
Ms Deakes said it was equally important to ensure the equipment is regularly inspected and maintained to prevent any faults, malfunctioning or damage.
“Beer keg delivery systems involving the use of carbon dioxide (C02) or beer gas cylinders must have a regulator fitted to the cylinder, to limit the supplied pressure,” she said.
“There also needs to be a pressure relief valve fitted between the cylinder and the keg, to release the pressure in case of regulator failure. The pressure relief valve is usually incorporated into the regulator assembly, the keg tap, or both.
“Safety is everyone’s responsibility in the workplace – it’s a team effort. Everyone needs to be involved in workplace safety measures.
“At the end of the day we want everyone to work safely so they can return home safely.”
Ms Deakes said private individuals who were hiring portable beer keg systems (party kegs) should also closely follow manufacturer instructionswhen using the equipment to avoid risk of injury.
WorkCover NSW has collaborated with the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) on the development of safety guidelines for cleaning beer lines and working around cellar trapdoors, which are available on the Workcover website and the AHA’s website at aha.org.au
GENERAL NEWS
AHA(WA) Christmas Reception The AHA(WA) Christmas Reception on Monday 8 December attracted over 400 guests at Matisse Beach Club.
Set amongst a backdrop of sweeping ocean views, bright colours and merfolk; AHA members, politicians, suppliers and media representatives gathered to meet, mingle and reflect on the year that was.
Deputy Premier and newly appointed Minister for Tourism, the Hon Dr Kim Hames MLA, Minister for Police, the Hon Liza Harvey MLA, WA Attorney-General, the Hon Michael Mischin MLC, Federal Minister for Justice, the Hon Michael Keenan MP, Shadow Treasurer, Ben Wyatt MLA and Member for Perth, the Hon Alannah MacTiernan MP were amongst those attending. AHA(WA) CEO, Bradley Woods, said this time of year always delivers the perfect opportunity for people from all areas of the industry to come together and celebrate the year’s achievements and to focus on the year ahead.
He reflected on a busy year for the AHA and its members with key achievements including the Government’s introduction of Sunday trading until midnight, red tape reduction and protecting the industry from public health and WA police anti-alcohol agendas.
In addition to thanking members of the AHA State Executive and Board, Mr Woods announced the retirement of Tricia Clark, his Executive Assistant of over 17 years and thanked her for her dedicated and loyal service to the AHA.
The AHA(WA) would like to thank its members for their support throughout 2014 and looks forward to a successful 2015.
You can see all of the photos from the night here.
Accessibility of EFTPOS machines
People with vision impairment experience difficulty when paying for goods or services using some EFTPOS machines. This difficulty occurs when machines do not have a raised “pip” on the number 5 key. This pip and other features assist many customers with vision impairment to navigate the key pad to [pay for their purchases.
The Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act 1992makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person on the basis of a disability and enables complaints to be lodges at the Australian Human Rights Commission. EFTPOS machines that are not accessible, as described above, could potentially be viewed as discriminatory.
The Australian Bankers’ Association has developed an Industry Standard “Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale” which can assist businesses to understand what is required of EFTPOS machines and to demonstrate consistency with the Disability Discrimination Act.
The AHA reminds its members that people with vision impairment may experience difficulties when using EFTPOS machines and suggests they access the freely available Australia Banker’s Association industry standard at www.bankers.asn.au
Businesses may also wish to confirm with suppliers of their EFTPOS machine/s that any existing and new machines comply with the Disability Discrimination Act requirements and make it easier for their customers to pay for their goods or services.
2015 Western Australian of the Year Awards - Nominations Open
Nominations are now open for the 2015 Western Australian of the Year Awards.
The Awards recognise the highest level of contribution made to Western Australian by those born and bred in Western Australia, or those who have chosen to make Western Australia their home.
We encourage you to participate in recognising outstanding Western Australians by nominating an exceptional person in one of the seven Western Australian of the Year Award categories.
Nominations for these prestigious Awards will be accepted until 5pm WST, Friday 27 March 2015. Nominations can be submitted online by clicking here.
The Award Categories
Aboriginal Award
Recognises excellence in professional and/or personal achievements and contributions to the Western Australian community and recognition as an inspirational role model for the Aboriginal community.
Arts & Culture Award
Recognises excellence in achievement and/or significant contribution to the development, promotion and profiling of Arts & Culture disciplines in Western Australia.
Business Award
Recognises excellence in business leadership, social entrepreneurship or innovation resulting in major social or economic impact for the betterment of Western Australian industry and economy.
Community Award
Recognises excellence in commitment to – and contribution towards – improving the quality of lives in the Western Australian community.
Professions Award
Recognises excellence resulting in major social, scientific or economic impact at a state, national or international level.
Sport Award
Recognises excellence in achievement, development, administration or promotion of sport in the Western Australian community.
Youth Award
Recognises excellence in commitment to citizenship, mentoring, leadership and artistic pursuits resulting in a positive impact on the lives of others at a state, national or international level.
Do you have a Unique Student Identifier (USI)?
From January 1st 2015, anyone who completes nationally recognised training in Australia, will be required to have a Unique Student Identifier (USI).
A Unique Student Identifier (USI) is a reference number made up of numbers and letters that gives students access to their USI account. All your studies undertaken after January 1st 2015 will be recorded against your USI.
When applying for a job or enrolling in further study, you will need to provide your training records and results (transcript). One of the main benefits of the USI is the ability to provide students with easy access to their training records and results (transcript). The USI will be available online and at no cost to the student.
This USI will stay with you for life and be recorded with any nationally recognised VET course that is undertaken. You can create your USI now by visiting www.usi.gov.au
What this means for you? If you are completing the AHA’s nationally recognised Responsible Service of Alcohol course you will need to either:
Provide your existing USI if you have one already; or The AHA can apply for one on your behalf, this process will be integrated into the normal AHA online training registration process.
Certificates cannot be issued without a student USI number.
For further information regarding the new USI implementation, please contact the AHA Training Department on 9321 7701 or email [email protected]
ATO urges employers to get SuperStream ready quickly
The Australian Taxation Office is reminding all large and medium-sized employers that the window for preparing for SuperStream is closing fast and that they shouldn’t wait until the end of the financial year to get ready.
All employers with 20 or more employees need to comply with SuperStream by 30 June 2015, but Philip Hind, ATO’s National Program Manager, Data Standards & E-Commerce (SuperStream) is warning employers not to leave it too late.
SuperStream was part of the Government’s Super Reform package. It aims to provide a consistent, reliable electronic method of transacting linked data and payments for superannuation. The goal is to improve the efficiency of the superannuation system, to improve the timeliness of processing of rollovers and contributions, and reduce the number of lost accounts and unclaimed monies.
From 1 July 2013, APRA regulated super funds like HOSTPLUS have used the SuperStream standard for receiving and sending rollovers electronically. Since 1 January 2014, HOSTPLUS has worked with employers to transition towards being contributions ready in the new standard.
Employers have options for meeting SuperStream – either using software that conforms to SuperStream; or using a service provider who can meet SuperStream on your behalf such as HOSTPLUS via QuickSuper, their secure online clearing house service, provided to simplify managing your super. QuickSuper is a secure online payment service that allows you to pay multiple contributions at once. It is compliant with the Australian Tax Office’s (ATO) new Data and Payment standard for electronic contributions.
“Don’t wait until the end of the financial year to get ready,” Hind said.
“We recommend employers start using SuperStream one to two payment cycles before the deadline to allow them to become comfortable using the new standard before it becomes compulsory on 30 June 2015.
“For employers who pay quarterly, there are only two payment dates before 30 June 2015, so we strongly urge these employers to ensure they have a SuperStream solution in place as soon as possible.”
The ATO has been working with the superannuation industry to certify SuperStream solution providers through an induction process. Around 30,000 SuperStream-compliant contributions are being processed each week through the induction, and the ATO has reported good news for employers. According to Hind, “Early signs of SuperStream success include more automated processing of contributions all the way to member accounts and faster reconciliation and allocation of money”.
“Employers are reporting a more streamlined super experience, once they get over the initial hump of preparing for SuperStream.”
Once using SuperStream, employers will send super contributions electronically in a standard format, with linked data and payments. It provides a simpler, consistent method of preparing contributions, and in many cases, a single channel for interacting with multiple funds.
“Employers can expect that payment processing costs will be reduced by removing cheques and unnecessary variation in payment methods between funds,” said Mr Hind. Any employer who has not yet started to prepare for SuperStream should act now. The ATO has provided a step-by-step checklist to help employers prepare, atwww.ato.gov.au/SuperStreamChecklist.
Limited Offer for AHA(WA) Members Corporate head shots for your business, LinkedIn or other social media.
Photographer Robbie Merritt would love to shoot you and up to 3 other staff members for just $600 (includes booking fee normally $1,200 per person) and additional staff for just $100 each. Click here for more information.
Contact [email protected] or phone 0498506840
WORKPLACE RELATIONS
Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2010 - variations to the award relating to Meal Breaks and Junior Employees Members were notified of specific changes by email of 7th December 2014 pertaining to meal breaks and junior employees by Workplace Relations Alert No.11 of 2014.
A copy of this is on the AHA(WA) website or contact Ron Ballucci or Dalton Ryan at [email protected]
Public Holiday Memo
A copy of this is on the AHA(WA) website or contact Ron Ballucci or Dalton Ryan at [email protected]
Cairns tour operator faces court for alleged underpayment of backpackers
A Cairns tour operator accused of underpaying five overseas backpackers tens of thousands of dollars allegedly told Fair Work inspectors investigating the matter that “you will not get a cent”. Businessman Leigh Alan Jorgensen also claimed that he never employed the backpackers, according to the Fair Work Ombudsman.
The Fair Work Ombudsman today announced it had commenced legal action against Mr Jorgensen and his company, which trades as Trek North Tours.
It is alleged that the backpackers, aged between 23 and 32, were underpaid a total of almost $30,000 when they worked for Trek North Tours between August last year and April this year.
The five were in Australia on 417 working holiday visas from Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Italy and Taiwan.
They worked as tour desk agents at three Trek North Tours centres in Cairns – two on The Esplanade and one on Lake Street – for periods of up to four months.
After the employees lodged complaints with the Fair Work Ombudsman earlier this year, inspectors allegedly found they had been paid flat hourly rates of between $10 and $16.37 an hour.
In some cases, they were allegedly not paid anything at all for some work performed.
Under the General Retail Industry Award, they should have been paid at least $17.98 for normal hours and up to $39.56 an hour for shifts that attracted penalty rates.
Mr Jorgensen also allegedly refused to return a $500 bond to one worker after she resigned.
Further, the Fair Work Ombudsman claims Mr Jorgensen and his company failed to comply with three Compliance Notices requiring him to back-pay the workers and a Notice to Produce documents.
Under the Fair Work Act, employers must comply with Notices issued by Fair Work inspectors unless they have a reasonable excuse or make a Court application to challenge the Notice.
Mr Jorgensen allegedly refused to cooperate with the Fair Work Ombudsman’s investigation, telling inspectors “you will not get a cent” and claiming he never employed the allegedly underpaid workers.
Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James says inspectors made extensive efforts to try to resolve the matter without going to court, but were unable to secure sufficient co-operation.
“We were left with no option but to commence this legal action to recover the money allegedly owing to these workers,” Ms James said.
The Fair Work Ombudsman is seeking a Court Order for the workers to be back-paid as well as penalties.
Mr Jorgensen faces maximum penalties of up to $5100 per contravention and his company faces maximum penalties of up to $25,500 per contravention.
Ms James says the Fair Work Ombudsman places a high priority on protecting the workplace rights of overseas workers, who can be vulnerable if they are not fully aware of their rights or are reluctant to complain.
Source: Fair Work Ombudsman Website.
Workers across regional WA back-paid $86,000 Dozens of underpaid workers throughout regional Western Australia have been back-paid more than $86,000 following recent intervention by the Fair Work Ombudsman.
In all cases, the underpayments were the result of a lack of awareness among employers of their workplace obligations.
At Bunbury, 45 workers at a cleaning business were back-paid a total of $23,800 – an average $529 each – after being underpaid their penalty rates for early morning and afternoon shifts.
The cleaners were short-changed about $2 an hour as a result of being paid flat hourly rates which were not sufficient to meet their shift loading entitlements.
Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James says the employer co-operated fully with Fair Work inspectors and promptly reimbursed the employees their outstanding entitlements.
“When we find employers who have made mistakes, our preference is to educate them about their obligations and work with the business to resolve the issues without using formal enforcement mechanisms,” she said.
“This is an example of our fair, reasonable and proportionate response to employers who admit their mistakes, fix them immediately and put systems in place to ensure the errors are not repeated in future.”
The underpayments came to the Fair Work Ombudsman’s attention during a pro-active education and compliance campaign involving audits of up to 1000 cleaning businesses nationally, including up to 40 in Western Australia.
The full results of this campaign will be released publicly once they are finalised.
Ms James says the underpayments should serve to remind all regional WA employers about how important it is for them to take the time to ensure they are aware of the minimum pay rates applicable to their staff.
Other recent recoveries include:
$14,900 for 40 current and former employees of a Carnarvon business underpaid their casual hourly rates and weekend penalty rates over a 12-month period in 2012-2013, $12,700 for a cleaner at a business in the Mid-West not paid her redundancy entitlements on termination of employment last year, $11,900 for three workers at a Geraldton engineering business who also failed to receive their redundancy entitlements on termination last year, $6900 for 15 cleaners at a Carnarvon business underpaid their overtime rates and broken shift allowances in 2012-2013, $5700 for an electrician at Broome not paid his annual leave entitlements on termination of employment last year, $5500 for three shop assistants at a Donnybrook retail business underpaid their minimum hourly rates and weekend penalty rates earlier this year, and $5200 in unpaid wages for a labourer at Newman who was unlawfully stood down without pay last year.
The employees were reimbursed all money owed without the need for further action after Fair Work inspectors contacted the businesses and explained their obligations.
Inspectors also assisted employers to put processes in place to ensure they comply with workplace laws in the future.
Source: Fair Work Ombudsman Website.