8 votes

'They're madly checking their payrolls': The ugly truth of Australia's underpayment epidemic

2 comments

  1. [2]
    ibis
    Link
    Employers claim the system is too complex, but others say the problem is the rewards of ripping off staff outweigh the risks

    Employers claim the system is too complex, but others say the problem is the rewards of ripping off staff outweigh the risks

    1 vote
    1. MimicSquid
      Link Parent
      As someone who regularly helps small business owners try to handle payroll (admittedly, in the US rather than Australia) the systems often are very complex. Money going to multiple different...

      As someone who regularly helps small business owners try to handle payroll (admittedly, in the US rather than Australia) the systems often are very complex. Money going to multiple different locations from each payroll to cover different taxes, benefits each going to different places, tracking paid time off and vacation balances, other withholdings from employee's pay... If you're not a professional, you're going to mess this stuff up repeatedly. I always recommend that the owner use a payroll company to remit the pay and taxes for them, making the whole thing a lot more straightforward, because it's truly outside the realm of what someone could do flawlessly, repeatedly, while handling the rest of running a business.

      Now, does this mean that the employers are in the right? Absolutely not. They could have gotten the assistance and paid for the staff to do it properly. Cheap? No. The right thing to do? Absolutely.

      3 votes