EOFY is upon us, and federal and state governments and the FWC have recently announced changes that may impact your HR and payroll.
Queensland Ekka public holiday date change
This Year’s Ekka Show Holiday in Queensland will move to create a one-off long weekend. For this year only, People’s Day will become the People’s Long Weekend moving from Wednesday August 12 to Friday August 14.
Industrial Relations Minister Grace said the same changes to show holidays could apply to other local government regions, if councils were wanting to make that shift. Check your individual local government updates for other regional changes.
No change to PAYG withholding tax tables
Due to the economic impact of COVID-19, the Federal Budget has been delayed until October 2020, so there are currently no changes to tax rates or income thresholds for 2020–21 income year. The ATO will only be updating Schedule 8 – Statement of formulas for calculating study and training support loans (STSL) components (NAT 3539) and tax tables due to the annual indexing of the repayment income thresholds. The updated schedule and tax tables have been published and are available on aurion.com. The other Statement of formulas (NAT 1004) and regular tax tables that applied from 1 July 2018 will continue to apply in the 2020/21 income year. 2020/2021 ATO Tax Rates file is now available on the EOFY Client Resources webpage.
Annual Wage Review
The Fair Work Commission has announced a 1.75% increase to minimum wages. This will apply to all award wages. For anyone not covered by an award or an agreement, the new national minimum wage will be $753.80 per week or $19.84 per hour. This applies from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2020.
The increase to awards will happen in 3 groups:
- Group 1 Awards – from 1 July 2020: Frontline Heath Care & Social Assistance Workers; Teachers and Child Care; Other Essential Services.
- Group 2 Awards – from 1 November 2020: Construction; Manufacturing; A range of other industries.
- Group 3 Awards – from 1 February 2021: Accommodation and Food Services; Arts and Recreation Services; Aviation; Retail; Tourism.
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