Capturing the Right Information with New Staff

Making sure you have captured all the right information when starting a new staff member can save a lot of headaches later on and it’s easy to miss those details during the hectic first days and weeks when a new staff member begins.

The process begins before you even hold your first interview. Obviously by this stage you’ll have an idea of what kind of role you will be hiring for but have you written a position description? Having a well thought out position description can be helpful through out the entire process. Firstly it will help you define exactly what the responsibilities will be for that role so you have a good understanding of what to expect and what kind of applicant might be suitable. It can then be used to help you put together a thorough advertisement that will inform new applicants exactly what the position is about. If the new employee will be working under an award it can help you select the most appropriate minimum pay level by comparing it to the award classifications. The position description should then be provided to the employee as part of their employment agreement. Later on it can also be used as part of annual reviews as responsibilities may change or you want to gauge performance against their duties.

The next thing to consider is the employee agreement. You won’t be able to have this completed before hiring but you should have it mostly complete with the exception of some specific details. The employee agreement works hand in hand with the position description to give the employee a really good understanding of the expectations within the work environment and their role. The agreement should stipulate the employees details, their start date, the terms of their employment, remuneration and finally it might also lay out additional obligations like confidentiality.

Starting a new job is stressful for most people so the first day is a good time to go through paperwork and gathering all of the required information rather than trying to go through job integral tasks.

As part of your welcome pack you should make sure you are getting the following information:

• Employee Details – including legal name and address which is required for proper display on pay slips and end of payroll year reporting. Additionally you will want contact details such as a home or mobile number and a personal email address can also be helpful.
• Tax Declaration Form – this is important for the preparation of pays and the calculation of tax withholding.
• Bank Account Details – so you know where to transfer funds to, your system may also allow employees to have their pays made to multiple accounts.
• Superannuation Fund Details – as there are regulated dates superannuation needs to be paid by you should get this information as soon as possible.
• Emergency Contact Details – in case there is an issue you have other contacts you can call.

Depending on your work scenario there is other optional information that could be helpful:

• Uniform Sizes – if your work provides these
• Availability – for part time or casual employees

You might put together a hard copy pack of forms to capture the above information or you might be able to capture it online.

Our payroll system we use with our clients allows you to send out an email with a link to new employees so they can fill in all of this information online, straight into the payroll system. This reduces the chance of information being mistyped and saves you time as the employee puts their details straight into the payroll system. Once the employee has entered their information into the payroll system you can then double check everything and submit their tax declaration straight to the ATO online.

If you would like to find out more about how to capture the right information with your staff contact us today so we can help simplify your payroll process while you take care of business.