Monday 6 February 2017 is the Waitangi Day Public Holiday.

If the employee works on any part of a public holiday the employee will be paid time and a half for the actual hours worked. 

If the employee works on a public holiday and that day would be the employee's normal day of work, (i.e. 'an otherwise working day') then in addition to payment for the above at 'time and a half', the employee is entitled to an alternative holiday (which will be paid, when taken, at the employee's relevant daily pay for the day off). 

If the employee does not work on a public holiday and the employee was not due to work that day, (i.e. not an 'otherwise working day') then the employee is not entitled to any payment for that day and is not entitled to an alternative holiday. 

An employer may require an employee to work on a public holiday if the public holiday falls on a day that would 'otherwise be a working day' for that employee and the employee is required to work on the public holiday under his or her employment agreement. 

A change made to tax rules will provide businesses with faster access to GST refunds from February next year, says Revenue Minister Michael Woodhouse.

The Tax Administration (Direct Credit of GST Refunds) Order 2016 will make it compulsory for Inland Revenue to provide GST refunds by direct credit to a taxpayer's identified account, resulting in much faster GST refunds.

"Under the current process, a cheque from Inland Revenue takes an average of 10 days until the funds become available to the taxpayer. Direct credit means the funds will be available to the taxpayer in just two days," Mr Woodhouse says.

"This change is the result of extensive public consultation in November 2015, which sought feedback on how digital technology might be used to provide more streamlined PAYE and GST processes for taxpayers.

"It is just one of a number of changes that will be introduced next year as part of Inland Revenue's modernisation programme to make it easier and faster for New Zealanders to manage their tax affairs."

From 7 February 2017 GST refunds will only be made by cheque if Inland Revenue does not have a customer's bank details or if there are extenuating circumstances, such as hardship.

 

   When did you last review the rent charged to your employees?

 

   The Inland Revenue has recently released a statement regarding the market rental value of employer provided
   accommodation.   In some circumstances the rent   an employer charges their employers for use of their
   accommodation may not be at market rates.

 

It is recommended if you do provide any employees with accommodation, you review the amount every three years and retain confirmation of how the amount was calculated. This can be through a simple search of Trade Me looking at similar properties, or by getting a real estate agent to come through and give you an appraisal.

 

A review of the rent may result in employee remuneration packages changing which can affect their entitlements to working for families, child support and student loan payment.

 

If you think the above may affect your businesses please contact our office.

Acting ACC Minister Nathan Guy today confirmed the ACC levy rates for the 2017/18 and 2018/19 years.

"There will be reductions totalling $126.2 million per annum to work and motor vehicle levies, while the earners' levy will remain unchanged," says Mr Guy.

"These reductions follow over $2 billion of ACC levy cuts made under this Government since 2012.

"The cuts have been made possible by the improved financial management of ACC under our watch, which has seen significant improvement in the funding position of all the levied accounts."

Today's announcement means that:

• the average work levy paid by employers and self-employed people will reduce from 80 cents to 72 cents per $100 of liable earnings, a reduction of 10 per cent
• the average motor vehicle levy, which includes the annual licence levy and petrol levy, will reduce from $130.26 to $113.94, a reduction of 12.5 per cent
• the petrol levy will reduce from 6.9 cents to 6 cents per litre, a reduction of 13 per cent.

"The Government has decided not to implement ACC's recommended four cent increase to the earners' levy, paid by everyone in the paid workforce to cover out-of-work injuries," says Mr Guy.

"This is because the earners' account's current funds are sufficient to meet its liabilities at this point in time.

"Keeping the earners' levy at the current rate for a further two years means it would not be necessary to reset levy collection systems for what would be a very small increase. This decision is consistent with the principles of financial responsibility set out in the Accident Compensation Act 2001, which require ACC's accounts to meet lifetime claims costs whilst avoiding large changes in levies."

Other changes confirmed today include updates to vehicle risk ratings which determine licence levies, based on recent crash data, and a reduction to the annual licence levy for electric vehicles.

"The change to the electric vehicle levy is an interim measure which supports the Government's programme encouraging people to make the switch to electric vehicles, and allows further work to be done on how the ACC levy system accommodates new vehicle technologies," says Mr Guy.

Annual licence levies for motorcycles will remain at current levels, but motorcyclists will benefit from the reduced petrol level. The motorcycle safety levy will also remain unchanged.

Under the new biennial approach to levy setting, levy rates announced today will apply for a two year period, with reduced work levies taking effect from 1 April 2017, and reduced motor vehicle levies from 1 July 2017.

"These cuts are further evidence that the ACC scheme is in good financial health, and well placed to meet the ongoing injury-related needs of New Zealanders," says Mr Guy.

Levy reductions by account

Work Account levies - $69.6 million

Motor Vehicle Account levies - $56.6 million

View Cabinet Paper 2017-18 and 2018-19 ACC Levies here

View Cabinet Minute 2017-18 and 2018-19 ACC Levies here

View Regulatory Impact Statement ACC levies for 2017/18 and 2018/19 here

Public holiday transfer rules

This year Christmas Day and New Year's Day fall on a Sunday and are therefore subject to specific Christmas and New Year public holiday transfer rules.

If the public holiday falls on a Sunday and the day would otherwise be a working day for the employee, the public holiday must be treated as falling on that day.

If the public holiday falls on a Sunday and the day would not otherwise be a working day for the employee, the public holiday must be treated as falling on the following Tuesday.

Employers should consider the impact of the transfer rules and discuss your business requirements with employees well in advance.

Where the public holiday is observed on Sunday the following Tuesday will just be an ordinary day for the employee. If they usually work on Tuesday and you do not require them to work, then annual leave or roster changes may be necessary.

If Sunday IS normally a working day for the employee the public holidays will be:

Christmas Day   = Sunday 25 December 2016 | New Year's Day = Sunday 1 January 2017

If Sunday IS NOT normally a working day for the employee, you will use the Public holiday transfer:

Christmas day = Tuesday 27 December 2016 | New Year's Day = Tuesday 3 January 2017

* An employee will only be entitled to a paid day off on the public holiday if the day would otherwise be a working day for them.

Closedown period

If a public holiday falls during a closedown period, the factors to what would otherwise be a working day must be considered as if the closedown were not in effect.  This means employees may be entitled to paid public holidays during closedown periods.

A public holiday that occurs during an employee's annual holidays is treated as a public holiday and not an annual holiday.

Annual holidays and public holidays

An employee who has an entitlement to annual holidays at the time that their employment ends will be entitled to be paid for a public holiday if the holiday would have otherwise been a working day; and occurred during the employee's annual holidays had they taken their remaining holiday entitlement immediately after the date on which their employment came to an end

Transfer of a public holiday

An employer and an employee can agree in writing to transfer a public holiday to any 24-hour period.

This means with agreement a public holiday may be transferred by a few hours to match shift arrangements or to a completely different day.

In the absence of a written agreement, a public holiday is observed midnight to midnight.

WorkSafe has developed this Fact Sheet to assist employers manage and prevent violence or threats of violence in customer service areas. The Fact Sheet applies to public and private sector businesses and outlines a PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT process to help employers understand the risk, implement control measures, implement worker reporting measures, and review and improve control measures.

 

WorkSafe has developed a new online tool to help businesses get started with managing their workplace health and safety risks. The 'Around the Block' tool is animated and interactive, taking users on a journey through a typical city block.

Thirteen businesses often seen on a city block have been included so far – from cafes and hair salons, to medical centres and petrol stations. Clickable hotspots within each of the interiors identify some of the health and safety risks in that business and provide some information on how to manage them.

Over time, more business types will be added to the block, particularly targeting small and medium sized businesses that make up some 97% of the in New Zealand business landscape.

"Businesses have told us they want to better understand health and safety in their particular business context, so we worked with representative businesses to develop and test the tool. It's designed to support them with training and involving workers in identifying and managing some of their key health and safety risks," said Katherine Low, Manager Education and Engagement Strategy at WorkSafe.

The tool aroundtheblock.worksafe.govt.nz, was built by WorkSafe in collaboration with ACC to help businesses better understand their obligations under the new Health and Safety at Work Act from a risk management perspective.

 

When combined with the forecast earnings per share range for the 2017 financial year of 50 to 60 cents, the total payout available to farmers in the current season is forecast to be $6.50 to $6.60 before retentions. 

Chairman John Wilson says increase reflects improvements in pricing since September, following the gradual rebalancing of global supply and demand.

"We've seen falling production in the major exporting regions, particularly Europe and Australia, and an unprecedented decline in New Zealand milk supply due to wetter than normal spring conditions across most regions. On balance, demand continues to be firm. As a result there has been a steady improvement in global dairy commodity prices and this is reflected in the improved forecast.

"We are very mindful that farm incomes will be affected this year because of lower milk production so we will be doing everything possible to build on our good start to the financial year and deliver the highest possible total payout to our farmers," said Mr Wilson.

Fonterra said its first quarter revenue of $3.8 billion is up six per cent on the same period last year. Sales volumes are up two per cent to 4.9 billion litres liquid milk equivalent (LME), while the gross margin of 22 per cent remains largely unchanged.

 

November 2016

WorkSafe's data from 2015 shows that experienced farmers carrying out routine jobs with vehicles are getting caught out. In 2015, there were 19 fatalities on farms – 16 of those involved vehicles. In over 50% of the incidents, farmers were aged over 55 and driving vehicles on sloping or uneven ground...