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Does your employer use PaySauce?
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Quiz
Don’t be fooled on 1st April
On 1 April, a handful of legislative changes take effect which will impact your payroll.
Reckon you know what’s coming?
Well hop into our quiz to check, and help out our mate Steve...
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Steve, who employs workers on a farm in Taranaki, is aware that the financial tax year ends on the 31st of March. He doesn't want to leave it till the last minute. So he blocks out some time during the day to go through his employees' contracts.
The first thing that comes to his mind - What will my workers be paid from the 1st April if they are on the minimum wage?
What’s the new minimum wage rate for adults Steve needs to pay from 1 April 2023?
If Steve has an accountant or a payroll software provider, he would confirm with them that all his systems have that recorded too. Be a good boss. Be like Steve.
Here’s more information on employment.govt’s website on all things minimum wage
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While going through his employee’s contracts, Steve remembers that one of his workers suffered a workplace injury. When stress levels are high, things happen.
The employer's responsibility is to have accurate records at hand when approaching ACC to schedule payments. This helps avoid any delay.
Steve decides to look up the new ACC earner premium that will be deducted from his employee’s gross wages - What new rate does he find?
The levies you pay are separate from general tax. They're used to cover the cost of injuries caused by an accident and to help protect your most important asset – you and your people.
An employee is covered by ACC as soon you start your business or start working for yourself. Everyone who earns a salary in New Zealand pays the Earners' levy.
If you’re self-employed, a shareholder-employee or a contractor you’ll pay three different levies:
Earners’ levy
Work levy
Working Safer levy
Click here for more information from ACC
Top Tip: Remember to update all employee net pay automatic payments after the 1st April. All net payments are updated if you are a PaySauce customer!
Want to estimate your levy on the type of industry and who you are? ACC has a super cool tool just for that
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It’s quite common that university students on their break come knocking on farm doors for seasonal work. This is not new to Steve, as he was a student too. Back in the day...
They will have to make student loan repayments when they earn more than the repayment threshold.
What’s the new repayment threshold for a weekly pay?
According to IRD’s website, the repayment threshold is broken down into the following pay period thresholds.
$439 if you're paid weekly.
$878 if you're paid fortnightly.
$1,756 if you're paid every 4 weeks.
$1,902.33 if you're paid monthly.
Here’s more information here on the student loan repayment threshold
Top Tip: Remember to update all AP’s of employees with Student Loan deductions after the 1st April.
Check your payroll software or check the calculations through a PAYE Calculator on IRD’s website (will be updated late March/early April) and update the filing period to 31 March 2024.
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While Steve doesn’t give financial advice, he reckons it's smart to contribute to Kiwisaver.
Even the minimum 3% contribution helps go a long way over the years.
Is Steve required, at the first pay run of the new financial year, to review each employee’s Kiwisaver ESCT rate?
Employer superannuation contribution tax, also known as ESCT is the tax deducted from contributions you make to employees' superannuation accounts, including KiwiSaver. If you’re a PaySauce customer the auto-calculate setting will always select the rate each pay, based on the employee’s earnings.
Follow these steps to ensure you’re paying the correct rateof
Steve tries to reward his employees and is aware of the stress they’re under and the rising cost of living. Although he is not required to pay his employees anything more than minimum wage, he does. Because he can afford it and is a good boss.
If you’re paying a living wage, this should be easy for you.
What’s the current living wage per hour?
A living wage is the income that should provide employees and their families with the basic necessities of life, enabling them to live with dignity and to participate as active citizens in society. It was last updated back in September, 2022.
Click here for more information