Author: Adam_Admin

Do you have insurance with your super?

Posted on by Adam_Admin

Most super funds offer insurance as part of their super plan. It is important to be aware of what types of insurance you are covered by through your super fund to help you determine if you need extra cover outside your super and if you have adequate support in the event that you cannot work. There are three types of insurance that can be available through super funds:

Life insurance (also known as death cover):
This is the most common of all personal super insurances and is part of the benefits your beneficiaries will receive when you die. Life insurance is typically applied to your super account by default. It is not compulsory with your super, however, if you have a self-managed super fund (SMSF), then you are required to consider insurance as part of your investment strategy.

Total and permanent disability (TPD) cover:
This insurance pays a lump sum if you become permanently disabled and are unable to work again, protecting you against the risk that your retirement income is cut unexpectedly short. TPD cover is often automatically joined with life insurance as a default cover.

Income protection (IP) cover:
This pays you an income stream for a period of time that you are not able to work due to temporary disability or illness. It is only available as a default cover in about one-third of super funds. It may be particularly useful if you are self-employed or have debts.

From 1 April 2020, you will not be given insurance through your super fund if you are a new member under the age of 25 unless you specifically request insurance and they accept, or if you work in a dangerous job.

You can check what insurance you have with your super fund on your annual super statement, your online super account or by contacting them. Through these you can see the type and amount of cover you have, and how much you are paying for it.

Creating a successful work team

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If you’ve never had a bad teamwork experience, then you’re often considered to be very lucky. Creating a successful team at work can be challenging as it forces people with a range of opinions, values, work styles, work goals and past experience to work together in proximity. To help build a successful team, certain measures can be considered:

Choose the right people:
Taking the time to deliberate and choose a group of people with the right skill set for the project can increase the team’s chances of success. Having the right amount of people doing a particular job in the team can help prevent there from being too many workers in one area with other areas failing to be completed. Choosing a diverse team can also provide a broader perspective on the project and allow for growth.

Encourage team-building exercises:
Allowing the team to spend time together before undertaking a collective project can be a good way for them to get to know each other without the pressures of work. This can strengthen relations and make it easier for team members to ask each other questions, ask for help and offer their opinion when the work begins. Having team-building exercises can also help identify who is suited for what role and who works well together.

Have a clear purpose:
Make sure that your team is all on the same page about their purpose and the short-term and long-term goals they should be working towards. It is helpful when these goals are specific and measurable to avoid arguments of what the team is working towards.

Outline performance expectations:
If the team is unsure of what is expected of them, they may get off track or not meet work standards. Outlining deadlines, work quality and work hours can help the team perform effectively. This can also prevent arguments and criticism about each others work performance.

Reward good teamwork:
If the team excels in an area of work, it can be motivating to show your recognition of their achievements. This can be as simple as verbally congratulating the team on their work, or can be more formal, such as a workplace announcement or a spot in the company’s internal newsletter.

Ongoing checkups:
While teams may feel uncomfortable with being micro-managed and feeling like they are under constant surveillance, having simple evaluations throughout the project can be helpful. The results from evaluations can show you if your team is on track as well as if there are any problems that may be arising. This can help the team be motivated to succeed and help you identify and resolve problems early.

Building customer relationships on social media

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With the overflow of businesses posting high-quality content on social media every day, it can be a challenge to make yourself stand out and keep people’s loyalty. One way to increase consumer appreciation and attract returning customers is to work on developing relationships on social media.

Create good captions:
Having a caption that only consists of hashtags, is hard to understand, is irrelevant, or doesn’t resonate with your target audience can potentially reduce the amount people care and the legitimacy of your business. When writing a caption, make sure that is relevant to the social media platform you are using, your audience and your brand. When using multiple hashtags, putting them below your caption can prevent it from being distracting and messy.

Respond to comments:
Taking the time to read and respond to comments can be a great way to build relationships with your customers. People are more likely to remember your business if you respond to them, as they often don’t expect a response. Replying to comments can show customers that you care and are listening to them. This practice can also help you understand what your customers like and don’t like and improve your business and social media accordingly.

Personalise conversations:
Many businesses use bots to automate conversations, whether it’s on social media, phone answering machines or online messaging services. You can stand out from these businesses by communicating with your audience in a way that seems more personal and human. Some ways you can achieve this is by:

  • Addressing customers by their first name if it is supplied on their profile.
  • Always responding to comments in a polite and friendly manner, even if they are complaining or being rude.
  • Using appropriate language – depending on your business branding, you don’t always have to be formal and robotic. You can show the audience that you relate to them and understand them by using language that they are comfortable with. Think about how your target audience typically communicates.

Use content from your audience:
Hashtags and profile tags are a great way to see how your customers are engaging with your business. If a customer posts something about them enjoying your products/services, consider reposting it. This demonstrates that you value their opinion and appreciate their support. As well as this, potential customers are more likely to try your products/services if they see that another customer is benefitting from it, as this can be seen as more trustworthy than advertisements straight from the business.

How to prepare for a quick hire

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With usual recruitment cycles taking up to two months, business owners may panic when faced with the need for a quick replacement.

Fortunately, there are some ways to prepare for a speedy recruitment process:

Look internally
External hiring can be lengthy, between interviews, background checks and competency tests, an external hire can take months. Consider notifying and encouraging suitable internal employees of the available position before posting the job advertisement externally. Internal hiring reduces time spent as the employee’s information is already in the system and they are familiar with the company culture.

Formulate an action plan
An action plan can help ensure a stress-free emergency recruitment. Consider drafting and updating job descriptions all year round so they are immediately ready for use. Training documents, business processes and login details should all be stored in a central document which is easy to access.

It is also a good idea to collect resumes all year-round. Use your business’ website and LinkedIn page to inform potential candidates you are always accepting applications.

Screen candidates before interviewing
Don’t feel obligated to interview everyone – only interview candidates that stand out on paper. Interviewing is the most time-consuming part of recruitment, so be selective when deciding suitable candidates to reduce your recruitment time.

Tips to speed up invoice payments

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Taking care of invoice and billing payments can often be an onerous task for many small businesses. However, very few things are more important in the business industry than getting paid on time, since delays in payments can disrupt a business’s cash flow quite seriously.

Business owners looking for best practice tips to get paid on time should keep in mind that often the most effective solutions are usually the most simple. Owners should make sure that their invoices are accurate, easy to read and include information such as:

  • how to pay the invoice
  • a clear description of goods or services provided
  • the details of any discounts and how they were determined
  • information about any outstanding payments
  • delivery charges if applicable

If any queries should arise about the invoice or payment, owners should handle them fairly and quickly.

Making only a few simple adjustments to invoices can speed payment from customers so owners can focus more of their time on their business than on their bills. Some techniques to speed up payments include:

  • Confirming the correct location and contact details so the invoices reach the right person.
  • Clearly stating on your invoice that you reserve the right to charge a set late fee for overdue invoices.
  • Contacting customers to tell them what corrections or adjustments are being made to their invoice before sending the amended invoice.
  • Quoting any relevant customer reference number customers have provided.
  • Including a credit card or online payment option.

SMSF schemes for illegal access of super

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The ATO has issued a warning for Australians to be aware of scheme promoters that promise to allow you to withdraw your superannuation early, and illegally.

Individuals can legally withdraw super when they turn 65, even when they haven’t retired, are at their preservation age and retire, or under the transition to retirement rules while continuing to work. Super can only be accessed early under circumstances that mainly relate to specific medical conditions or severe financial hardship.

The ATO is taking action to shut down promoters who tell people they can gain access to their super before they are eligible to by setting up a self-managed super fund (SMSF), which is illegal. There has been a number of schemes that encourage individuals to channel money inappropriately and deliberately to avoid paying tax.

Penalties for involvement in illegal super schemes include fines up to $420,000 for individuals and up to $1.1 million for corporate trustees. An individual may also lose their right to be a trustee of their superannuation fund or, in some cases, jail time up to five years.

Fund trustees or members who have knowingly been involved in a scheme or been approached by anyone claiming that they can withdraw their super early should contact the ATO immediately to advise of the situation and avoid further penalties.

Don’t delay new business ideas

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Many business owners have exciting ideas about where the future might take their company. These ideas may be concerning new products, internal improvements or new market segments.

It is, however, an unfortunate fact that the execution of these exciting plans often gets delayed. In the process, the growth of your firm is slowed.

One of the most common reasons that there is so often a delay in the execution of new ideas is limited time. Time is one of the most precious resources that a business owner has, and like all precious resources it is valuable because it is limited. If you have an idea that you think will make a significant improvement to your business, then you should make scheduled time in your week to work on it.

It is also advisable to discuss the idea with some of your staff members, and seek their advice on how you might be able to make your vision a reality.

Removal of the main residence exemption for non-residents

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The government has changed capital gains tax (CGT) rules for foreign residents under the Treasury Laws Amendment (Reducing Pressure on Housing Affordability Measures) Bill 2019, which was granted assent on 12 December 2019.

The law change no longer allows foreign residents to claim the CGT main residence exemption, which will impact people who are overseas or will be going overseas and want to sell residential property in Australia while they are a tax non-resident of Australia. However, this may not apply if you were a foreign resident for tax purposes for a period of six years or less during a CGT event occurrence on your Australian residential property, and a ‘life event’ occurred, including if:

  • You, your spouse or your underaged child had a terminal medical condition.
  • Your spouse or underaged child died.
  • The CGT event involved the distribution of assets between you and your spouse because of divorce, separation or other maintenance agreements.

Individuals who will be impacted by the changes are non-tax residents who:

  • Sell a property bought after 9 May 2017 and do not experience a ‘life event’.
  • Sell property after six years of becoming a tax non-resident of Australia, regardless of a life event.

If you were not an Australian resident for tax purposes while living in your property, then it is unlikely that you will meet the requirements for the CGT main residence exemption.

Managing employees with personal crises

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Managing an employee who is going through a stressful period personally can be a big challenge for bosses. Handling these situations well as a manager often means you need to be compassionate and empathetic whilst also being professional and constructive.

Listen:
If an employee comes to you with a problem, it can be helpful if you listen to them without interrupting to assure them that you are aware of the situation so you can understand and act accordingly. This could prompt a productive discussion to consider work solutions that are appropriate for the employee and the business.

Keep it professional:
It is often useful to remember that you are still the employee’s manager and not their friend. If the line between manager and friend is blurred, it can make it difficult for you to take a stance and do what is best for the rest of the team and business down the line. If you become too entangled in the employee’s problem, it can make it harder for you to have a serious and upfront discussion about work, which could then damage productivity.

Offer appropriate assistance:
Make a judgement on what the employee needs depending on the situation and act accordingly. This could include reducing their workload, adjusting their work schedule or allowing them to take leave.

Don’t pry:
You often don’t know how much the employee is comfortable with sharing, so to avoid making things uncomfortable, make sure you don’t ask invasive questions. This will also prevent you from becoming too involved in the situation beyond the professional level.

Check in:
You can occasionally check in with your employee by sending a brief email or asking them in person. This doesn’t have to delve into the details of their personal troubles; you can ask questions like ‘do you feel you’re handling everything okay?’ or ‘have the solutions we talked about been helpful?’. This can help your employee feel supported and comfortable at work.

When is unpaid work legal?

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There are circumstances where unpaid work is okay, however, legal unpaid work situations are limited, and in most circumstances, workers should be paid. Employers who are not meeting the Fair Work Act guidelines can be penalised for breaking the law by paying workers’ compensation and fines up to $63,000 for corporations and $12,600 for individuals.

If no employment relationship exists between the worker and employer, then the worker does not legally have to be paid. An employment relationship can involve:

  • Intention to perform work for the employer under the arrangement.
  • Helping with the ordinary operation of the business.
  • Working for a long period of time.
  • An expectation of payment.
  • The employer receiving the main benefit of the arrangement.

Unpaid work is legal if the work is to provide someone with experience in that particular job/industry, to provide training and skills as part of formal programs (e.g. university placement), to test someone’s job skills, or if it is volunteer work for a non-for-profit organisation. These include:

Vocational placements:
A vocational placement is formal work experience that is part of an educational or training course. The aim of vocational placements is to give students important skills to help them transition smoothly into the workforce through industry experience. The placement must be approved through the legal authorisation of the institution delivering the course; programs offered at universities, TAFE and schools will meet this requirement. If the work meets the definition of vocational placement under the Fair Work Act, then the position can be lawfully unpaid.

Internships and work experience:
An internship or work experience arrangement is a type of on-the-job training, where someone works to gain experience in a particular occupation or industry. This type of work can be legally unpaid if it is a vocational placement, or if there is no employment relationship.

Trials and skill demonstrations:
This is when someone is asked to perform work or undertake a trial in order to be evaluated for a job position. This work trial is used to determine someone’s suitability for the job on offer. It can be unpaid if:

  • It is necessary to evaluate someone’s suitability for the job.
  • The trial is only for as long as necessary to demonstrate the skills required for the job.
  • The worker is supervised by the potential employer or other appropriate staff for the entire duration of the trial.

Volunteering:
Work is counted as volunteering when its main purpose is to benefit others, such as a church, sporting club, government school, charity or community organisation. A genuine volunteering arrangement occurs when:

  • The parties did not intend to create an employment relationship.
  • The volunteer is not obligated to attend the workplace or perform work.
  • The volunteer doesn’t expect to be paid for their work.