• # 119089
• Fri 25 Sep 2020 03:52 AM

Hope someone can help me with payroll advice:

I just started looking after payroll for a new client. And I realised that they have been calculating their leave entitlements wrong.

 - Casuals have annual & personal/carer's leave accruing and these year to date balances are recorded on their payslips  - Can I now say that this shouldn't have happened and revert their leave balances back to zero?

 - A Permanent part time employee who's been with them for a year has Family and Domestic Violence leave and Long Service Leave, but no Annual and Personal/Carer's leave - can I say that Long Service leave shouldn't accrue, revert it to zero and recalculate all the annual and personal leave owing? 

I think recalculating and adding extra leave won't be a problem. But what about "taking away" leave that was already recorded on employees' payslips?

I have been only contracted to record their payroll from now on. So technically I don't need to look back and fix up their leave entitlements. However, I'm afraid I can be liable if I engage in underpaying staff. And if I produce payslips each week which show leave balances amounts that I know are wrong, this to me is underpaiment.

Any advice or a suggestion will be much appreciated!

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• # 119090
• Fri 25 Sep 2020 11:22 AM

Hi Anya,

I would advise the business owner of the errors and preferably in writing before doing anything.  If he won't give you anything in writing, confirm verbal instructions by email so you have a chain of evidence should he claim he didn't give you any instructions.  

You may include information on how to fix, how long it may take to correct, and any dollar value regarding your costs.  I would also highlight that it may cost him more long term if it is not fixed. 

If you are located in Victoria you may want to highlight that he could get caught under the Wage Theft Law.  

Good luck

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