Payroll Instructions for Contractors

Introduction
As part of its Employment Service, workers.com.au (henceforth "WORKERS") uses an automated payroll and payment system. This system has been designed to achieve maximum efficiencies in the business processes of a labour-hire business.

We have achieved these efficiencies mainly by tasking our contractors and Client companies with controlling and maintaining elements of the required business processes and information flows. Although our system is simple to use, it is important that both contractors and Client companies understand all their obligations, as detailed in our terms and conditions for contractors and for Client companies. In particular, they are obliged to use our Security Statement published on this site, to guide them through the security aspects of transacting their business with WORKERS.

Signing up for the WORKERS Employment Service
WORKERS, in the context of its Employment Service, does not offer employment to any contractor, other than when a Client company agrees to use the services offered by a contractor.

As a contractor, you should negotiate with the Client company directly and agree on an hourly rate of pay, exclusive of Superannuation, before you commence any assignment. The timesheet from our Resources section can be used as a written record of this agreement. When a Client company agrees to use you, they can employ you directly or they can use WORKERS to employ you. It does not concern WORKERS if our Client company chooses to employ you directly.

In the event that our Client company chooses to use us to employ you through our Employment Service, you will need to submit your personal payroll data.

Submitting your details for Employment Service
If you are already registered with us, having previously submitted a profile or resume, click on 'Register for Employment Service' in the menu after you have logged on. Clicking on the menu item copies data from your profile- be sure to edit and correct data if necessary because data for the payroll has to be 100% correct.

If you are not registered, you can either submit a resume first and register for the Employment Service as a second step, or choose to register only for our Employment Service. Whichever way you choose, you need to be accurate in completing all the required fields.

Unlike your resume data, data to be submitted for our Employment Service are mostly mandatory. Your data is used by us to send tax to the ATO, remit superannuation contributions to the trustee, make payments to you, and is secure from other users.

In addition to your personal data, you need to submit your bank or financial institution account details. These include the name of your bank or financial institution, the suburb where it is located, the BSB number (6 digit bank id, leave out hyphen), Account No. (leave out hyphen) and Account Name (ie. Account Holder/s Name). If you are a little unsure, we suggest you refer to one of your recent bank statements or enquire from your bank. We use the data you enter to directly credit you with your net pay, so it is in your vital interest to get these absolutely correct. This is also another reason why you should protect your user name and password from disclosure to unauthorised individuals.

You need also to include the following: (i) your 9-digit tax file number, (ii) whether you are claiming the Tax Threshold (if this is your main job, you should leave this as selected or ticked), and (iii) whether you have a HECS debt (leave unselected if you have not got a HECS debt). It is important that the last 2 selections are correct because they determine how much tax is deducted and remitted to the Australian Tax Office.

Tax File Number Declaration Form
In addition to submitting your personal payroll data, you will need to fax to us your completed Tax File Number Declaration, as required by the Tax Office. Your Tax File Number Declaration details need to reflect exactly what you have submitted to this site. The Declaration form can be downloaded from our Resources area.

Advising Client company of your 6-digit Payroll ID
On starting an assignment with a Client company, you will advise the Client company your 6-digit Payroll ID that will have been issued to you by the system. The Client company needs your Payroll ID to pay you via the WORKERS payment system. They will only see your name and the suburb where you live when you are "linked" to them. Your ID is partly a random number to enable you to retain maximum confidentiality.

Weekly Payroll and Payment Process
Our payroll week begins on Monday and ends on Sunday. As part of our weekly payment process, you will complete a timesheet (download from the Resources section) for the hours you have worked, and have it endorsed by the Client company. Make a copy of the timesheet, and keep the original. The Client company will use the copy to submit your hours worked to this site. This needs to be done between Fridays and Mondays (AEST). You will be paid by the WORKERS payment system, via the banking details directly maintained by you. Our payment run for contractors usually commences around Wednesday or Thursday. You can access both your 'payslip' (your last weekly pay) and year-to-date pay details by clicking and viewing the respective pages. You will not get any paper records except when we send you your payment summary at the end of the financial year.

How much you are paid
You are paid by the number of hours that you have worked for the week, multiplied by the hourly rate of pay that you have negotiated directly with our Client company. Your after-tax net pay will be credited to the bank account you have nominated. In addition, we will remit to the Trustee on a monthly basis, your 9% Superannuation Guarantee benefit. There is no other remuneration payable to you.

As soon as the payment run has been completed, you will be able to view your historical pay details (your last 'pay slip', as well as your year-to-date details).

Your Superannuation
Pending further legislation in the Australian Parliament regarding 'Choice of Funds', we have selected the Australian Retirement Fund (ABN 44 006 466 619) as the Trustee of your Superannuation. We will remit to the Fund on a monthly basis Superannuation benefits accruing to you.

Please note that, because the remittance is on a monthly basis, there will always be a timing difference between your year-to-date Superannuation balance on this website which is updated on a weekly basis and your Superannuation account balance at the ARF.

When we begin to remit your Superannuation benefits to the ARF, you will receive a Member Information guide from the Trustee a few weeks later, as well as your Membership details. Complete the membership form, also write your membership number clearly and in bold on the form.

Cross out the Employers section, and have it sent directly back to the ARF. Please ignore the instruction to send the form to us. Our dealings with the ARF are on a totally electronic basis. We however can assure you that your Superannuation benefits are always remitted to your Trustee in a secure and timely manner.