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Thanks once again to ACWA’s specialist industrial relations consultants at ESSA and in particular Graham Lilleyman for the ongoing assistance we receive with all-things IR in the car wash industry.

ESSA has advised that the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has handed down the 2019-20 Annual Wage Review Decision. This the first in some 25 years, there has been a majority rather than a unanimous decision. This highlights the difficulty the FWC experienced in reaching the final decision.

The decision has provided an increase in wage rates, but the timing for increases is dependent upon the Award classification. Employees in car wash operations are covered under the Vehicle Repair, Services and Retail Award 2020. Important to note is that the vehicle manufacturing industry has been removed from this Award and the title changed.

Details on timing of the roll-out of the rates increase for the car wash industry can be obtained from the Member’s Only section of the ACWA website https://acwa.net.au/members/#myaccount

Employers are reminded that they are legally obliged to comply with minimum wage and Award obligations, and there are severe penalties for non-compliance.

 

Thank you to one of our Association members who provided the following details about business record keeping and the Federal Government’s JobKeeper Program. Accountants and business advisors, Moore Stephens, circulated the information and it offered to ACWA members in precis form below.

More than 750,000 businesses registered for the JobKeeper Program, and most of them understand the need to maintain adequate records to substantiate eligibility for the Program.  According to Moore Stephens, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) released Law Companion Ruling (LCR) 2020/1 which provides information on documentation the ATO expect businesses to maintain.

ATO’s Compliance Approach

Businesses are required to predict the “supplies” (supplies are fundamentally goods and services)  they are “likely to make” during a relevant period when determining eligibility for the Program. However, the ATO accepts that a business’s turnover prediction may differ from the actual result.  So what happens if your prediction is incorrect and your business doesn’t meet the required turnover reduction (30% or 50% depending on aggregated turnover)?

Importantly, you will not lose access to the Program providing your prediction was reasonable (on the balance of probabilities) at the time of making the prediction.

The following example is provided in Law Companion Ruling (LCR) 2020/1;

Harris owns a gym. Harris works out his turnover test period projected GST turnover for the June 2020 quarter with information known to him at the end of April 2020. Due to the government COVID-19 restrictions, his gym has been closed all of April. There is no public information that it is likely that government restrictions will be lifted in the turnover test period. Harris did not make any supplies in April and considers it’s likely he will not make any supplies for the rest of the period.

His relevant comparison period of the June 2019 quarter had a current GST turnover of $50,000. Harris keeps good records of when he calculated the test and all of the information he relied on at the time.

It turns out later that the government restrictions in his area are lifted during May 2020, and the gym reopened. By the end of June 2020, the value of supplies actually made by Harris during the June 2020 quarter indicates that his turnover did not decline by more than 30%. The Commissioner accepts that Harris’ projected GST turnover for the June 2020 quarter was correctly determined at the end of April, made on the information available to him at that time.

Records – What You Need

Under LCR 2020/1, evidence to support predictions may include:

• A decline in supplies during the turnover test period or since 1 March 2020 as a result of government COVID-19 restrictions.
• Customers cancelling or modifying existing contracts for supplies on or from 1 March 2020.
• Being required to close or pause the business due to government COVID-19 restrictions.
• Delays in being able to get access to trading stock sourced from overseas on or from 1 March 2020
• Evidence of your business’s reliance on tourism.
• Any consequential impact on the price of what you supply, for example, the impact on the market value of new property being sold by a developer.
• Information known to the business, whether or not publicly available.
• Economic forecasts undertaken by a reputable organisation that are relevant to your type of business.
• The likely timing of government COVID-19 restrictions being lifted for your type of business based on government announcements.

Why is this Important?

 If you do not maintain evidence to support your prediction and the ATO does not find your forecast reasonable during a review/audit, you may be required to repay the amounts received under the Program. In addition, there may also be penalties and interest charges for incorrectly determining your eligibility for the Program.

The Federal Court has ruled that Australia’s more than one million casual workers may be entitled to annual leave and sick leave benefits.

A recent ruling in a Federal Court case between Robert Rossato and Workpac Pty Ltd may see casual workers awarded access to entitlements full-time employees receive. And media reports claim that the judgment could affect more than 1 million workers across the country and cost businesses $8 billion.

A quick summary of the Rossato v Workpac case goes something like this:

Labour hire firm WorkPac employed Robert Rossato as a mine worker in Queensland. Mr Rossato was a casual employee and employed on rolling contracts over a three-and-a-half-year period.   As a casual employee, WorkPac paid Mr Rossato a 25% loading on his wage. The company believed the loading compensated him for not being paid sick leave, annual leave and other full-time employee benefits.

The Federal Court found that as Mr Rossato’s employment was regular, certain, continuing, constant and predictable. And, as he was given rostered shifts well in advance, he was eligible to entitlements that full-time employees receive.

WorkPac, on the other hand, claimed that Mr Rossato was being paid a 25% loading specifically because he was not receiving all the benefits of full-time workers. In their view, paying the loading and the benefits would amount to “double-dipping”. But the Federal Court disagreed.

“On a simplistic view, it (the decision) provides long term regular casuals with an entitlement to annual and personal leave”, said Graham Lilleyman, Director of ESSA, ACWA’s Industrial Relations Helpline consultants. “Whilst we are still reviewing the Decision, in most cases in our view, even if the entitlement exists, employers will be able to set-off the entitlements against the casual loading that has been paid to employees”.

The case is shaping up as a political battle with the Federal Government considering changing the law and, the Government may also consider backing an appeal to the decision.

Graham is currently preparing further information for ACWA members.

Can an Employer Require Staff to Download the COVIDSafe App?

ACWA Member Ben Haycroft from Workplace Central provided some recent and useful information about the Federal Governments COVIDSafe App. And, we are sure hoping he won’t mind us plagiarising a bit of it here.

As employees return to work, employers are justifiably trying to do everything in their power to make their workplaces as safe as possible. And, with downloads of the COVIDSafe app reaching over 5 million, it appears some employers may have been wondering if they can require employees to download the COVIDSafe app.

The short answer is ‘NO’. The COVIDSafe app has been clearly promoted as voluntary, and employers must respect this.

Ben also reminds us “When considering a COVID-19 Safety Plan providing access to handwashing facilities, sanitiser, and social distancing where possible are the starting points to implement”.

(Note the CovidSafe App is the Australian Government app used for contact tracing those who have been in contact with people with COVID-19).

This information and other important resources are also available in the members area of the ACWA website https://acwa.net.au/members/
ACWA Special Edition COVID-19 Newsletter – read here

Some ACWA members have asked for advice on the use of masks and gloves in car wash operation; however, it appears the jury is out on the concept.

On the one hand, we see regular news commentary from overseas about masks.  We notice international Governments demanding commuters wear masks when riding on trains and purchasing products from shops and we see others handing out masks in the streets.  In some states of the USA, there is even legislation forcing compulsory mask-wearing in public.

On the other hand, in Australia, our health professionals are suggesting most masks provide little benefit in protecting people without the disease. Our officials only recommend masks be worn by COVID-19 victims to stop the spread of the virus.

So should car wash operators have their staff wear personal protective gear like masks and gloves?

Anecdotally it would appear that customers fall into two camps. Some feel more comfortable dealing with and being greeted by service staff wearing a mask. And others prefer to see a smiling face during the Coronavirus’ dreary lockdown environment. (Of course, that smiling face should be seen from a distance of at least 1.5 metres!!!).  There does not appear to be a right or wrong, and each car wash site will need to tread its own path.

Gloves appear to be a critical addition to the customer’s perception of hygiene, so from that standpoint, car wash sites might consider adding gloves to their staff livery.  From a staff protection perspective, however, gloves really don’t provide any more protection than hand washing. That is, if you touch something contaminated while wearing gloves and then touch your mouth or eyes, you have the same chance of contracting the disease as if you had bare hands.

Similarly, the transmission of the virus from one surface to another (for example, one customer’s car to another) appears the same whether bare handed or gloved.   The critical thing to remember if you elect to have your staff wear gloves, they need to be provided with safety instructions.

To afford customer protection, gloves need to be changed after each wash. To provide staff protection, they must be reminded not to touch their face, whether they are wearing gloves or not.

The Government Health Authority focus in Australia is well and truly on social distancing rather than masks or gloves as the best means of protecting everyone.   With this in mind, car wash operators might consider initiating the following 10 points in their businesses:

1. Have plenty of signage about your site’s commitment to social distancing
2. Enforce social distancing amongst customers
3. Don’t allow staff or the public to assemble
4. Place lines or markings on the ground in situations where customers may need to queue or come into contact with others
5. Instruct staff about hygiene – handwashing with soap is the best defence, supported by not touching one’s face
6. Providing wash stations for using soap and water is often impractical so, have plenty of hand sanitiser available for staff and the public
7. Staff should wash or sanitise their hands or change gloves after each internal clean
8. Staff should wash or sanitise hands regularly if handling money or equipment
9. Make sure equipment is disinfected as often as possible
10. Staff displaying any cold-like symptoms should not be at work

The new $100 banknote is expected to be released into circulation towards the end of the year.   The Reserve Bank continues to print the new $100 and will shortly make it available for testing purposes. The Reserve Bank proposed schedule is as follows:: Now – Taking orders from machine manufacturers of test $100 banknotes from the second production run. These banknotes have a different signature block than the banknotes released in November 2019 and more production variation. Early June 2020 – Distribute test banknote orders to machine manufacturers. Mid 2020 – Release assurance banknotes to the banks and machine owners for testing purposes. Late 2020 – Release the new $100 into circulation.

Those infected with COVID-19 shed the virus via their saliva droplets and, some 50% of carriers also shed the virus in their faeces.

Often the virus is not contracted through direct contact with an infected person, the infection comes via a contaminated surface and this is why cleaning is such an important part of the fight against Coronavirus. It is believed that touching surface infected with COVID-19 results in the virus remaining on the hands for a subsequent 19 touches.  This means picking the virus up from one surface could see it transferred to a further 19 surface.

And the COVID-19 virus is tougher than your average virus. On the Ruby Princess cruise ship, for example, the virus was found in the stateroom of an infected passenger 18 days after the passenger had been removed from the ship.

ACWA’s OHS Consultants at Eastman Lynch have just released a paper on the essentials on cleaning for the COVID-19 virus.  Members can download the paper from the Member’s Only area of the ACWA Website https://acwa.net.au/members/#myaccount

From today (20 April, 2020), eligible businesses will be able to enrol in the Federal Government’s six-month JobKeeper Subsidy Scheme. This program will assist some car wash operators to keep workers employed throughout the coronavirus crisis.  There are vital timelines employers and employees need to be aware of to be eligible to receive the first round of payments from 4 May 2020. Outlined below are the key dates:

 

Key Dates for Employers

20 April 2020	Enrolment opens for the JobKeeper payment open.
26 April 2020	Enrolment deadline to be eligible to receive the FIRST JobKeeper payment.
30 April 2020	Deadline to pay your eligible employees for the first two JobKeeper fortnights (30 March – 12 April and 13 – 27 April). Deadline to notify your eligible employees and receive completed JobKeeper employee nomination notice from employees.
4 May 2020	Applications open to claim the JobKeeper payment.

 

Key Dates for Employees

Once notified of your intent to claim the fortnightly JobKeeper payments of $1,500, employees must be provided with a JobKeeper employee nomination notice (attached to this email). This form must be completed by the employee by 30 April 2020 to be eligible for the FIRST JobKeeper payment.

Note: Employees with multiple jobs can only claim the JobKeeper payment from one employer.

 

 

ACWA’s second Zoom video conference was held yesterday Wednesday 15 April, with more than 78 members taking part.  Thank you to all those who joined online and we hope that the information shared during the session was useful.

If you typed a question into the Chat through the session that was unanswered – please email contact@acwa.net.au and we will get a response for you..

For those Members unable to take part, a recording can be viewed by logging into the ACWA website members area and following the links in the COVID-19 in the members’ navigation.

Available EXCLUSIVELY and FREE to ACWA Members.

It is imperative that car wash sites do everything in their power to ensure the safety of staff and customers and with this in mind. ACWA has just released a range of safety posters to help your car wash protect customers and staff.

ACWA’s Community Safety Posters reinforce the need for customers to maintain the principles of social distancing while at your car wash and highlight the ways your wash is helping ensure customer safety.

The posters come with a range of messages suitable for use across wash sites from Self-serve and Automatics.

Each poster is available in A4 and A3 (poster) sizes and have been made available absolutely FREE to ACWA members.

Place your order by clicking the link below

ACWA Community Safety Posters for your Car Wash Site

Yesterday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced new rental waivers and deferrals for commercial tenants impacted by the coronavirus crisis.  The Scheme was announced after a meeting of the National Cabinet on Tuesday.

At the meeting, the National Cabinet agreed that States and Territories would implement a mandatory Code of Conduct.

Under the terms of the Code of Conduct, there will be an agreement to commercial rent reduction based on the proportion of the tenant’s decline in turnover. In the Government’s view, this will ensure the burden of COVID-19 impacts are equally shared between landlords and tenants. Importantly, the Rent Relief Policy includes an obligation requirement on businesses to continue to engage their employees through the JobKeeper initiative where eligible.

Details and a link to National Cabinet Mandatory Code of Conduct can be found here.

https://www.pm.gov.au/media/update-coronavirus-measures-070420

The Federal Government Rent Relief Package will be a key topic to be discussed at the ACWA COVID-19 Members’ Zoom Meeting on Wednesday, April 15, 2020, 11:00 am (AEST)

At this Zoom Video Conference Meeting, ACWA will bring together a panel of experts to answer all your essential questions on the JobSeeker and JobKeeper Schemes as well as the Rent Relief Package.

Our expert panel consists of industrial relations, workforce and accounting professionals and includes:

• Graham Lilleyman – Employment Services Solutions Australia (ESSA)
• Tony Young – New Vision Accounting
• Ben Haycroft – Workplace Central