July 3, 2023
HR Changes For The New Financial Year: 5 Things You Need To Know
The start of a new financial year also brings new changes to Human Resources. We explore five key ones likely to impact your workplace.
1. Super changes once again
From 1 July 2023, the Superannuation Guarantee Contribution (SGC) is going up again. This time to 11%.
The SGC will continue to increase by 0.5% every year until we reach 12% in FY2026.
The other change to super includes an increase to the contribution base to $62,270 a quarter. This effectively means once someone’s salary hits $249,080 a year you no longer have to make super contributions on that portion of their salary over the contribution base.
The concessional contributions cap remains unchanged at $27,500.00.
2. The new minimum wage is in effect
From 1 July 2023, the National Minimum Wage goes up 5.75%, an increase of $70.20. That means the least you can pay anyone is $23.23 an hour or $882.80 a week for a 38-hour working week. For a casual, the minimum hourly rate is $29.04 per hour.
3. Unfair dismissal threshold raised again
High-income earners don’t have access to our federal unfair dismissal laws and generally speaking, can’t bring a claim in the Fair Work Commission. The cap for what constitutes a high-income earner has been raised again, from $162,000 to $167,500.
Just remember, exceeding the threshold doesn’t mean an employee has no rights if you terminate their employment. They can still access the Fair Work Act’s General Protection provisions.
The maximum amount of compensation the FWC can award has also been raised by $2,750 – from $81,000 to $83,750.
4. Changes to tax-free thresholds on redundancy payments
From 1 July 2023, the tax-free redundancy thresholds have increased to $11,985 plus $5,994 for every year of service. For a genuine redundancy, these thresholds are important when working out what an affected employee’s take-home payments are likely to be.
5. Expect more legislation changes in the new financial year
It’s fair to say that 2023 saw some of the most significant changes to the Fair Work Act since its inception in 2009. And it appears these tranches of changes are not ending any time soon. Shortly we are expecting to see the Protecting Worker Entitlement Bill to pass through royal assent.
We will keep you updated on these changes as they come through.
Are you FY24 ready?
As FY24 begins, there are plenty of Human Resources -related changes that businesses need to be on top of. If you have any questions regarding the changes or are keen to find out how they could impact you or your business, speak with one of the Catalina Consultant team members today.
say hi to our author
Merilyn founded Catalina Consultants in 2012 on the belief that all organisations, regardless of size, should have access to top quality bespoke HR services. She enjoys working closely with her clients and believes that the best results are built on relationships of rapport, trust and authenticity. Growing up, Merilyn had her sight set on stardom and dreamed of becoming an actor. She also sang and played the piano, but ended up studying accounting and HR. Whilst she hasn’t won her Grammy just yet, she still loves a good karaoke night. Merilyn loves to travel with her family, with South Africa being one of her most memorable destinations.