Welcome to our Spring Newsletter. We hope you are all enjoying the mild weather conditions we have been having lately and that all is going well for our farming clients during their busy season. We are here to assist with any payroll or software queries, so please feel free to call.

Alternative Holidays for Employees Who Work on Public Holidays

With Labour Day coming up later this month, we are taking this opportunity to clarify the rules around Alternative Holidays.

An alternative holiday must:

•  Be taken by the employee on a day that is agreed between the employer and employee.

•  Be a day that would otherwise be a working day for the employee.

•  Be a whole working day off work for the employee, regardless of the amount of time the employee actually worked on the public holiday.

•  Not be taken on a public holiday

Cashing up the 4th week of Annual Leave

The employer doesn’t have to do this. They can set a policy or decide on a case by case basis.

The employee can only cash up their 4th week of current entitlement and not old entitlements from previous years.

The employee can only cash out a maximum of a week in any one entitlement year but that could mean a day at a time if a request is made and the employer agrees.

• If the 4th week is cashed out it is treated as an extra pay (taxed like an annual bonus).

• If the 4th week is cashed out it is not included in gross earnings for Holiday Act calculations going forward.

• If the 4th week is cashed out then it must be part of the Holiday and Leave record for the employee that is kept for 6       years.

If an employer and employee cannot agree when an alternative holiday is to be taken, the employer may determine when it is to be taken.

The employer must have a reasonable basis for choosing this date. The employer must give the employee at least 14 days notice of the requirement to take the alternative holiday.

ABM – Did you know…….

It is possible to link Excel to your ABM data. This allows you to utilise Excel’s features to further analyse your data. This could include using charts/graphs or pivot tables which allow you to summarise your information with more flexibility and customising. Please contact us if you would like more information.

ABM Customer Turnover report

The customer turnover report can provide you with sales totals for a specific customer for each month over a 36 month period.

This is a useful tool for reviewing sales for key customers. In addition, if you are using Customer Groups and/or Customer Categories you can get the same data totalled by group or by category by ticking in the “Use for sorting” tick box.

Live Below the Line Challenge

Debbie and Simon have just completed a 5 day goal, to live below the poverty line, which meant living on

$2.25 for all their food and drinks for the 5 days from 23-27 September. This is a global initiative to raise awareness of the 1.2 billion people who live below the poverty line on a daily basis. They did this to raise money for Orphans Aid International.

Simon and Debbie ventured out to the shops with $11.25 each ($2.25 x 5) and this is what they purchased:

Simon: Dozen Eggs $3.05, 5 Carrots $1.02, Bread $1.65, Rice $1.49, Pasta $0.75, 3 Tins Beans $1.77 & 2 Tins of Tomatoes $1.30 = $11.03

Debbie: Dozen Eggs $3.05, 10 Kiwifruit $1.14, 5 Packs Noodles $2.29, 2 Tins Beans $1.18, 3kg Potatoes $3.29 & an Onion $0.28 = $11.23 (Debbie had 4 wisdom teeth removed 3 days before she started, so all food had to be soft).

As you can see, Debbie went back to her Irish roots and by the looks of things lived on the humble potato for 5 days. How many ways can you cook a spud?? Simon struggled most with the lack of coffee as he normally has 5-6 cups double strength before 3pm daily! Since finishing he has switched to decaffeinated coffee.

Anyone wishing to sponsor them, please visit https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/strategicsoftware (You will receive a receipt for tax purposes).