Building relationships with the self employed

Two of our illustrious founders and directors, Pedro Fric and Johnathan Knowles, gave a presentation at the recent Independent Contractors Summit, on building strong relationships with the self-employed.

You can view videos of the presentation here.

Thank you to the ICA for providing these videos.

Learn more about the self employed

Get some excellent insight into the self employed by watching this presentation given by Michele Levine, from Roy Morgan Research, at the recent Independent Contractors Summit.

Thank you to the ICA for providing the video.

National Executive Monitor Survey

Six Figures, an Entity Solutions alliance partner, is currently sponsoring an important survey of Australian executives earning more than 100k per annum.

In recognition of  the lack of substantive research in this area,  the survey’s objective is to provide the market with a better understanding of this group.

The report will focus particularly on “the nexus between education, the job market and remuneration trends”.

Survey participants will go into the draw to win a luxury accommodation gift worth $3,000.

Interested parties can also register to receive a copy of the report once it is launched.

To participate or register, click here.

New DIAC requirements for Health Cover for all Sponsored applicants

Several Entity Solutions’ employees attended a breakfast seminar last week in regard to the recent 457 visa changes, with a particular focus on the new health insurance requirement (hence our preferred supplier HBA hosting the event).

In simple terms, the new minimum requirement for all 457 Visa Holders effective as of 14^th of September 2009 is:

• Employers no longer being liable for health care costs for temporary overseas workers;
• An obligation on the temporary overseas worker (457 visa holder) to maintain adequate health insurance arrangements for themselves and all dependants;
• Condition 8501 – “to Maintain Adequate Health Insurance” on the visa label;
• Failure to have and maintain Health Insurance can result in a possible fine, visa cancellation and/or refusal to grant future extensions of visa.

This will only apply to those with new 457 visas granted post 14 September 2009, for those on current 457 visas, the obligation remains with the Sponsor company.

DIAC have also stated that they will be conducting random checks to ensure that the prospective visa applicant obtains and maintains adequate health insurance.

Do you think this is a good change for Sponsor companies and/or 457 visa holders?

HR Daily warns companies of serious risks behind mismanagement of contractors

A well written and informative article is provided today by HR Daily on some inherent risks associated with management of contractors, with specific reference to issues of payroll tax.

We feel its a must read for anyone managing contractors:

—begin article—

Contractor management knowledge gaps pose financial risks

02 November 2009 8:28am (http://www.HRDaily.com.au)

Knowledge gaps in contractor management issues have the potential to expose medium-to-large companies to serious financial risks, says payroll tax specialist Stacey Nolan.

Payroll tax evasion – whether deliberate or a result of ignorance – is an ongoing target of state revenue authority investigations (especially in the current economic climate) but often employers don’t realise the full extent of their liability, says Nolan, of PayPartners.

Companies that engage contractors generally don’t manage their contingent staff in the same way as their permanent workforce, she says. “They’re usually under a different cost centre, and have less dedicated resources; it’s a very different process.”

These companies are proficient and competent in managing their employees, she says, but “due to the transactional nature of contracting, organisations do not put the same time and resources into contractor management”.

Whether organisations engage contractors directly, or through a recruitment or contractor management company, they face uncertainties in the areas where payroll tax, employment and other legislation overlap, she says. She estimates that around half of the companies she deals with have some gaps in their knowledge and aren’t fully aware of their obligations.

“Due to the nature of the contracting industry, even the most cautious and risk-averse organisations can be at risk.”

Contractors “fall between the cracks”

Geoff Mann, a partner in law firm Blake Dawson’s Melbourne office, agrees that among large corporates “there is a degree of uncertainty around how [payroll tax] provisions operate”, and “certainly it’s always an area of focus of state revenue authorities when they do payroll audits, to look at the contractor situation, because it can fall between the cracks”.

He says the main risk for employers is that at the time of entering a contract, they haven’t thought about whether they have a payroll tax liability. The second problem arises because assessing whether a payroll tax exemption applies often relies on information from the contractor, “and that’s sometimes difficult; it’s prying into the contractor’s business and it’s difficult to get that information”.

“You don’t necessarily know whether, for example, the contractor is off providing their services to the public generally. It’s putting an onus on you when you don’t really know the information.”

Contractors often don’t “come to light”, he says, because “they are run through accounts payable; they’re just paid like the purchase of stationery. No-one really looks at it that closely, it’s not run through payroll. Payroll departments are often responsible for payroll tax and if the contractors are not on the payroll they just don’t get looked at”.

Ignoring contractor obligations is “a real issue in times like the present”, he says, because so many companies have reduced their permanent workforces and engaged contractors instead.

Contractor clauses provide some safeguards

Mann points out that while the payroll tax laws of most states and territories (except WA, NT and Queensland until 1 July 2008) contain provisions that deem contractor payments to be wages for payroll tax purposes, in NSW the Payroll Tax Act gives employers a specific “out”.

The principal engaging a contractor can include in contracts a clause under which the contractor is required to pay any payroll tax which arises in respect of their engagement (similar to their workers’ compensation obligations). Mann recommends wording to the effect of:

For each invoice period, the contractor must issue to the principal a written statement with each invoice that states that the contractor has paid all payroll tax payable in respect of such remuneration (in the form required by Part 5 of Schedule 2 of the Payroll Tax Act 2007 (NSW)) during that invoice period.

–end article—

Read our latest newsletter…

We’ve put together a great collection of articles in our latest newsletter…

Go here.

If your contract is drawing to a close, what next?

Are you near the completion of your current contract, looking for your next opportunity or concerned that the next phase of contract terminations may affect you?  If so, what – if anything – are you doing about it?

Recent investment announcements have demonstrated that there are fantastic opportunities for IPros, even in these tough times.  Some industries are booming, and the new world order demands that a greater proportion of ‘new jobs’ will be offered as contracts.

Global gas giant Exxon recently signed a US$10 billion deal with India to provide gas from their Gorgon project in West Australia.  Less than 2 weeks later Exxon signed an additional 41 billion USD deal to provide gas to China.  Up to 4000 contract roles (6000 jobs in total) will be created in mining, construction, IT and A&F to implement and maintain this expansion.

In Victoria Woolworths has announced the creation of 15,000 new jobs as they expand into retail hardware.  11,000 of these jobs will be created during set up in construction, IT and engineering fields (more than half will be contract roles), and a further 4,000 direct retail jobs as the project goes live.

Is your job search plan ready?  Do you know how to position yourself to take advantage of these opportunities?  When was the last time your resume was professionally assessed to ensure you are conforming to industry expectations?

The biggest obstacle to success in your job search is a failure to plan, or adhering to out-of-date job search tools and techniques.  Even though the opportunities are there, the competition for jobs has never been more fierce.
Let’s run through a quick job search health check:

•    Did you know you should amend your resume for every new job application?
•    Were you aware that an achievements based resume has a 64% better success rate than a duties based resume?
•    Do you include a value proposition in your application?
•    When and how do you follow up your application?
•    How deep is your professional network?
•    Do you know what a competency based behavioural interview question is, and how to answer them?
•    Have you ever included a personality profile with your job application?

If you struggled with any of the questions above, you may need help with your job search plan.
HeadStart Group is a specialist career training company focused on providing job seekers the skills and confidence they need to succeed in the Australian job market.  HeadStart has developed IPro Career Services, a course specifically for IPros engaged through Entity Solutions.  Courses are being held during October and November, so contact your Customer Executive at Entity Solutions today, and take the first step towards obtaining your winning job search strategy…

One in four Independent Professionals take pay cut during Global Financial Crisis, but remain resilient, enthusiastic and committed to contracting work

The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) has resulted in one in four of Australia’s Contractors, referred to as Independent Professionals (IPros) by Entity Solutions, taking a cut in pay rates. Just under half have had to be more flexible in their earnings expectations and thirty-eight percent report an increase in competition for work.

At the same time, Australia’s 1 million  Independent Contractors who represent approximately 10 percent of Australia’s workforce are a happy, enthusiastic and inspired group of individuals who enjoy the freedom, variety and perceived earnings ability of self-employment. They see their roles as best suited to an Indiana Jones-type of character (mature, educated and conquers all obstacles) and the majority of IPros typify their client/consultant relationships as being akin to “Paris Hilton and whoever – a temporary alliance of mutual benefit.”

The findings were released today in the Independent Professional (IPro) Index 2009, a study of the attitudes, issues and trends of Australia’s professional contracting market.  The research was conducted by Monash University and sponsored by Entity Solutions and involved an attitudinal survey of 256 white-collar contract professionals across Australia.

To download the full IPro Index 2009 for free visit our website.

Join the Australasian Contingent Workforce Group

Founded and administered by Alan Singer, Executive Director – Customer Development at Entity Solutions, the Australasian Contingent Workforce Group is a networking forum and information resource for Australian managers and HR professionals who are involved in the hiring, engagement, management, training or deployment of contingent labour – especially professional Independent Contractors (Referred to as Independent Professional [IPros] by Entity Solutions).

IPros represent a major – and growing – talent resource in Australia and the world. The Australasian Contingent Workforce Group aims to bring like minded people together to share ideas and experiences with the ultimate aim of becoming better at getting the most from this talent pool.

The group is hosted on LinkedIn.com and you will need an account before you can join.

To join please follow the link.

Managing Debt

The Independent Contractors of Australia (ICA) regulartly publishes useful information for independent contractors.

If you are interested in some valubale insights offered by experienced independent contractors on managing debt then you may wish to check out this video.

You can see more guides and videos on the ICA website…